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Aloha! One of my first karate exposures was from Hal Edwards Lima Lama and the NAS Miramar base in San Diego. When I was a teenager we (fellow military brats) would go to the base karate program and learn Lima Lama. Hal was a black belt from Saul Esquivel. I met Saul Esquivel at the base karate club once and later met the founder of Lima Lama, Tino Tuiolosega at a seminar in Escondido, CA as I recall.
One of the things I heard about Lima Lama was it was composed of old island martial arts that the head hunters used to practice (Lua) and many of the moves were part of the traditional island dances called hula. Hal was big on pointing out the benefits of using short circular wrist moves to block and fingers or back knuckles as a quick counter. I looked for some hula on youtube.com but found modern dances for the tourists but here is one hula that seemed to be telling a story (I am not an expert in hula).
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/puelcyhsXQ0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Did you notice how the women were moving their arms? One could imagine how these movements could be used as wrist blocks, hooks and eye strikes. Before I learned about initial movement and still believed in blocks (I am older and wiser now) I thought it was possible to deflect a punch with a simple wrist movement and counter-strike with an eye shot. I still believe that would work if one knew it was coming, but therein lies the rub... with modern karate that employ Bruce Lee type of initial movement - one simply cannot anticipate a move before he or she gets hit, if he is inside the critical distance!
I remember the slapping of the hand movements that I would do as I struck or blocked with the other hand. I found lots of spanish language Lima Lama videos that seemed be more traditional karate fighting but I did find some videos of the self-defense techniques that used the circular flowing hand movements that I remember so well as a youth. Here is a quick example.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/w8zWB1boN_w" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Lima Lama or Hand of Wisdom was founded by Tino Tuiolosega in the mid-fifties according to Wikipedia.com. A brief history of Lima Lama shows how Lima Lama and Kenpo have many of the same roots and common practitioners. Ed Parker is mentioned and as many Kenpo stylist know, Ed is thought to be the father of American Karate. His studio was one of the first karate schools in the United States. More information about the Island fighting arts can be found here.
I think it is really interesting a Island dance such as the hula can have roots in lua martial arts without most people realizing what some of the movements mean. I have been wanting to write this post for the longest time because of my roots in karate have taken me full circle... learning Lima Lama as a teenager to becoming proficient at Chinese Kenpo Karate as an adult. Mahalo!
July 29th, 2008 at 6:22 am
I’d like to talk to you about Hal Edwards. I, too, studied under Hal when he was the sensei who taught Go-Jyru, the Okinawan form of karate.
I later hired Hal as a salesman; I was managing KOWN Radio in Escondido. He did not last long at KOWN as his talents seemed to lie more in karate than sales.
A year, maybe two years later, I heard that Hal had died a violent death.
I can fill in some details, and perhaps you can fill in more. Please contact me at thepaper@cox.net and we’ll arrange to chat by phone.
Thx.
lyle e davis
editor/publisher
The Paper
July 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Hi Lyle,
I’ll email you… Hal was interesting. Sorry to hear about his death. I took lessons about 1972 or 1973 for a year or so. The classes were fun and I remember he had formal karate roots.
Saul Esquivel came down to the base karate club once and directed Hal to start teaching more traditional karate basics and not just the circular slap lay (If I’m spelling this right) blocks and strikes.
Anyway… I’ll email.
John W. Zimmer
September 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
So Lima Lama is a combination of Lua or KapaLua and Hula (from the hawaiin perspective) but thats sort of a short hand. Tino’s family is Samoan royalty and he picked up the fighting styles as an kid. He later learned boxing in the military and in the fifities (I think) started to hang with a group of guys in hawaii (I believe parker was among them). Anyway the way Tino describes it Lima Lama has 5 or so core movements and a dozen of so different styles. The training itself though is done a bit differently from other styles. Other then bag work and forms most practice is similar to esKrima. You work with partners or multiple people and build up speed and power as one side learns defenses and the other attacks. The “circular” aspect of LimaLama is no different from Iceskaters not making square turns but rather making circles to preserve momentum. I see in your video some of the spanish guys. I met them a few times at the school and they have latched a bit more on the the speed aspects of the art( this too comes from the circular motions). But I would argue that Tino’s intent is for movements to be simultaneously fast, efficient and overwhelmingly powerful. If you ever met him you would get this sense. I never moved with him when I was at the school (he’d had stroke when I was first starting out) but I saw him work with Mr Dio a bit. The movements are meant to be very powerful and end in either incapacitating or killing the opponent. Fights are not meant to be prolonged but a sudden short burst of power once an opening is created….Anyway with Mr. Tino so old I’m not sure the whole art will really get transmitted. Not sure if his Kids are still teaching. If you are interested one of his few original students is still teaching in santa cruz(Dio and Clara Santiago have a new school called MinorSan) . Best, Eli (San Diego, former Student at Kemposilama Lima Lama, Santa Cruz)
September 27th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for your insight Eliah.
