APRIL 1983 47432 WORLD'S LEADING MAGAZINE OF SELF-DEFENSE iii•• ,N,OW e- ~ W CD ~ ~ ..I CD A STREETFIGHTER SURVIVES: CONCLUSION OFTHE WILLIAM CHEUNG STORY

KANAZAW WITH THE GREATEST ...... 01( : KEE: KARATE FIGHTER u ~D OF ALL TIME 'w,\ SELF·DEFENSE: TRAIN ING WITH KN IPPON REAL

HEIHO ~ TRA s ft Ii OF A MA'TERWORK B~ KBElTAPRIL 1983, VOL. 21, NO.4

Michael James, Publisher CIRCULATION Gori Simon, Assisl ani Publisher Mercy Ca udillo

BLACK BELT STAFF CUSTOMER SERVICE James Nail, Executive Editor Joan LaMarr Alber Genesl a, Arl Direcior Jim Coleman, As sistan! Editor CONTRIBUTORS Jack Vaughn, Copy Edi tor Ke ith Brown Ku rt Seemann, Editorial Assistant Torr y Chung Jan Wilhelm, Typography Gerl Gilbert Marcia Mack, Pholog rophcr John Maberry ADVERTI SING Graham Monro Barba ra Lessard William Wilson

CONTENTS INTERVIEW

54 KANAZAWA!-Widely acclaimed as the grea test fighter ever to emerge from Japanese karate, Hirokazu Kanazawa, three ti mes All -Japan champion, off ers hi s views on fi ghting, training, spi ritual development and . .. the " soft " art of tai chi. FEATURES

21 THE WILLIAM CHEUNG STORY: SURVIVAL OF A STREETFIGHTER-Wil liam Cheung has sur· vived countless challenge matches in the dangerous streets of Hong Kong; he was the pe rsonal student of Yip Man and main sparri ng partner of Bruce Lee; and today he may well be the onl y man alive to know a secret, "deadlier" form of win g chun kun g fu _

30 TANG SOO DO MOO DUK KWAN: THE INTERNATIONALS, THE HEAD OFTHE ART-The 1982 International Tournament sponsored by the U.S. Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation provid­ ed BLAC K BE LT a golden opportunity to visit with Hwang Kee, the world wide head of the art, and to see for ourselves just how well-run and organized a tradi tional tournamen t can be.

38 IPPON KUMITE: REAL KARATE-In ippon kumite, the encounter wi th your opponent is so quick, so decisive, that mistakes are irrevocable and a whole new feeling of motion is instilled.

46 CHOY LI FUT'S LONGEST FIGHTING SET -For years, the most intense mart ial arts riva lry in sout h China has been be tween the wing chun and choy Ii lut schools. Here the sup j i kau da kuen, or cross· pa tt ern continuous punching form of choy Ii lut, is discussed and analyzed.

67 GRADIENTS OF FEAR: TRAINING WITH THE KNIFE-Most people feel a peculiar ki nd 01 terror at the th ought of defending against a knife. There's only one way to overcome that and become profiCient in this dangerous aspect of the martial arts.

78 THE HEIHO KADENSHO: MASTERWORK OF MUNENORI YAGYU-The Heiho Kadensho, a deeply philosophical tract wri tten by the famous head of the Yagyu sword style in the last year of hi s life, expres ses some of the most profound leve ls of mea ning in th e mart ial arts. It is translated here in its ent i ~e t y. FICTION

74 PERFECTION OF FORM-The old master stil l had one advantage over his ambi tious student. It all came to him in a sudden fl ash of inspiration_ DEPARTMENTS

6 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 8 INSTRUCTORS' FORUM 13 BLACK BELT TIMES 94 THE KARATE SPIRIT 100 THE SWORD POLISHER'S RECORD 113 DOJO DIRECTORY

