Page 54 - Martial Science Magazine Dec/2015 #12

CM: WHEN DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN da called the Olympiad. The center had many
MARTIAL ARTS? sports including boxing and others. It was the-
re that I was introduced to boxing and fell in
MC: I began training in 1979. I remember very LOVE! The way it happened is that I happened
well, Feb. 13, in New Rochelle NY. My tea- to overhear a conversation from some of the
cher was Sensei Pete Vitulli, senior student of boxers saying karate people can’t fight. Quite
Sensei Chuck Merriman. The style was Goju naturally, I didn’t agree with them and said I
Ryu in the Gogen Yamaguchi lineage. Sensei would be happy to spar with whomever they
Merriman later transitioned to the Morio Hi- presented. So, of course, they took me up on
gaonna organization and finally we became this and I ended up sparring with a guy. They
affiliated with the Jundokan on Okinawa under were surprised and told me I had a lot of power
Miyazato Sensei. That’s where I’ve remained to in my punches and might be able to do well in
the present. boxing. I began under the tutelage of Scott As-
hley, professional kickboxing World Champion
CM: OBVIOUSLY, YOU’VE TRAINED IN and who also, coincidentally, had been stud-
SEVERAL MARTIAL ARTS. WAS THAT ying traditional Okinawan Shorin Ryu for 35+
A COMMON THING WHEN YOU WERE yrs. After working with him for a while, he rea-
DOING IT? lized I really wanted to box at a high level so
he sent me to a pro gym, where I met Norman
MC: Not really. It was kind of just starting. Wilson, who had been a top trainer for Don
There were some people who cross trained but King and had a gym in Florida. From there I
most people still stuck with their own style or just stayed with it because I loved it so much.
teachers. I feel like I was kind of lucky in that
I started training right when things opened up
much more than in the previous generations.
In the ‘50s, ‘60s, and even the early ‘70s, from
what I’ve heard, you just didn’t train in other
styles. You stuck with your own school and tea-
cher or you were considered disloyal. In the
‘80s though, that really began to change. Se-
minars became popular, people traveled a lot,
there was an explosion of fitness and nutrition
information and things just became more avai-
lable. I feel like I benefited from that because I
got to see and try more things while still remai-
ning a part of a traditional martial art.

CM: WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET
INTO BOXING?

MC: Well, actually there’s a bit a story behind
that. In 1997 I was teaching karate and doing
personal training at a sports center in Flori-