Instructor teaches old ways of karate

Posted By BILL WALKER, SUN TIMES SPORTS EDITOR

April 2, 2009

Luis Morales knew something was missing from the karate he was learning.

When the Bronx-born Morales tried to ask his teachers about it, the now 51-year-old never got a satisfactory answer.

It wasn't until a chance meeting in 1999 with Hokama Tetsuhiro Hanshi at the 10th dan's Okinawa karate museum that Morales learned exactly what was involved in old-style Goju- Ryu karate-jutsu. 

"When I started discussing karate with him, I saw he followed the old ways so I kept writing to him," Morales said in an interview Tuesday from his New Jersey home. "Eventually I became affiliated with him."

The old style of karate relies more on pressure points (Kyusho-Jutsu) and joint locks (Tuide-Jutsu), according to Morales.

There are pressure points all over the body and by precisely targeting a specific point, a practitioner can cause excruciating pain or render a person unconscious. Think Spock's Vulcan nerve pinch from Star Trek but not simply limited to the base of a person's neck.

"You don't have to punch the guy or do a lot of damage . . . with the pressure points you can subdue someone a lot easier," said Morales, who is presenting a seminar on the old-style karate on April 18 for Owen Sound's Fudoshin Classical Karate Dojo. "In my school I have a lot of law enforcement personnel, correction officers and policemen."

These two aspects of karate have slowly been lost from the art for more than 100 years, Morales said.

Okinawa is the birthplace of karate. In 1905 it was introduced into the Okinawan public school system by masters who realized its value to children. But karate in its original form didn't rely on punches and kicks as it does now.

"They felt it was too dangerous so the masters took out a lot of the dangerous elements," said Morales. "They just called it a block and a kick and it came to be called the kick and punch art."

American servicemen took to karate following the Second World War when they occupied Okinawa. But the masters weren't willing to give all of their ancient secrets to their occupiers, who'd also dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.

That's how the current form of "sport" karate, which is mainly punching and kicking, spread to North America and grew in popularity.

"They weren't going to teach all of their secrets to the North Americans because we were at war with them," said Morales, adding that he is not alone in his interest in the old style of karate. "Everyone is trying to trace their roots and their origin. When you trace the origin, you start to see what was taken out and what was left out."

There's also a time crunch in learning the old arts, Morales said, as his teacher is 64 years old. While that's not old in today's society, the number of teachers who know the old ways grows smaller with each passing year. And it can take years to master the techniques because literally one wrong touch can kill someone.

"You do it slow to build accuracy," said Morales. "Then you do it full speed until you attack the vital points and then you only do it five per cent. If you do it more than five per cent, the guy is drained of energy in 10 minutes. You really have to see it to understand it better."

Morales was introduced to karate at age seven by a family friend but it wasn't until age 12 that he began formal training.

"At age 12 I got attacked by five high school kids and nobody helped me and that's when I said I wanted to get into martial arts," said Morales, who has trained in karate for 39 years and been a professional instructor for the last 20. "It's become a passion for me and I've been doing it ever since."

Morales was awarded his eighth degree black belt in February and at that time was appointed chief North American instructor for Hokama's organization, the Kenshi-kai.

Morales' seminar runs from 3 to 6 p. m. April 18 at the Owen Sound Family Y gymnasium. There is an additional hour of instruction for black belts.

Admission is $50 if you pay prior to April 10. The fee is $60 at the door.

The seminar is open to all area martial arts clubs and enthusiasts, but is limited to participants aged 16 and older.

For more information or to register, go to www.fudoshindojo.caor e-mail

Article ID# 1506766