ABOUT THE COVER: Marcia Mack's BLACK BELT magazlne-tSSN 0277-3066-is publiShed monthly ptus yearbook by Ra inbow Publications. tnc. Editorial. advert ising photo records w ing c hun export and circulation ollices at 18 13 Victory Place. P.O. BOll; 7728. Burbank. CA 9 1510-7728. Second·ctass postage paid Burbank. CA. and ad­ William Cheung's apparen t death·blow ditional post 01 1ices . Telephone: (213) 843·4444 01 849·2 181. Consultants: Uyehara Management Inc_. 1314 S. King Stlee!. Sulle 863. ag ainst his long lerm 'riend Ben Liao. Honolutu. HI 968 14 . Subscription rates in the Uni ted States are one year (12 issues pl us yearbook). $21 .00: TWO years. $42.00. Woreign counllics add $2.50 per year tor postage.) The publlSh(lI and editors will not be responsible lor un solicited material. ManU SClipts and ph otog raphs must be accompanied by a stamped. seU·addressed envelope. Printed In th e United States by World COtOl Press. Inc .. 51. Louis. Copyrigh t 1983 by Rainbow PUblica tions. Inc. All rights reserv ed. Reproduction without permission Is striC tly prOhibited. " People think a lot of different good techniques to use-on the off things when they're faced with a How do you overcome your chance that they might ever really be knife. A lot of people are even more fear and learn to defend attacked by a murderous, knife·wield· afraid of a knife than a gun. They ing assailant. The closest such a stu· think, 'Dead. Cut. Blood. Scars; rip· against the knife? dent need come to reality is a diligent ping of skin and tissue. Eyes stuck practice of techniques-stab, side· out; internal organs punctured. step, grab, twist the arm, kick, kick, There's tremendous fear and terror. kick, and the fight "should" be over. " But, there's a beauty in a knife. GRADIENTS But what is often overlooked is the And what you have to do as a teacher, spiritual aspect of facing a knife. almost the hardest thing you have to Which, DiVito insists, is at least as do, is teach the person to get rid of all OF FEAR important. It is a part of training he that fear and realize the positive himself begins with and never forgets. energy about a knife. That doesn't "The first thing I do with a student mean you get cocky. It means you who wants to learn defense against gain understanding." TRAINING knives," he explains, "is teach him to Dan DiVito, an arnis expert and face the knife itself. There are so fourth·degree tae kwon do black belt WITH THE many things you have to be able to who has devoted himself to discov· handle-there's the opponent's mo· ering new levels of understanding in tion, your own motion, the flow, the the martial arts, pOints these ideas energy, the presence of the opponent, out because he feels they are too and then there's also just the knife common ly overlooked in self·defense itself. More elementary than any tech· by J. NagelFE training. Teachers commonly aspire, nique is the ability to have the kni fe in he feels, just to show students a few yo ur enVironment, and to face it with 67 2 3 - ..

4 5

The most basic drill in DiVito's system. The left hand goes under (1) and around the bell (2), the body shilts 'and th e hand continues the counterclockwise motion, gripping (3) the belt a"d sliding downward. The opposite drill commences by mov· ing over the belt (4&5), then around and gripping (6). Each mo· tion should be practiced with both hands.

The same drill can be performed with a partner, adding in slight variations to increase practicality. DiVito's hand goes under (1), around (2) and grips his partner's wrist (3) as in the belt drill. The circular motion naturafly deflects the force of a punch. The opposite motion (4·6) works equaJly well, and both can be combined with kicks. 68 1 2

In practice with a rubber knife, the whole situation becomes more realistic. The body shift (1&2) now proves important, as do the timing, dis· tancing and skillful execution. The arm movements themselves are still nearly the same as in the first part of the belt drill, with one change: DiVito's right hand maintains control (3&4) and twists his opponent's knife hand away in a kind of wristlock, preparing the kick (5).

4 5

familiarity and confidence rather than the edge, move it around lightly in the -the furthest thing in the world, to an fear." air. "You 'd be surprised at the emo· untrained observor, from knife·fight­ For that reason, DiVito's knife·de· tions people have gOing on about ing. fense program features a unique "get knives," DiVito explains. "Some peo­ The student begins alone, with a aquainted" concept: he takes the new ple feel they cou ld never even hold a belt that is attached at one end to a student, via a number of physical knife in their hand. Well, then, how post or doorknob. He performs vari· drills and psychological exercises, could they possibly defend them· ous arm'circling and maneuvering beyond the leve l of isolated tech· selves against it?" But people are drills, at his own speed , without an niques and to a who le new under­ taught to face their fears in DiVito's opponent. The idea is not to teach standing and feeling toward kn ife class on what he ca lls a "grad ient techniques at this stage of the game, combat. scale." DiVito insists, but to get the new stu­ His first step is usually just to give First they become acquainted with dent to understand so me basic con· the student a knife. Let him hold the th e knife itself; and th en they are in· cepts of movement-circling to the knife, feel its weight, touch the pOint, troduced to a set of innocuous drills inside, circling to th e outSide, in wide 2 3

4 5

Or, the same basic motion as in the second half of the belt drill can be us· ed to move in on an opponent. DiVito's hope is not to teach techniques per se, but to instill the concepts of evasion, circularity and counterattack. Here, he controls the attacker's knife hand (1&2) and moves in past the knife (3). Jam· ming the .opponent's right arm with his own right shoulder, DiVito applies a choke (4&5). 69 1 2

4

Finally. against a feal knife, DiVito ;s confident, efficient, and brutal. His basic motion is that of the belt drill's first half, but performed with the right arm. From a balanced ready posture, he controls the attacker's knife hand and moves in (2). His fight arm moves under and around in a clockwise motion, while his left hand still grips 'the opponent's wrist (3). As the circle is completed, DiVito's wristlock drags his opponent down for a kick to the head (4).

