Page 27 - Martial Science Magazine Oct/2014 #5

WHAT DO YOU TEACH? to help him succeed, how much more does a be-
ginner need such a team? I believe in this very
I teach the Art of Kajukenbo - Hawaiian Street strongly. I want to nurture my students. This
Fighting or Polynesian fighting arts. “Street isn’t about volume or maximizing my income,
fighting” actually hits the nail on the head. this is about people, and it’s about Ohana. A
It’s America’s original MMA. It began in 1947 lot of people use Ohana as a catch phrase, but
Honolulu, Hawaii and consists of a combina- I take that term extremely seriously and live my
tion of Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, Kenpo, Kung Fu. life by it.
Over the years I have added other techniques
generously taught to me by my brother and sis-
ter martial arts professionals. These additions
were not impetuously learned or added - I took
a great deal of time to explore, understand, and
train these techniques, understanding how they
fit into the core martial arts training that I ori-
ginally received. In my opinion, one art is not
better than another. All arts are equally valua-
ble.

WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF
TEACHING?

Based on what I learned from Kajukenbo and
Sijo Bruce Lee and his ideals: “Absorb what
is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uni-
quely your own.” While still teaching tradi-
tion, the goal is to ultimately make the training
realistic. I believe the training should evolve to
reflect the times, this way an art will never be-
come obsolete, or even worse, irrelevant. Arts
are meant to be shared with students and other
schools. It is necessary and I would say, be-
neficial, to get the intermediate and advanced
students involved in teaching. This way they
become even more proficient and they allow
the students to continue to receive competent
and individual attention. The reality is that no
single teacher can do everything alone. An ins-
tructor is not an island. If I have a student, I
build a team around that student so they feel
as though they have an entire coaching staff
helping them with their every need. If someone
like Manny Pacquaio needs a team around him

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