United Studios of Self Defense (USSD)

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Blindside

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You know, I read something like this and come to the realization that I am a big loser. I mean, I started martial arts the same time as Mr. Geary and we're about the same age, and given his spotty training early on, I probably have more time in. Yet I look at all he has accomplished.... I mean 10th degree, thats AWESOME! He went from 7th to 10th in less time than I would be allowed to go from 2nd to 3rd, thats freakin' amazing! Then I look down at my belt and see the lowly double bars of a 2nd degree, and think "God, I must suck."






:rolleyes:
 

Danjo

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Blindside said:
You know, I read something like this and come to the realization that I am a big loser. I mean, I started martial arts the same time as Mr. Geary and we're about the same age, and given his spotty training early on, I probably have more time in. Yet I look at all he has accomplished.... I mean 10th degree, thats AWESOME! He went from 7th to 10th in less time than I would be allowed to go from 2nd to 3rd, thats freakin' amazing! Then I look down at my belt and see the lowly double bars of a 2nd degree, and think "God, I must suck."
:rolleyes:

At least you realize it about yourself. It's the first step toward getting help. I might suggest that the first thing you do is go to the art museum and have your diploma's framed in gold. BTW, have you thought of having your certificates certified by a notary public? If not, then it's no wonder why you're where you're at compared to CNG. ;)
 

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Did anyone notice that his certificates are dated September 1st 2006? So he's not a 10th degree until then?
 

Hand Sword

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Danjo said:
At least you realize it about yourself. It's the first step toward getting help. I might suggest that the first thing you do is go to the art museum and have your diploma's framed in gold. BTW, have you thought of having your certificates certified by a notary public? If not, then it's no wonder why you're where you're at compared to CNG. ;)

Those are some good ideas. Maybe we can add a photo, digitally altered, putting you in the picture with an esteemed master, holding your "rank certificate", and shaking their hand.
 

Carol

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Danjo said:
Did anyone notice that his certificates are dated September 1st 2006? So he's not a 10th degree until then?

He probably post-dated his checks ;)
 

Carol

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Hand Sword said:
Those are some good ideas. Maybe we can add a photo, digitally altered, putting you in the picture with an esteemed master, holding your "rank certificate", and shaking their hand.

To hell with digitially altered photos. We've got an unaltered photo of Blindside and an esteemed master. He's got his rank certificate...right here.;)
 

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Danjo

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Geary: "On July 10, and July 12, 2006, I received a letter and two certificates in the mail from Dr. Nesbitt (click here to view)."

Hmmmm...recieved them in the mail eh? That just reeks of legitimacy!

Geary:The Black Belt Certification says that I have been promoted to “Judan 10th Dan” rank and “found to be of good character, sound morals, and a leader among martial artists everywhere.” The other certificate says that I am the Founder of my system, Christopher N. Geary’s Shaolin Ch’uan Fa, and that I am “hereby registered with The International Martial Arts Masters Federation as Soke/Head of Family with all rights and privileges hereto appertaining.”

Do these rights and priveleges include vandalizing student's cars etc.? Any Soke's out there to confirm this one?

Geary: Being promoted to Tenth Dan by Dr. Nesbitt made me the second youngest Judan (tenth-degree black belt) Grandmaster in the world at age 35, and the youngest person in the United States ever to have achieved this rank through legitimate means.

Geary's International Dictionary of Omaha: legitimate, adj., 1. To aquire through the mail 2. something obtained by purchasing it or begging for it. ex.: "I just bought a legitimate Judan today."

You might wonder why I used the word “legitimate” above. Many people are unaware that some martial artists try to trick the public by promoting themselves to the rank of tenth-degree black belt or by having their students promote them.

No! Say it ain't so!

Needless to say, this type of promotion is meaningless. Legitimate black belt promotions are made only by someone of higher rank, not self-proclaimed or awarded by someone of lower rank (such as a student).

Now Honestly, would any of us have known that you don't get rank from juniors if he hadn't told us this? Thank you CNG!

During my career in the martial arts, in my black belt rankings, I have received ranks, titles, and recognition from seven different martial artists/organizations of higher rank than myself.

