Danjo
Master Black Belt
Leo Fong just wrote an article that I found interesting. I also happen to agree with it. Here it is:
TIMING: Someone once said, “Timing is everything!” As I look back and look ahead, I totally agree. Whether it be in business, martial arts, relationships and many other “life spaces”; timing plays an important role in the proficiency content of that particular “life space.” Down through the years, people unfamiliar with the essence of martial arts would ask me the question, “Which style or system is the best? Can a boxer beat a wrestler, kicker beat a puncher?” In my early years I had to ramble around for an answer. Only in recent years I have come to the conclusion that styles and systems are secondary. If a person has timing, whatever the style or system; it will work. It really has nothing to do with quantity of techniques as much as it has to do with quality of the technique.
Back in the late 50’s I was operating a martial arts school with Raymond Yee in Sacramento. He taught Jiu Jitsu, was also a classmate of Wally Jay when both lived in Hawaii. I taught Western boxing. One day someone informed me that Tracy’s Kenpo is opening a studio in town. I was curious as to what they taught. Martial arts schools were rare in those days. It didn’t take long for Al Tracy to fill his studio with students. I was really interested in what Kenpo was all about. Al explained to me his system has over 200 techniques; that each technique covers about every conceivable attack possible. When I left I was a little envious and confused. I was torn between joining his studio and abandoning my boxing skills for a radical overhaul of my martial arts focus. Months later someone told me that two Kenpo students went to Sam’s Hof-Brau on 18th and Jay Street in Sacramento, California. When they walked into the Hof-Brau, they immediately walked over to an old man bent over drinking a beer.
There were several empty beer bottles sitting in front of him. No doubt he had been on a drinking binge for a while. The two Kenpo kids walked up to the bar and started a conversation with the semi-inebriated guy. One word led to another and the old guy put his beer down and walks out the door with the two Kenpo kids behind him. When the three were outside, the two Kenpo kids got into a horse stance and try to attack the old drunk. Quick as lightning the old man side step, threw a left hook and down went Kenpo kid one. The second Kenpo kid charged in with a feeble kick, the old man again side step and let go a left hook and down went Kenpo kid two. The old man walks back into the Hof-Brau and finished his beer. Days later some of the patrons at the Hof-Brau mentioned that the old man was a “washed up professional fighter” who use to fight on the under card in boxing matches in the late 40’s and early 50’s at the Sacramento Civic Auditorium across the street from Sam’s Hof-Brau. It is my own feeling that timing played an important role in teaching those two troublemakers a lesson. Timing is important in all areas of life. Life challenges us to find ways to develop a sense of timing in all we do. –Leo Fong
TIMING: Someone once said, “Timing is everything!” As I look back and look ahead, I totally agree. Whether it be in business, martial arts, relationships and many other “life spaces”; timing plays an important role in the proficiency content of that particular “life space.” Down through the years, people unfamiliar with the essence of martial arts would ask me the question, “Which style or system is the best? Can a boxer beat a wrestler, kicker beat a puncher?” In my early years I had to ramble around for an answer. Only in recent years I have come to the conclusion that styles and systems are secondary. If a person has timing, whatever the style or system; it will work. It really has nothing to do with quantity of techniques as much as it has to do with quality of the technique.
Back in the late 50’s I was operating a martial arts school with Raymond Yee in Sacramento. He taught Jiu Jitsu, was also a classmate of Wally Jay when both lived in Hawaii. I taught Western boxing. One day someone informed me that Tracy’s Kenpo is opening a studio in town. I was curious as to what they taught. Martial arts schools were rare in those days. It didn’t take long for Al Tracy to fill his studio with students. I was really interested in what Kenpo was all about. Al explained to me his system has over 200 techniques; that each technique covers about every conceivable attack possible. When I left I was a little envious and confused. I was torn between joining his studio and abandoning my boxing skills for a radical overhaul of my martial arts focus. Months later someone told me that two Kenpo students went to Sam’s Hof-Brau on 18th and Jay Street in Sacramento, California. When they walked into the Hof-Brau, they immediately walked over to an old man bent over drinking a beer.
There were several empty beer bottles sitting in front of him. No doubt he had been on a drinking binge for a while. The two Kenpo kids walked up to the bar and started a conversation with the semi-inebriated guy. One word led to another and the old guy put his beer down and walks out the door with the two Kenpo kids behind him. When the three were outside, the two Kenpo kids got into a horse stance and try to attack the old drunk. Quick as lightning the old man side step, threw a left hook and down went Kenpo kid one. The second Kenpo kid charged in with a feeble kick, the old man again side step and let go a left hook and down went Kenpo kid two. The old man walks back into the Hof-Brau and finished his beer. Days later some of the patrons at the Hof-Brau mentioned that the old man was a “washed up professional fighter” who use to fight on the under card in boxing matches in the late 40’s and early 50’s at the Sacramento Civic Auditorium across the street from Sam’s Hof-Brau. It is my own feeling that timing played an important role in teaching those two troublemakers a lesson. Timing is important in all areas of life. Life challenges us to find ways to develop a sense of timing in all we do. –Leo Fong