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I met Tino once during a seminar and saw him a few times during tourneys. I had more experience with Sal and my instructor Hal Edwards. Tino was on the same level as Ed Parker to me and one of the greats. Stories about Tino that I recall seemed that he focused on fighting that worked as opposed to stuff that was handed down… maybe that is just my blue-belt take but I had respect for him. I think he was a 10th degree at the time and there were not too many of those back then.
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Thanks for stopping by.
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John W. Zimmer
November 19th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Aloha John,
In the early 70′s I was a student of Danny Mitchell at Tino Tuiolosega’s Academy of Lima Lama in Oceanside California. It certainly was a great time for the martial arts. I trained there for almost 3 years while I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. I met Hal a number of times usually at the weekend tournaments but liked him. Perhaps we even met lol. My training ended in late 73 when I transferred into the Army and left for Europe. I haven’t heard much about Lima Lama over the years. It was interesting to find your post.
Best Regards
Glenn
November 19th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hi Glenn,
I grew up on the Kung Fu series and loved the martial arts. Lima Lama was the perfect mix of karate and kung fu like moves as well being fun to practice. I went to the base when I was 14, 15 and 16 so that makes it from about 1971 – 1973. It is possible we met.
Tino was one of the pioneers of his time.
Take care,
John
January 6th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
I trained under Hal, myself, brother, and sister for a couple years in Go Ju Ru in the late 60′s early 70′s. I am not sure of how he died but had heard he did. I really enjoyed him and thankful for his introduction into the world of martial arts. Today I am a black belt in a few styles and thankful for being a student of his.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Hi E. Silva,
Hal had real charisma! It was the first real style I had taken (Lima Lama) at Miramar NAS. I remember that Hal had good karate skills too as we were drilled Go Ju Ru basics whenever he thought we were getting too fancy.
I will have to say his teaching style made me think I was special and could do the moves. Glad it was good for you too.
Take care,
John
January 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Kenpo Karate is trash. The best and most realistic karate is kyokushin karate. Kenpo karate sparring is based on points while kyokushin karate is based on knockouts or too badly injurys.
January 11th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Hey Tommy, Be aware of the Introduction (/introduction-to-%e2%80%9cmy-self-defense-blog%e2%80%9d/) link that in part states, “It is not my intention to disrespect anyone’s martial art or style.”
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I won’t hold with attacks on people or styles here. While I have my opinions on what styles and techniques that might work best in a given situation – I won’t “trash” any other styles.
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As for you opinion of Kenpo Karate or any other style that you think does not measure up to Kyokushin Karate – visit forums that allow this type of discourse.
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Now to address your point. I will expand it to the logical conclusion and restate it as, you think your style that practices full contact is better than a style that practices point matches.
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I would argue they are apples an oranges, meaning that while both are sports, MMA or any other kick boxing style will teach one more about dishing out and taking punishment. Also as my instructor used to say, “You cannot practice flag football and then expect to play good tackle football.”
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I think point karate has its place as it teaches that all important lesson about being first! Usually the first one to land a good punch or kick in a bare knuckles fight will win the fight. So if you excel at being first from point karate training – you have a better chance at winning a street fight.
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Now for my Kenpo Karate experience. I have fought point, full contact and street fights. The studio I learned at we used what is called liberal kiss contact for the black belts… meaning as hard as you want to the body and try not to knock out your opponent with the head shots… (this was for the sport training aspect). But what happened in practice was the back belts did get knocked out when sparring. The “Kiss Contact” was enforced more with the lower belts so they would first learn to fight before getting a black belt.
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Having said that I enjoyed street fighting more than any other type when I was younger… you know having the ability to fight without rules, bare knuckled. Those fights lasted usually less than a minute.
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I value each fighting style and martial arts (fighting is not exclusive to martial arts) because they have a different slant on fighting that I can learn.
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I think it is more important to have an open mind and take good techniques from where ever you find them then using the age old argument my ‘dad can beat up your dad’ type of attacks.
