KARATE DEMOS: Karate Demonstrations

TRAINING EXPERIENCES & DEMOS

As the Headmaster and Professor of Martial Arts at the University of Wyoming Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate & Kobudo Club years ago, we put on popular half-time martial arts demonstrations for the Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska communities during the UW men’s and UW women’s basketball games. From 1977 to 2007, we put on dozens of demonstrations and clinics for basketball games, sororities, church groups, women's groups, international groups, etc. Our students in particular remember these and we all had a lot of fun.

Breaking (tameshiwari) Mexican roofing tiles for demo
in Las Cruces New Mexico, 1976

We had some memorable experiences. I remember one demo where club members lined up with partners (uke) to demonstrate self-defense applications. We had two rolls of about 30 to 40 martial artists facing one another. As it turned out, our tallest and one of the oldest male members, Sensei Jensen, who is probably 6’3” to 6’4’, was matched with our youngest female member, a 5’2” teenager named Michelle. She may have been about 14 at the time and just about came up to Sensei Jensen's chest. Sensei Jensen towered over her.

Knife defense demo with Sensei Wade Stenger at
the University of Wyoming in the early 1990s.

The demonstration began with each pair of students demonstrating a different set of applications in sequence. Beginning with the first pair in line, a self-defense application was demonstrated followed immediately by the next pair, then the next, and the next, etc. Then the line would begin all over again with another group of applications.

Because of the size, age, and gender differential between our odd couple, the audience got involved and loudly ‘booed’ every time Sensei Jensen defended himself. Then the crowd followed with a loud cheer of approval whenever Michelle defended herself against Sensei Jensen. The crowd loved it.

At another demonstration, we had a group of students where one group after another would demonstrate self-defense applications as they went down the line.

At a different location on the basketball court, we had a second group demonstrating self-defense against multiple attackers, and in another corner of the court, myself and Shihan Stahl were demonstrating a two-person kobudo kata using bo (6-foot staff) and tonfa (baton). As Shihan Stahl struck at me with the first attack, I blocked the blow with my tonfa and broke her bo in half. We were both completely surprised by the mishap and the rest of the kata was difficult to perform with only half a bo (actually a hanbo).

The infamous photo. As I'm kicked in the groin,
Ted from the University of Wyoming photo service
captured me smiling (UW photo). I am not
wearing any kind of protection - not that it would
help.

There was another demonstration where Sensei Donette Gillespie and I demonstrated Shitai Kori (Juko-Ryu Kijutsu), a form of body hardening in 1996. This was the very last technique demonstrated at half time. We took the center of the court, and were surprised at what a great crowd pleaser this was. Sensei Gillespie first kicked me in the ribs with a very hard maewashi geri (round house kick). We heard many ooooosss and awhhhhhhs from the crowd. Then Sensei Gillespie took her stance to ready herself to kick me in the groin with mae geri (front kick). She took aim and the crowd went nuts with laughter, whistles, cat calls, etc. I don't think they believed we were going to go through with this. I said to Donette, to kick me as hard as she could and lift me off the ground. At that point, the expression on her face was ferocious as if she wanted to take all of her life’s frustrations out in one kick. I couldn’t help myself and started to smile at her expression, and then she kicked me with all of her power. The crowd went crazy.

The next day, Ted from the University of Wyoming photo service called me (Ted was one of our jujutsu students) and said that I had to get over to his office to see the photo he took of me. He said, "you're crazy! You are getting kicked in the groin by a 3rd degree black belt and your are smiling".

First photo captured by Ted of me being
kicked in the ribs (University of Wyoming
photo).

In addition to having a good time, we focused on learning traditions, history, and developing power in self-defense. Few other university associated schools lasted as long as our club or offered as many martial arts. We began in 1977 and are still going today at the University of Wyoming.

Learn more about karate, kobudo and kobujutsu at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa and also at the UW Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate Club in Laramie.

Early photo of me breaking tiles with my head. At some of the
University demonstrations, I broke slabs of rock with my head.

International Shorin-Ryu Karate Association
by Seiyo Kai International

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MAP to our DOJO

Halloween demonstration of tameshigiri (sword cutting) in Gilbert, Arizona.

Outside karate demonstration at the University of Utah in 1970. I demonstrate
yoko tobi geri (Flying side kick) assisted by Tim Smith.

White Crane Shorin-Ryu demonstration for Chinese New Year
celebration.

This was a unique demonstration at Saratoga, Wyoming.
This was a demonstration that I titled the History of
Martial Arts in which we went through martial arts history and included a
number of demonstrations to help the audience visualize characteristics of
various arts. Here, I asked for a volunteer from the Audience (Dr. Jimmy Goolsby
from Casper, Wyoming) and used him in a demo of hojojutsu.