Newbie/oldie sez 'hi'

Apache Kid

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Hi, Folks,

I guess I must be the “Martial Geezer” here. I was into this stuff so long ago that I’m not even sure I can remember all the phrases. I studied Kara-Te and Judo while on active duty as a young Infantry Officer in Korea in ’62 – ’63 (hence the term “Geezer”). My instructor was a 6th Degree Black-Belt named “Che.” He was two things at the same time: (1) Walking-Death, and (2) A guy with the gentle soul of the Buddha himself. He was about the size of ‘Odd-Job’ in the James Bond flicks, yet quicker than a cat!

I guess I could add this phrase to the blog: “He used to beat the crap out of me several times a week!” I guess the worst part was hitting that straw mat after going over a shoulder from an altitude of 4 or 5 feet.

Which leads to a couple of questions:

1. I had to learn two forms before departing Korea – And these are from my aging memory:
The ‘Basan’ and the ‘Nai-Ichi-Wan.’

I thought these were Japanese terms, but these names have a number of meanings, and/or they could be spelled differently. I know ‘Ichi’ means Number One, but it could imply something else. ‘Nai’ seems to mean ‘Not’, but what else? I think ‘Wan’ might mean ‘Arm’ but in what context? I’ve heard that ‘Basan’ means ‘Fire-Breathing Rooster’ which isn’t much help. ‘Kata-Bassan-Dai’ appears to mean ‘Most Powerful’ or ‘Best Defensive Posture.’ ‘Nai-Wan’ can mean ‘Inner side of arm.’ Anyway, I never learned what-the-hell these two Kara-Te form names actually mean when translated. Can anybody help?

2. I would really like to learn what happened to my old instructor, Mr. Che. I think he lives in Seoul. I heard that he later served as Master Judo instructor for the Korean Martial-Arts Academy/Society. He must be in his late ‘60s or so by now. A super guy! Anybody ever heard of him, or know how I could contact him?


I later studied Tai-Chi with a bunch of Chinese associates in the early ‘90s. They would chatter and joke in Mandarin which I never understood, but just looked around and grinned like I knew what the joke was. I suspect that sometimes the joke as me. I participated every week-end for 8 or 9 months. Then, the strangest thing happened to me. One day, in mid-practice, the Chi-Force surged through the four lines of participants and hit me, Big-Time! I was sitting there on my butt wondering what had happened, when the Chinese guys all stopped and had a big laugh . . . including the instructor. Then, some of them exchanged money, as they had been betting on when the Chi-Force would hit me. I think Chinese guys would bet on just about anything. I really learned to like Chinese people during that era! The Chi-Force remains a mystery to me.

I don’t do the ‘punchy/tossy/kicky’ stuff anymore, but I do have a muzzle-loading Kentucky Long-Rifle and a compound bow I like to play around with. So, I guess I’m not a total martial loss.
 

seasoned

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Welcome and greetings “Martial Geezer”, nice to have you aboard. Enjoy.
 

dancingalone

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1. I had to learn two forms before departing Korea – And these are from my aging memory:
The ‘Basan’ and the ‘Nai-Ichi-Wan.’

I thought these were Japanese terms, but these names have a number of meanings, and/or they could be spelled differently. I know ‘Ichi’ means Number One, but it could imply something else. ‘Nai’ seems to mean ‘Not’, but what else? I think ‘Wan’ might mean ‘Arm’ but in what context? I’ve heard that ‘Basan’ means ‘Fire-Breathing Rooster’ which isn’t much help. ‘Kata-Bassan-Dai’ appears to mean ‘Most Powerful’ or ‘Best Defensive Posture.’ ‘Nai-Wan’ can mean ‘Inner side of arm.’ Anyway, I never learned what-the-hell these two Kara-Te form names actually mean when translated. Can anybody help?

Are you sure you didn't learn Bassai Dai, often translated as Penetrating the Fortress, and Naihanchi Shodan (sometimes "Fighting on Home Ground" is given as the meaning for Naihanchi)? These are very common forms practiced in Korean karate, although the Korean pronunciation for Bassai would have been something like 'Palsek'. They come up readily in Youtube if you want to verify they are the forms you practiced.
 

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