Notice he didn't say he EARNED rank from anyone.

I was honored to be promoted by Dr. Nesbitt, who began training in the martial arts in 1974 and holds the rank of Tenth Dan in two systems.

I expect that Geary will beat THAT measly record!

Dr. Nesbitt is President of the International Martial Arts Masters Federation, Vice-President of the Sayokan World Federation, and President of the United States Sayokan Federation. He is a tenth-degree black belt, Founder, and Grandmaster of the Pylsungdo martial art system, and he is also a tenth-degree black belt in Sayokan Goshinkaikan, a Turkish martial arts system. Dr. Nesbitt has 47 schools in Turkey, as well as schools in Iran, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Well, if he's a master of Sayokan Goshinkaikan, then he must be for real!

Dr. Nesbitt compared Pylsungdo and Sayokan as follows: “Pylsungdo is real-life self-defense, with no equipment—no gloves, no headgear, no footgear. The only equipment we use is a mouthpiece and a groin cup.

This visual is not a pleasant one. Some uniform eh? I'd haul *** away from some dude dressed like that so fast, I'd set my own record!

“My other tenth-degree black belt is in Sayokan Goshinkaikan, the Turkish martial art system founded and led by Yabgu Nihat Yigit of Ankara, Turkey,” Dr. Nesbitt continued. “Nihat is like a brother to me, and as a matter of fact we call each other brother. He is one of the finest martial artists and individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and training with. In 2002 the Turkish government asked me to come over and review the Sayokan system so they could decide whether to approve it. In Turkey you can’t even teach a karate system unless it’s approved by the government. I reviewed the system and told them it was one of the best I’d ever seen. I had such an interest in it that the government promoted me to tenth-degree black belt in the system and asked me to take it under my direction. Yabgu Nihat Yigit had created this system, but he didn’t have anyone over him. He asked me if I would be his overseer, and I told him he didn’t need me to oversee him, but I would be glad to help him in any way I could. I promoted him to Tenth Dan so that his system could be legitimate as far as politics. He asked me to be a vice-president of the federation in Turkey. I started a Sayokan federation in the United States and then transferred it back to Ankara, Turkey. I’m the president of the federation in this country.”

I love it when the government promotes people to tenth degree due to interest. Man, that makes it legit!

They hear about my name and my organization, and they read about me. I don’t try to sound boastful; I don’t have to impress anybody. I’m a Christian, and I try to be a humble man; I try to be like Jesus.

Who would Jesus promote to tenth degree?

That’s why hearing from somebody like Christopher N. Geary is refreshing. I checked out his credentials to make sure he was legitimate before I decided to go ahead. I’ve done that, and he’s very legitimate. I believe in him, and I’m going to help him in every way I can.”


Ooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaay

Dr. Nesbitt believes that too often, decisions about upper rank promotions are made solely on the basis of politics.

Rather than money.

Dr. Nesbitt explained what is involved in being a teacher of teachers: “The Grandmaster has to guide teachers. You have to be able to show a teacher what it means to look at a student when they walk in the door and know whether they’ve had a bad day and how far to push them or back away from them. Or maybe you need to just give them a smile and a hug and say ‘I love ya!’ That’s what a Tenth Dan is. A Tenth Dan is not about how good somebody can fight or how good somebody can kick.

Whew! Thank God it isn't about kicking or fighting ability! Man, I bet Geary was sweating that one! And, I can't remember my instructor ever telling me that he loves me. Oh well.

For every belt rank, there has to be another level of maturity.

Yep.35 years old is the level needed for a tenth degree.

Some people may wonder why someone would be promoted from seventh-degree to tenth-degree rather than from seventh to eighth to ninth and finally to tenth. Dr. Nesbitt said, “I promoted Christopher from Seventh to Tenth Dan because he has done something that most men at his level haven’t done. I know that he can run his own system, because he’s been doing it for many years. It appears to me that his goals are high, and he has a great love for his students. He is a man of integrity and sound character. When you have a man like that, you want to give him the best that you can give him so that he can be the best and provide for his students the best way. If I had only given him Eighth Dan, there’s not really much difference from Seventh Dan. If you are below the rank of Tenth Dan, there’s always somebody who is looking to have authority over you—somebody who thinks that your students should pay them money instead of you. I didn’t want that. I wanted Christopher to have the freedom to do anything he wanted to do in his system. He has worked so hard he shouldn’t have to be taking the money from his students and giving it to someone else, because he’s doing all the work.”

