I knew Tom Connor and the Huff family during the 70's. I was a Traco student at one of the three schools which were opened at that time in Tucson, Az. My instructor was Tom Hinds of the 22nd Street school. There are always discouraging remarks about people when they break a partnership. Eg. Chow-Parker, Parker-Woo, Parker-Connor, Connor-Tracy, etc.
Tom Connor received his black belt from Ed Parker and can been verified by looking in "Ed Parkers Black Belt Family Tree." Jay Huff Sr (4th black) and Jay Jr (1st black) were both black belts under Connor and are also in Parkers Family Tree under the Tom Connor tree. Jay Jr would receive his 2nd black from his dad and may have gotten a 3rd black after I left in 1980.
Connor was a tough individual and good at kata and brick breaking. Very good businessman too. I have a picture of Connor breaking adobe blocks with his forearm. Besides the numbered kataÂ’s in Ed Parkers system, it was Connor who developed many of the "flowing" kataÂ’s in the Traco system. The kataÂ’s that were being taught and on the charts back in those days were:
All the numbered kataÂ’s..."Short One", "Long One", through "Number Five." Most of these were the kataÂ’s Jimmy Wing Woo developed for Ed Parker back in the early 60's and taught to Parker, the TracyÂ’s and James Ibrao. Ibrao developed "Number Four" and ParkerÂ’s only kata was "Number Five." I knew some Ed Parker instructorÂ’s and they never had a "Number Six" or "Number Seven" back then. First time I saw "Number Six" was in 1979 from Gilbert Valez who ran one of ParkerÂ’s schools in Tucson. It must have been fairly new then. Gilbert Valez is a great martial artist.
"Bookset" which Parker either learned from Woo or a book in San Francisco; hence the name. I have heard it called "The Panther Set" back then too.
"Finger Set One" and "Finger Set Two" from Parker; probably developed by Woo.
"Stalking Panther", "Flowing Hands", "The Boxing Form" or "The Boxer", "Chinese Single Sword" and "Short Staff" were all Connor developed kataÂ’s. Tracy brothers may have had some involvement, but I heard they were from Connor. Connor was a dance instructor at one time and could really flow, and those kataÂ’s fit him perfectly.
"Mass Attack" was either a Tracy or Tracy-Connor kata. I am not sure. Nice kata though. We used to teach it to green belts.
"Tiger and the Crane" which I had to learn from Master Augustine Fong of the Wing Chun Gung Fo school. as the HuffÂ’s forgot it or never learned it. There is a similarity between "Tiger and the Crane" and "Bookset" and the "Finger Sets." Parker may have taken "Bookset" from that kata or Jimmy Wing Woo was involved with "Bookset." Though similar, they have some differences.
I have no idea how the above kataÂ’s are being taught today, but I know the original kataÂ’s as they were taught the 70's to this day. I also wrote them down the day I learned them and have them in the computer. The other Connor-Tracy kataÂ’s that are mentioned or on the charts now were not developed when I was studying; but Connor was innovative and must have developed many more kata's over the years.
I was asked by Huff Sr to develop a kata which I did. I called it "Flashing Cougar." I never added it to the charts and only performed it at tournaments. I think I may have taught it to one student. I know it is out there because other schools would film it when I competed and I have seen it performed under other names.
After the Connors-Huff split in the early 70's, the HuffÂ’s called the schools "Chinese Martial Arts Association" and kept the three schools for a time. Jay Huff Sr was the president, but the schools were run by the black belt instructors of Huffs. Connor-Huff Tucson black belts during the 70's were:
Female named Kelly and last name escapes me (Huff Sr's love interest), 1st black who was was long gone when I arrived.
Robert Huff, 1st black and son and brother of the JayÂ’s. Robert taught part time for a short while. Robert was excellent at kata and a pretty good fighter.
David Sansek (sp), 1st black who ran the 22nd Street school during the Traco days. I never saw him do any techniques or kumite, but heard he was good.
Tom Hinds, 1st black who learned primarily from Sansek and Huff Sr. Hinds took over as the head instructor of the 22nd St school after Sansek left in 1971. Of all the black belts, Tom was the best in my opinion. He always took home trophies in kumite, kata, and weapons kata. When he performed kata it looked like a feather dancing in the wind. When he jumped, he seemed to hang in the air. In kumite, Tom was fast and deadly. Tom always said Sansek was the best black belt he had ever seen.
Mike Clausen, 1st black who ran the 6th St school. Excellent fighter.
Mr. Clark (canÂ’t remember first name), student, 1st black. Clark was advanced in age and owned the 7 Up bottling company in Tucson.
Doris Brunenkant, 1st black, who was a Tom Hinds student through her brown belts. After Hinds left, I taught Doris through 1st black. Nice martial artist and great person.
Myself, Gary Haebig, 2nd black. I eventually became an instructor for CMAA under Tom Hinds on a part time basis, two nights a week. I was one of Tom Hinds students through my brown belts and then was under Huff Sr.
Hinds and Clausen eventually left in the mid 70's to pursue a more lucrative career as teaching paid no money. The 22nd St and 6th Ave schools were closed. All students were transferred to the Speedway school. I taught there part time until 1980.
Jay Jr was the head instructor at the Speedway school and was becoming burned out in the 70's. Jay Jr was not a bad martial artist as someone commented in a thread, just burned out and forgot many of the higher techniques and kata. Huff Sr told me to teach him the moves again. I did for awhile, but it didnÂ’t work out as Jr wasnÂ’t interested anymore.
In the 60's and early 70's Jay Jr was an excellent fighter and he knew his moves. Jr had no motivation and seemed to be teaching beginners and lower belts and was tired of it. He had been teaching all his life and had no other trades. I knew Jay well during that time and he was a nice guy. I lost contact with him in the 80's and did hear about the Y2K deal from someone. Jay shut down the school in December 1999 as he saw the world coming to a close and has literally disappeared.
Jay would have been better adapted as a guest host on the "Art Bell Show" if you can understand what I am going. He was into the "strange" things and that is all he talked about. Some students complained to me that half of their private lesson was listening to Jay Jr talk about UFOÂ’s. Never-the-less, that is history and I have nothing but respect for him. He was a good martial artist. I canÂ’t believe he taught another twenty years after I left.
I know this is a long post, but IÂ’d like to add that the Traco-CMAA students dominated the Arizona tournamentÂ’s back then and took home the trophies.
A little history for you folks. Hapkido Master Boon Soo Han was filming fight scenes for "The Trial Of Billy Jack" in Tucson. Master Han was told of our school as being good, and showed up asking for some instructors to be in a fight scene. As we instructors had long hair in those days, Han wanted redneck looking guys to be in the scene. The instructors refused to cut their hair, so some orange and purple belt students went to the barber shop and can be seen in the fight scene outside the courthouse in the movie. Han worked out at our school. It was an honor for Han to show up at the CMAA Speedway school.
Thank you for your time,
Gary Haebig
January 2008
Tucson, Arizona
