Opinion of James Mitose

[Ray]

That would be Terry Lee. The guy that killed an elderly Japanese man and attempted to kill his wife. He's teaching the martial arts in Philledelphia I think.

Thanks, I knew the name (and his "new" name) but didn't think it necessary to state it. I was just thinking out loud that "I'll make you a kenpo master/grandmaster if you do this for me..." was part of his con.

 

[BlackCatBonz]

I'm not really sure how much Juchnik could have learned by doing nothing but listening and watching hand gestures in terms of martial arts knowledge, nor how much of the man's character he could have gotten a line on given that Mitose was clearly using him for his help with attorneys etc. It's pretty clear that Mitose was stringing Juchnik along if you read the letters that Mitose wrote Juchnik from prison which can be found on Juchnik's website. "there are certain arts I can only teach once I'm released" etc.

http://www.collectivesociety.com/skski/letter1.html

http://www.collectivesociety.com/skski/letter2.html

If you really want to know what he learned....all you gotta do is give him a call.......Hanshi isnt the BS'ing sort.

 

[Danjo]

If you really want to know what he learned....all you gotta do is give him a call.......Hanshi isnt the BS'ing sort.

Shawn,

in the last letter that Mitose wrote to Juchnik, it says that he hasn't learned all of the system and that he can only teach it to him outside of prison. The letter is dated after his certificate and the other letter on the website. I believe that Juchnik learned from Mitose by talking. Many others have confirmed this as true, but I question (just as Mitose apparently did) how much he could have learned that way.

 

[Flying Crane]

This isn't really my fight and maybe I shouldn't be sticking my nose in, but I dont understand the need for some of what is being said here. Mitose is the unfortunate recipient of a tremendous amount of controversy, much of which he brought upon himself. OK, that is established.

I think Handsword said it best: "I agree with other posts here. He was who he was, and did what he did. However, his place in the family tree can't be denied, even if he caused the rest of the "family" to be ashamed of him."

I just don't get why people need to keep picking at this. If we want to go this route, there are plenty of others with a few skeletons in their closet that we could sit and ridicule. How about Fred Villari for starters? These are men who made their contributions to their arts, however great or small they may have been, but who had some tremendous character flaws as well. OK, accept it and move on. What's done is done.

 

[kelly keltner]

Shawn,

in the last letter that Mitose wrote to Juchnik, it says that he hasn't learned all of the system and that he can only teach it to him outside of prison. The letter is dated after his certificate and the other letter on the website. I believe that Juchnik learned from Mitose by talking. Many others have confirmed this as true, but I question (just as Mitose apparently did) how much he could have learned that way.

Yeah, but According to Juchnik, Mitose also told him to seek out people like Robert Trias and others who were around at that time. He was also told to learn about sword arts, restorative arts, and caligraphy. So yes there were a lot of things that Mitose did not teach directly.
kk

 

[KenpoDave]

Yeah, but According to Juchnik, Mitose also told him to seek out people like Robert Trias and others who were around at that time. He was also told to learn about sword arts, restorative arts, and caligraphy. So yes there were a lot of things that Mitose did not teach directly.
kk

No, but he did give a direction to go.

 

[kelly keltner]

No, but he did give a direction to go.

Exactly

kk

 

[Hand Sword]

That's why he deserves a bow from the Hawaiian/American Kempo/Kenpo communities, at least for that reason. All we have is tied back to him, and his martial actions.

 

[DavidCC]

If anyone has the desire and patience to read through it, here is a link where you can download for free the entire court transcript

http://www.christophergeary.com/James-Mitose.php

 

[Hand Sword]

I know his court stuff is pretty bad, as well as his personal life. That aside, Truth is the truth. Our systems teachers, ultimately go back to Professor Chow, who goes back to James Mitose. Therefore in our world, his place is set in stone, in my opinion. We have family members that do bad things, we say "we disown them", but, they are still who they are-- our family.