or small ci rcles: the basic motions of begin with rubber knives if they like ing their drills with wooden knives or almost any parry, block or joint lock. -there's no danger that way, and at real , taped blades. "That's just one Such individual drills allow a student least they get the general feel of a more step in th e process," says to work from high speed to low speed, knife, the ex ten sion and the basic Di Vi to, "working the drills with a stiff to innovate whenever he may feel idea. But, DiVito also poi nts out , blade, instead of one that will bend ready, and above all to grow comfort­ " there's a whole finesse to working harmlessly. You're not going to get able, natural, with the basic motions with the knile, too, Ihat yo u can on ly cut or stuck, beca use the blade is of self-defense. discover through actually doing it." taped. Yes, it's more dangerou s than Next, the same sort of drill can be When applying the blocks and parries a rubber knife, but the student shou ld applied empty-handed with a partner. or jO int locks, th e student must have be more prepared to deal with it by The student at this stage naturally an idea 01 where the point of a knife then, too. You have to feel that blade begins to " feel " for himself th e con­ would be at each stage of a ce rt ain when you do the drill, because it's cepts and techniques from the belt move, where the edge might be, what completely different working with a drill that can be applied to th e human an opponent could be expected to do stiff blade than a fl exible one_We try arm. " Empty-handed is a little more wi th the knife while the disarm is at­ to get as close to reality as we can." real than doing the drill with a belt," tempted. "There's not much room for What DiVito is trying to do with DiVito explains, "and we're trying to mistakes in handling a knife," as these drills is subtle. Not only is he make it real. Make it real gradually, DiVito makes plain. "Either you win or hoping to prepare a student physical­ but make it reaL " you die." ly for an encounter against a knife­ At some stage, therefore, the part­ So it is preferred that Di Vi to's fighter; he also hopes to "establish a ners must work with knives. They can students also eventually begin work- communication" between the st ud ent 70 and the knife. Here some very unusual exercises come in . " What I'll do somet imes," Di Vito says, " is have the student lake a cut. The blade is taped, of course, so no· body really gets hurt. But I'll have one student slash, then I'll say, 'okay now take the cut , take th e cut,' and the oth er student wi ll ac tually move into the path of the knife. I'll have them do thi s with th eir eyes closed, too. Or I'll slow the moti on down, slow it down, slow it down. What this does is allow the individual to take controt of the knife. 'Okay, you have the. knife and I don't; but I have just as much control as you do.' You see, if they can inten­ tionally take the cut, well then, pychologically, they can also decide, 'this time I'm going to avoid the cut,' and they can sidestep. There's a real­ ly powerful psychological barrier here that gets broken down ." This parti cu lar exercise is so powerful in its effects, says DiVito, th at students often fee l they can "see" the path of th e knife blind­ folded. "There's such a strong emo­ tion going on when you can't see and yo u kn ow yo u're goi ng to take that cut. You establish a whole new sen­ sitivity to the weapon," he says. Throughout this process, students are becoming acclimated, in a sense, to the kn ife. Th ey are learning to move in certain ways against the knife; th ey are ove rcoming their own in st inctual

"I'll have one student slash, then I'll sa y, 'okay now take the cut, ta ke the cut . .. ' " or irrational fea rs of the kni fe, and they are learning to understand it as a weapon. One area of crucial impor­ tance remain s-the opponent. "Some people think that a per­ son's only going to move one way with the knife," says DiVito, "but they're wrong. A guy might not thrust with the knife; he may slice. Or he may chop at you. Maybe he's going to move in, maybe he's not. There are so many different ways to move with a kn ife! " Th ere are, in fact, as many ways to move as there are potential oppo­ nen ts. To deal with that problem, ac­ tu al fighting scenarios are set up in DiV ito's classes. " I'll put on different identities, th at is, 'be ' different ways, and attack the students," he says. " I'l l Continued on page 89 GRADIENTS OF FEAR Conlinued !rom page 71

take a knife and fight them, as if I were afraid, or sloppy, or drunk; or overwhelming, or vicious. Because martial arts are not only arts of mo· tion, they are arts of 'being.' What happens is that you may get a guy who's big and vicious, or a guy who's little and sneaky-how do you handle a guy who's sneaky? Or, maybe there's a guy who looks totally unas· sum ing, and all of a sudden he's a deadly killer. How do yo u handle that on the street? How do yo u even perce ive that it's there? It's a confron· tation of bodies, but it's also some· th ing else.

"So often, what's going on spiritually is overlooked . .. "

"So often," says DiVito, "what's going on spirituall y is overlooked by the martial artist, or misunderstood. So what I wa nt to do is develop drills and experiences that will handle that. Meaning this: not just Sitting down and thinking, but actually doing things that will make the guy more confident. And not just more confi· dent, but drill s that wi ll take all this dispersed and scattered, terrori zed energy and turn it into a more uti­ lizable form. That way, the person faces a knife, and instead of being scattered all over and feeling weak and shakin g, he is ab le to take that energy and use it to be centered, be· cause he knows he can confront the situation. He can confront th e knife." )0(