I think we're getting to the core truth here.

On July 11, 2006, I took my Tenth Dan and Founder of System certificates to an art gallery to be framed. As I was leaving, my mind flashed back to a conversation that took place in the mid-1990s when I called Nick Cerio’s office to ask him a question.

And to lie to them about how long you had been training.

The person who picked up the phone was Kathy Costa, who happened to be one of the editors of the State of the Arts magazine published for members of Nick Cerio’s organization, the NCIMAA. Kathy and I started talking, and I mentioned that I intended to develop my own system by choosing the best elements from other systems and teaching them to my students. Kathy replied, “It would be very immature and irresponsible for you to develop your own system without getting permission first.”

And she was right.

Some people might have let their plans be thrown off course by a comment like that, but I didn’t. I believe that if you want something in life, you have to be willing to go after it.

Not earn it, but "go after it"

If my technique was not what a person was looking for, I would fix it and come away with a certificate that very few people were humble enough to try for.

It's because they had integrity.

There are many martial artists who talk instead of listen. You can find them all over the Internet; in fact, some people call them the “keyboard warriors.” They try to cover up their lack of ability by hiding behind the number of years they have been in the martial arts, telling people you have to be a certain rank for a number of years before being promoted. To me, just putting in time is not important. Ability and initiative will get you where you want to go, not sitting around and waiting for things to happen.

'nuff said.
 

Blindside

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Carol Kaur said:
To hell with digitially altered photos. We've got an unaltered photo of Blindside and an esteemed master. He's got his rank certificate...right here.;)

Sweet! Could someone who is good at photoshop have Rich's right arm handing me my Judan certificate in a gold frame.

This is so cool!

Lamont

PS: I'm fairly glad that Rich lives on the other side of the US from me....
 

Carol

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Blindside said:
PS: I'm fairly glad that Rich lives on the other side of the US from me....

Oh, no doubt. Especially since as Judan you are *delivering* the kick to Mr. Parsons for your rank instead of *receiving* it. :rofl:

Dang, it must be good to be Soke!


CNG says: "We talked for a while and Dr. Nesbitt checked out my background, and he decided to promote me to the rank of tenth-degree black belt (also known as Tenth Dan), the highest black belt ranking in the martial arts."

All you need to do is talk for awhile and submit to a background check? I can pass one of those.

Now that I'm thinking of changing schools, I was worried that I'd have to start all over at white belt again. Maybe I can start all over as Soke instead! Woot!! :partyon:
 

marlon

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John Bishop said:
I assume your talking about Costas Beralis, one of Philip Gelinas's students. As far as I know much of Philip's Kajukenbo teaching is from the "Chuan Fa" branch, which came about long after Sonny Gascon left Kajukenbo.
But I have to agree that similarities can be found in just about all martial arts. One time I was doing a cover story on Fumio Demura. One of the techniques he did for the article was identical to a Kajukenbo club counter, with the exception of one strike. Now I know Kajukenbo has no connection to Shito Ryu karate. But there are Okinawan karate techniques in the Hawaiian kenpo systems, so they will appear sometimes in kenpo, Karazenpo, and Kajukenbo.
Now, would it be proper to say SKK has Kajukenbo roots? Possibly, but very minimal. But you have to ask yourself this question. If George Pesare was a purple belt in Karazenpo (not Kajukenbo), a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and a black belt in Judo in his early days of teaching, wouldn't his root system and lineage be Tae Kwon Do or Judo? And then the system went to Nick Cerio who also obtained kenpo rank from Professor Chow, and a couple other teachers of kung fu and jujitsu. So again the purple belt knowledge of Karazenpo gets diluted some more in it's passage to Fred Villari.
As to the katas Kimo teaches, I'm really not familiar with the katas that Walter Godin and Martin Buell adopted into their system.

