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Garry
Parker -USA
Mr. Parker was the first American to be promoted to yudansha rank by Takamiyagi Shinshii, and he owns and operates the only Okinawa Goshukan-ryu dojo outside of Okinawa, and has been teaching since 1999.
Mr. Parker is married, has 3 daughters, and is a decorated
veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in Korea and Okinawa.
Bob
Perry -USA
I am a Fifth Dan Kukkiwon Taekwondo Black Belt, have taken several USNTF instructor course and am a certified Master level instructor, as well as an A-1 USTU Taekwondo referee certificate (one of a select few to have refereed 10,000 rounds of competition over the past 13 years).
I have studied boxing, and ballet, but prefer Jazz, party music, rhythm and blues. My hobbies are computer assisted large paintings (murals), dancing and mailing lists like this one.
In October 1999 volunteered helping Celebrate South
Africa We helped in bringing South African Martial arts to this two
city blocks of exhibits and because of that have met and made friends with
Masers Hoosain Narker and Mika-eel Taylor. We had them tell their own story
with seminars, demos.
Erik
Petermann - South Africa
Around 1980 met and started training (Kyokushin) with
Hoosain Narker. Also trained with Shihan Harry
Pieterkosky in Goju Ryu as well as at the Kyokushin Honbu
dojo. Worked as a nightclub bouncer from
1980 - 1984.
In 1982, began the study of World War 2 combatives with
Harry Snowise. Also studied Chinese Internal
Arts with Sifu Fok, Si Yue from 1982 -1990 and with Dr
Lin, Feng Chao from 1991 - 1996. As a result
of night club experiences, changed to Ashihara Karate
as Primary Art.
From 1992 started studying grappling principles culminating in 1997/1998 sharing of techniques with Ju Jutsu student from Brazil. During these years he qualified to teach Harry Snowise self-defence method and Chinese Internal Arts. He also obtained a Sandan ranking in Ashihara Karate.
Erik has taught Ashihara anti-grappling seminars and Chinese internal arts seminars in 1996, 1997 and 1998 in Israel, Germany and Namibia. He has written a few articles which has been published in International Martial Arts magazines, the most recent in the May 1998 edition of the US magazine "Black Belt" p.176, the article entitled "10 Universal Truths of the Martial Arts". Another article is the guest editorial in the December 1998 issue of Black Belt entitled "The Golden Age of the Martial Arts".
Currently he is working on the series of video tapes covering
Ashihara's self defence and ground work modules.
Martin
Petrovich - USA
Harry
Pieterkosky - South Africa
At that time his main responsibility was to teach the non-white classes (as classes were then separated on racial lines)on Friday night and Monday, Friday and Saturday at 5.30 in the morning. He was also in charge of the other uchi deshi’s, one of which was Sensei Henny de Vries. In 1971 when Sensei Morio Higaonna came to South Africa for 3 months, he was assigned to the Sensei as his personal assistant and chaperone.
He said that he learnt more about teaching in those three
months than what he had learned in the past 6
years. Before leaving, Sensei Higaonna graded 5 of the
students to 3 dan including himself and Sensei
Dennis and he qualified as instructors.
In June 1973, he broke away from Karate-do due to religious
and racial reasons, and started S A Gorei
Karate. At that time, when racially mixed classes were
not accepted, he ran non-racial classes as well as
gasshukus (camps). In 1974, he was graded national B
Class referee and at that time, as the only graded
referee in the Cape, was often asked to referee at other
styles tournaments; namely Samurai, etc.
By 1975 the only other contacts he had was Sensei James
Rousseau and Sensei Bakkies Laubscher in
Cape Town. In that year, he was graded to National A
Class Referee, even though he was so young. At a
Gasshuku in Johannesburg organised by Sensei James Rousseau’s
dojo, run by Sensei Higaonna, Sensei
Chinen and Terauchi, he was graded to fourth dan. In
1976, he was made Chief Referee at the Springbok
trials in Kimberley and also refereed at the tournament
against S A , Great Britain and Japan.