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Thanks for your opinion but please do not attack the person or the style – but rather stick to your argument. That is the only civilized way to have reasonable discourse.
Regards,
John
January 11th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Thanks, for educating me. Next, time I will diss in a more civilized way.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Thank you – I always enjoy discussion on the topics.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I am trying to find a good striking art for me and I can’t decide between Muay Thai and Kyokushin karate which one do you recommend.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Hey Tommy,
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Back when I was training for full contact karate, when PKA was the biggie (you know – the 80’s), I learned boxing hands and combined them with my kenpo kicks. I’ve never been one to like fancy kicks so that worked out ok.
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I have a lot of respect for Mas Oyama… I researched his history a bit for a post I did. He advocated power and conditioning and it is no surprise to me that Kyokushin karate is a great striking art.
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I really liked what I’ve seen of some of the Dutch Muay Thai matches… Muay Thai seems to have great feet with ample power. The hands are ok.
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My preference of the two styles you mentioned would be to go for the Muay Thai and then sprinkle in some traditional boxing hands as hands seem to be lacking in Muay Thai.
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The reason I really think the boxing hands would come in handy is MMA fighters seem to have a tough time dealing with good all around fighters that have great hands.
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Just my opinion… I’ve always thought that a tough tactical fighter will have the best chance in a match. Fighting to me is a thinking man’s sport.
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Good luck with whatever direction you go!
January 12th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
But, doesn’t Kyokushin karate have harder conditioning than Muay Thai and its more intense? Also karatekas usually have better hands than Muay Thai fighters. Both are great but also both of them have advantages of each other so its really hard to choose.
January 13th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Personal preference as either one (muay thai or kyokushin) have conditioning. Fighting strategies can vary for instance in boxing I am an outside fighter… meaning I’ll jab from the outside and not step in until I have an advantage. Other boxers feel comfortable inside because they have great hand speed and skills. I used to do well against those boxers by fighting outside.
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Muay Thai has excellent kicks and conditioning. Karate hands and elbows are good for self-defense (and as you say seem to be better than Muay Thai) are not generally as good as boxing. They do use elbows and knees very effectively. Many MMA fighters train in some boxing to get better hands… it they understand elbows too – so much the better!
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I don’t really know much about Kyokushin karate but as it roots are from Japanese karate – and seems to be the full contact offering representing Japanese karate – I am sure that this would be just as good as Muay Thai. I would train with boxing with either striking art though… as pro boxers cannot easily be beaten with just a hands match.
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Whatever you choose just cross-train with other styles as it makes sense. It sounds like you are on the right track.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Thank you.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
What you think about Hapkido and taekwondo?
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Hi Tommy,
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Korean martial arts are usually great at kicking but seem to be more sport oriented such as Olympic Taekwondo. My prejudice with Taekwondo is that it seems to favor kicking over punching. In tournaments one can score 2 points for a kick and one point for a punch. I have always found that a knock out punch works just as well as a knock out kick.
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From what I have seen of Hapkido it emphasizes kicks too but it is more well rounded than Taekwondo.
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As far as applications for full contact or MMA – I would stay away from traditional karate unless you were already proficient at a style. Instead I would suggest either going to one of the good MMA camps or going the individual styles components that will help you be a good rounded MMA fighter. I am speaking of ground, hands and feet.
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Some fighters go with jui jitsu for the ground (seems the most popular and effective), boxing for the hands and muay thai for the feet… but really any combination of arts would do so long as in the end you are a well rounded fighter.
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I liked your initial thoughts of muay thai or kyokushin because either one should give you good striking skills.
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Whatever you select, the goal is that you have confidence in your instructors, the instructors are able to teach well and you get along with them. If you start at one school and don’t seem to be getting anything out of it after a few months – don’t be afraid to re-evaluate and look elsewhere.
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Again I think you are on the right track whatever you decide.
John
January 14th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
The reason I asked you this is because I’m thinking of training mma and the closest mma instructor that lives closest to where I live teaches hapkido, taekwondo, and bjj. I don’t think taekwondo and hapkido would help you anything in mma.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Tommy – Not sure but you might want to try it out. Full contact kicks generally are not flashy. If it seems ok then taking some boxing later to get the hand skills might be enough. If the style does more sport or point matches – that might not help you as much. You might go in and watch some classes but as I said before – if you try it out and don’t feel like it is a good fit – you can always move to another school later.