Thanks for the info. I will revise my understanding. I do not particularly like tdk though, and none of kempo looks like it...but in the end truth is thruth.

Respectfully,
Marlon
 

bayonet

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Ol'Geary is now a tenth. In a few more months he will be the first ever 11th Dan. I am amazed he hasn't claimed SL4 status after Doc's visit. He probably knew better. Let's see here:

Chuck Sullivan 10th Dan: 49 years active
Hee IL Cho 9th Dan: 55 years active

I wonder what Clyde has to say about this! :rofl:

People in Nebraska actually buy into this guy. Hey Geary..OPS! my bad...Grandmaster...baiter...go tune a meatwhistle..

PS. Your two handed grab self defense technique video was just brilliant!:rofl:
 

James Kovacich

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I'm not making excuses for Geary because I think he likely suffers from ADD. I just want to comment on this

"Chuck Sullivan 10th Dan: 49 years active
Hee IL Cho 9th Dan: 55 years active"

It's been said that 50 years active does not equal 10th degree. Is there any reason to claim the 10th without your instructor giving it to you?

I especially would like to hear from John Bishop. When it comes down to it, his word, more times than not is pointing in the right direction.
 

John Bishop

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akja said:
I'm not making excuses for Geary because I think he likely suffers from ADD. I just want to comment on this

"Chuck Sullivan 10th Dan: 49 years active
Hee IL Cho 9th Dan: 55 years active"

It's been said that 50 years active does not equal 10th degree. Is there any reason to claim the 10th without your instructor giving it to you?

I especially would like to hear from John Bishop. When it comes down to it, his word, more times than not is pointing in the right direction.

Well, we have a gentleman who was a green belt in 1994. And between 1995 and today, he found one organization that video promoted him to brown belt, and 6 months later 1st degree. Then he found another organization that promoted him from there a few more times up to 7th degree. Then he found another organization that would give him another 6th degree. And yet another organization that would give him another 7th degree. And finally another organization that decided to just skip 8th and 9th degrees, and give him a 10th degree. All this without actually ever physically training under any of the 10th degrees who promoted him.
So how does that make these organizations look? Not very good, would be an extremely polite way of describing these kinds of organizations.
My black belts train in my classes side by side with all the other students, to earn their promotions. And when they've put in the appropriate amount of time training and teaching, their promotion is free. Now can these 5 organization heads say the same thing?
 

James Kovacich

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John Bishop said:
Well, we have a gentleman who was a green belt in 1994. And between 1995 and today, he found one organization that video promoted him to brown belt, and 6 months later 1st degree. Then he found another organization that promoted him from there a few more times up to 7th degree. Then he found another organization that would give him another 6th degree. And yet another organization that would give him another 7th degree. And finally another organization that decided to just skip 8th and 9th degrees, and give him a 10th degree. All this without actually ever physically training under any of the 10th degrees who promoted him.
So how does that make these organizations look? Not very good, would be an extremely polite way of describing these kinds of organizations.
My black belts train in my classes side by side with all the other students, to earn their promotions. And when they've put in the appropriate amount of time training and teaching, their promotion is free. Now can these 5 organization heads say the same thing?
I understand where your coming from and I'm not making excuses for any orgainization. And I also want to say that Kajukenbo today, has blossomed into maybe the cleanest schools. Kajukenbo instructors are all respected but some of their sister arts don't share that. But this is the question I wanted your opinion.

It's been said that 50 years active does not equal 10th degree. Is there any reason to claim the 10th without your instructor giving it to you?
 

AmericanKenpoChris

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I guess that we all want to be someone special and our lives to count for something. My interests have always been centered around music, karate, and comedy. I am 34 and have come to the realization that I will never be a rock star. I will never be as funny as Gilbert Godfrey. I guess Chris Geary just wanted to be the best Fred Villari that he could be.

I personally started karate to be able to defend myself some 22 years ago. I haven't been in any fights since grade school and don't plan to be in any in the near future, but really don't care if I am not a 5th by now. If were a tenth at my age, what would I look forward to? I look forward to a lifetime of attaining knowledge. I guess I will never be as special Chris Geary, but that's okay.
 
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