Grandmaster S. George Pesare Seminar

[Karazenpo]

Shihan Kathy and I just got back from a seminar (the original forms of Karazenpo Go Shinjutsu) put on by Grandmaster S. George Pesare with the assistance of Grandmaster Marc Ayotte in Reading, Ma. sponsored by Shihans Bob Nohelty and Jimmy Bryant of Masters Self Defense Centers. Gm. Pesare brought tapes he had transferred from 8mm to VCR. They go back to circa. 1960 while he was training in California and later in Rhode Island. Some were taken in Bill Ryusaki's back yard. Gm. Pesare demonstrated the forms, combinations, plus one, two and three man sparring of the Karazenpo system. All contact on techniques were with 60 per cent power. Talk about contact! It showed Mr. Pesare wearing a white belt doing techniques, fighting, breaking, kata that looked much better than many high ranking black belts I've seen today and over the years. His movements were crisp, extremely fast, powerful, accurate and had that great Kajukenbo/Kempo flow. Some techniques were improvised on the spot and showed no hestitation. Ground followups (groundwork) was also emphasized. An added bonus was Nick Cerio and George Pesare pairing off with each other when Mr. Cerio was a student of Mr. Pesare. The tapes spanned a period of time and you could see Professor Cerio get better and better as the tape went on. Gm. Pesare had the kicks of a Korean fighter coupled to the ultra-fast kempo hands with judo throws and takedowns and powerful breaking demonstrations. I believe Gm. Pesare stated the film is available to anyone who'd like to see it. I think he said he didn't mind anyone having a copy if they requested but I will double check that. A great tape that makes you appreciate the dedication, talent and toughness of these early pioneers. Like he told the group, he made the tape not ever imagining how important it would be over four decades later!

 

[CoolKempoDude]

it would be nice to be able to see it on the world wide web

i have DSL. Put it on the web, please

 

[Karazenpo]

CoolKempo, I would love too but it wouldn't be my place to do that. It would be solely up to Gm. Pesare whom I have the utmost respect. He was very humble over this tape and actually only started showing in over the last year. I will speak to him about the serious interest in the tape, I posted this on two other forums and got a bunch of e-mails requesting a copy. I thought he said he didn't mind anyone having a copy and Shihan Kathy thought he said that two but it was a long day and we may have misunderstood, so just let me confirm and we'll take it from there. I'm going down there for training on Saturday and I will inquire then. Thanks for the interest! Shihan Joe

 

[pknox]

I definitely hope he says yes, as it would be quite interesting to see. As was detailed in another thread, GM Pesare has had a profound effect on many practitioners of Kempo and its derived styles, as quite a few lineages evidently went through him.

 

[Karazenpo]

I hope so too, pknox, seeing is believing and I would love everyone to see this film. I also agree wholeheartedly in your assessment to his contributions to the kempo world!

 

[Karazenpo]

Hey guys, I've been getting swamped with e-mails on the Gm. Pesare film so instead of waiting until Saturday I called him tonight. He was very happy to hear about all the interest. He asked me to let anyone interested in obtaining a copy to correspond directly through him at [email protected]

 

[pknox]

Joe -

Thank you very much for the contact info. I e-mailed GM Pesare, and am greatly looking forward to seeing the video!

 

[Karazenpo]

You're entirely welcome, sir! You will enjoy it! Keep this in mind when viewing it, the amazing part of it is these guys were still very, very young in their training but you would never know it by their performance, no wonder why they became icons. Grandmaster Roger Carpenter (Gm. Pesare's first black belt) of Wichita, Kansas is also on this tape. I was totally impressed!