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When I was training for full contact – I already was a black belt and had the kicks down… I kept working them into my drills as well as focused on boxing for a while to get my hand skills.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
You are right, I’m going to see the classes and if I like them than I’ll take them.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I have another question for you. It seems to me kickboxers are more well rounded than karatekas. Do you believe that to be true?
January 15th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Kick boxers are basically karatekas that have learned boxing… they use karate feet with boxing hands for the most part.
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Karate styles depend on a way of fighting, kata, basics as the old masters did but modern kickboxing does just fighting – nothing else and then only techniques that seem to work well in the ring.
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Most kick boxers come from various forms of karate – the style is not too important but rather the application of what works in the ring. Joe Lewis (see his link on my site) is one of the pioneers of kick boxing and the former heavy weight champion. Many styles of karate use his (and other’s) methods to transition their fighters that are interested in full contact (kick boxing) matches. There are many traditional karate schools that cater to self-defense needs for normal students and kick boxing or MMA for those that want that… it depends a lot on the instructors. I really don’t think the style is as important as what the instructor has done/experienced.
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MMA as you know has to have good hands and feet plus a good ground game. So I believe it transcends kick boxing. For self-defense though – rules are bad… meaning fishhooks, finger locks, groin, shin, and knee kicks all out but will work against anyone in a self-defense situation.
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Don’t discount the formal styles ability to mount an effective defense in a street fight – even though they may fare horribly in a MMA or kick boxing match (you fight the way you train).
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Hope this helps.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Yes, it helps, thank you. I guess mixing in karate, muay thai, and kickboxing will make you a feared striker. I also have another thought. Do you recommend taking a type of wrestling? Like greco-roman, freestyle, catch wrestling, or pankration.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Now you have caught my area of weakness… I took wrestling in junior high school and it has helped me avoid ground fighting… I tried a jiu-jitsu seminar a few months back and began to understand why jiu-jitsu is good for ground fighting.
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I know there are great ground fighters in MMA that come from college wrestling but they have had to learn grappling to succeed. I don’t know enough about the different styles of wrestling to give good advice other than to say you would have to be able to counter jiu-jitsu to succeed.
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In the 90′s – jiu-jitsu dominated MMA but now ground fighters that understand jiu-jitsu/grappling but have strong wrestling backgrounds are doing well too.
January 16th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Thank you I will take that in consideration. Also what do you think about Fedor Emilyniako. I hope I spelled his last name right. He is said to be undefeated and the best mma fighter today.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:54 am
There are a lot of great fighters in MMA out there… I really like Fedor and used to watch him in his Pride fights. As of late I have been watching WEC. I have a few favorites like Uriah Faber and Miguel Torres. The cool think about the WEC is they allow more elbows.
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Remember every dog (no disrespect – I like dogs) has his day… meaning try to learn from everyone while they are hot and use what makes sense.
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Fedor according to the Wikipedia article comes from Sambo and Judo and cross-trains in jui-jitsu, boxing and kick boxing. He is really fun to watch because you know he has come to fight.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:17 am
If you were going to fight Fedor what would be your tactic?
January 17th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
@Tommy – Fist I would have to get into great shape and then study his moves. As I recall from his matches, he can strike and grapple. He is a heavy weight that has great skills. Ideally one tries to take advantage of any perceived weaknesses.
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I have (when I am in better shape) speed and striking going for me. He is at the top of his game and I would not really stand much of a chance in an MMA fight now… but say I could go back into time… I was a middle weight fighter… The only chance I would have had back then would be to fight standing and from the outside… meaning I would not stand and bang with him.
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My strategy would have been (and was for bigger guys) to use angular attacks and initial movement. I would attack from one direction and come out in another direction so he could not easily follow me (as opposed to backing up). I would have kept the pressure on and mixed up my attacks and retreats. As soon as the other guy can predict you – you have given up an advantage. I would have tried to wear out the big guy and keep him guessing.
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I always like middle weights because they have more knock-out power than the light-weights but more speed than the heavy-weights. If you don’t have the size – you have to out think your opponent. If not you might as well challenge him to arm wrestling.
January 17th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Do you any see weakness on him because I really can’t find any weakness!!!!!
January 18th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Hey Tommy – everyone has lots of weaknesses… now whether you can take advantage of them or not may be another story.
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One thing about being a fighter (even an older fighter) is you have to believe you can beat your opponent or you have no business being in the ring.
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I used to look at other fighters and pick apart the mistakes I saw while they were fighting. That got me in the right frame of mind to take advantage of their mistakes.
