I Think we are experiencing yet another metamorphosis.  We have traveled from bare-fist to pads; from light or no contact to heavy contact; from point scoring to continuous sparring; from a little interest in jiu-jitsu to it being our major interest; from grappling in our dojos to sponsoring grappling tournaments; and finally to the MMA style fighting.

I have come to this conclusion after attending National seminars for the last 12 years with the United States Hall of Fame seminars and the International Isshin-Ryu Karate seminars done before their tournaments each year.  As well as Karate College with Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace and Dr. Jerry Beasley.  I have gotten feed back from many Legends :  James Ogle, Denny Shaffer, Cas Cox, Joe Laney, Chris Spruiell, The Gracie family, and with our own very impressive karate family.

I watched this last Saturday as last years I.I.K.A. point champion lay helpless on the mat while attempting to grapple with an unknown black belt.

This black belt is normally considered a average fighter.

So where are you guys going to take our system from here?  What will the training of the future look like?  Remember, what Bruce Lee once said:  All systems and no systems.  Will there be weapons?  Will they be the same weapons or new ones?  Will there be katas?  Many more questions could be raised, but the successful martial artist will be futuristic in their thinking.  What if Master Shimabuku had stayed with the “norm”?  Well, there would not have been any Isshin-ryu.

Once again, the balanced thinker and balanced curriculum will serve us best.  Kata is and always has been the most effective way for a system to train or communicate with its martial artist.  So I think as leaders we have to pick katas that will teach the basics.  You never perform the techniques on the street as you find them in the kata or form.  But you do take the basics that you have learned and modify them for combat.  From this prospective, the selection of kata is critical.

We have all been taught the three ranges or distances:  Kicking range (4 to 5 feet); punching range (3 to 4);  and the clinch or close in fighting.

Now we need to consider the three types of fighting:  (1) strikers, punch and kick;  (2)  ground fighters, judo, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling, (3)  Zone fighters; small circle jiu-jitsu, throws and takedowns starting in stand up position similar to the DePasquale Yoshitsune-Waza system..

I have already chosen katas for all three types of fighting.  They have been integrated into our belt ranks and promotions.  Black belts, if you can’t perform the katas from all three types of fighting, then your martial arts proficiency may not be what it should be.  Old timers that only learn stand up fighting and katas certainly won’t be as advanced as those that do train in these areas. This is the problem I have with junior black belts.  It can take up to nine years to get your San-dan, 3^rd degree rating and all of these katas.  As a young sensei I decided that I would like to be a well-rounded instructor, not just a fighter or kata person.  I know this is different and trust me over the last forty-five years I have had to redirect my training several times.  My new training manual has all of our requirements and katas in each of the three types of fighting.  Everyone needs this new training manual in order to be prepared for your next rank in our Universal Isshin-Ryu System. 

I am available to each of our sensei's to teach at your dojo ( free) one night a month and cover all of the katas in our grappling and zone  katas.  It will probably take about a year to get through these katas.  Just let me know what fixed night each month that you want me there!  I do not want this to interfere with our regular Family nights.

May God bless you, your friend and sensei;

Pete Mills
Grandmaster
10^th Degree, Judan
Universal Isshin-ryu System