In 1980 he went to Japan for 3 and a half months and trained
three classes a day, five days a week with
Sensei Higaonna. On Fridays he trained with Sensei Shuji
Tazaki (Seiwa Kai Goju) and on Saturdays he
did Iaido (sword drawing). Before leaving Japan, he was
given the honour of doing his grading with an all
Japanese group and was graded to fifth dan .On his way
home he stopped off in England and trained at a
Aikido dojo for 10 days before returning.
Unfortunately with Cape Town being so far from Johannesburg
he did not mix much with Sensei Etienne
Coetzee, who was head of the IOGKF and he later broke
away totally on his own. He has trained with
Sensei’s Chris Thompson, Nigel Jackson, Bakkies Laubscher,
Stuart Booth and Malcolm Dorfman to
name just a few.
In 1972/3, he was the captain of the S A “B” team against
a team from England. Since 1975 he has
refereed at least one or two national tournaments every
year and is still doing it. (He hasn't refereed at
national tournaments due to being the manager.) In 1985/6
he was manager of the Western Province
junior team. In 1994 he was re-graded to A-Class referee
He spent time as the Chief referee of the Western Province
as well as on the national referees panel. In
1985 at the African Games he received his Continental
B Class Judge status. In 1997 he was the Manager
for the Western Province Junior and Senior team and also
the assistant Coach. Currently he is the
Manager of the Western Province Senior Team.
Today he is still very involved with training and teaching
. He heads the S A Gorei Karate group with
about 500 students in 17 dojo’s in the Western Province
and Boland areas. He specialises in self defence
training within the Goju Ryu style and although not contest
orientated, there are some of his students in
the provincial teams. He has trained in most of the traditional
Kobudo weapons and have devised his own
curriculum for the Bo, Sai and Tonfa as well as devising
a basic kata for the Tonfa, basic kumite for the
Bo and also a basic kata for the basic punches, blocks
and kicks. He teaches all the Goju Katas and as an
extra, the basic J K A katas (Heian 1 to 5, Tekki and
Bassaidai) as well as two Bo katas and two Sai katas
His has achieved the above despite the following disadvantages:
A) He was born with a type of polio (he do not have shoulder
joints and cannot straighten his arms higher
than his shoulders. He had to develop his body with weights,
especially his shoulder muscles)
B) He suffer from Gout which attacks the joints from time
to time. Neither of these problems has ever
stopped him from training or teaching. He has learned
to work around the gout attacks as they only attack
either his arms or feet and never both at the same time.
He still trains three mornings a week from 5.30 to 7.00
am,( black belts only) excluding the training he
does with his classes. He teaches 5 days a week, Monday
to Friday, with about 6 classes of one and a
half hours each per day.
Suzanne
Pinette - USA
My martial arts experience is mostly in Okinawan karate.
I'm also a writer finishing up a novel with MA angles. I'd love to
know how any of you feel -- positive or negative -- about martial arts
and fiction.
I cherish reading all valuable articles appearing in SABAKI
list. Most liked topic is new member introductions. I feel that I am meeting
new friends everyday. Not just average men and women but hard headed, strong
bodied but rationally thinking individuals sharing a common ideology on
a unique sport. (Sorry, karate is not just a sport but that is a topic
too big for my small knowledge to handle - help needed from all of you
and Kaicho Hussain!). I am a "brand loyalist" of Ashihara karate not only
because I am thinking Ashihara karate is a good style but because I am
miserably failing to by-hart many different katas of different styles.
I was amazed with Steven Resell San's long list of styles. Osz to you Steven
San! Also I love to correspond with list members off list mainly because
I enjoy studying behavioral & psychological attitudes of individuals
from our diverse universe. (just curiosity, not a research please). A big
vote of thanks to Kaicho Hussain for providing this valuable opportunity.
(I first met him in the Cyber Dojo and then he amazed me with names of
small towns of my small country - he has visited many of them). Finally
beg your pardon for the long mail, I was a member from inception but it
took me "all that long" to compile this letter.
Hank
Prohm -USA
In 2000, after many years as a ronin, I officially joined
Mabuni Kenzo's Shito-ryu group Nippon
Karatedo Kai under John Sells shihan. I am currently
ranked yondan.