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You cannot depend on the other fighters making mistakes but you cannot look a gift horse in the mouth either if they make mistakes.
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Joe Lewis told us at a seminar that it was not enough to win fights but it was just important to not make as many mistakes (so you don’t give the other guy as much as a chance to beat you).
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As you get better at fighting you will start to recognize more and more what mistakes your opponents are making and with good instructors you will learn strategies to take advantage of them.
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You are embarking on truly one of the most fun experiences in life… fighting!
January 18th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Well, I have never been in organized fights, just random streetfights and streetfights are no good.
January 18th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I was in both… at age 21 I worked two years as a bouncer at a rough bar (I weighed 160 pounds and I am 5′ 11″). Probably not the best idea as bigger guys gets into fewer fights. I had two or three skirmishes each week (got physical but not a fight) and about one fight a week. After I left the bar I only had two skirmishes for the next 28 years.
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As you might guess, one of my rules now is to not hang out in dive bars… too much beer muscle to deal with.
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I agree it does not make much sense to street fight. When I was young and dumb… I thought working as a bouncer was an ideal job… I would fight and get paid for it! But now I am older a wiser – I know that I am lucky to be alive and cannot figure out why I wanted to fight so much.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Well, that’s interesting because I am contemplating to become a bouncer too after I finish High School. As you know when you are in College you have to find a job to pay for your studies and also because your parents don’t want you at home like a baby. And as I was thinking of jobs that I thought would be fun and would have good pay I thought of becoming a bouncer. I researched what’s needed to become a bouncer and I think I would be a good bouncer because of what I researched most high elite clubs want bouncers with good communication skills and with a free criminal record. Which is something that I have. Physically I am 6 foot and 180 pounds, surely not the biggest, but the badest. Also cracking some few skills a week doesn’t seem that bad. What you think? and what would you recommend on becoming a bouncer?
January 18th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
A higher-end club might not be too bad. Education was not too important to me back then… I was going to own a karate school and get rich. I did own a karate school but then I got married and had to sell the school and get a better paying job.
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The kind of bar I worked in led me astray for a while. Long story short is I reasoned that working harder would make more money for my family (low-paying jobs instead of going to college and getting a higher paying job)… I went to college in my late 30s and graduated from Business School and then my Masters in Business Administration. If I had known then what I know now – I’ll bet I could have been more successful with my karate school.
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Anyway if being a bouncer does not distract from your studies and it is a higher class club (less fights) then that will probably work out ok until you get tired of it. I eventually did not like getting in fights for someone else (the club).
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I understand getting out on your own. I did the same thing and even ended up living at my instructors karate school in-between jobs for a few months one time.
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Get that education early in life and things should be easier.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I can tell you that I will finish college and become a doctor, and I don’t think becoming a bouncer would distract me from my studies or do you think it could? Like what?
January 19th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Fights… I was in lots of fights were the outcome was not assured but I came out ok because of my fighting skills. In a bar you never know who is with whom easily.. and someone can come up behind you with a pool ball and bean you. Other distractions for some people (depending on the bar) might be alcohol, drugs, women, gangs and so on.
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I got to the point were I would never fight someone else’s battles again. Again though if you are in a nice club in a better part of town just talking the business types into behaving – you will probably not encounter too much of the stuff I did.
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The best advice I ever got was to give everyone as much of a break as you can because you don’t know what is going on in the other guy’s head. He might have just lost a family member or had his girl friend step out on him and is not acting reasonably. Try to use those communication skills as much as possible but be prepared to do what is needed if it comes to that.
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Congratulations on your goal… a Doctor and a fighter? After you knock them out you can fix them?
January 19th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Hhahahhah I love it! A doctor and fighter. Also when you apply for a bouncer what are the things that the club’s managers look for in you?
January 19th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Be able to communicate effectively and manage people as well as have something going for you if you have to eject an unruly patron. One of my instructors was a little guy but did work the door at a high-class club. He had a professional manner and was a black belt in karate.
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The kind of bar I worked at was for construction workers and fighting became more important or you had to be a large intimidating guy… either way would work.
January 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Can you start working as a bouncer when you are 18 years old?
January 20th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hi Tommy – email me at john.zimmer@myselfdefenseblog.com – this is getting too far of the topic of the post but I’ll gladly exchange emails with your questions.
thanks
January 21st, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Hhahahahah true!!!!!!!!
June 9th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
NOKAOI-BLACK BELTS & STUDENTS
We invite the martial art community to share in the fellowship of the arts with us on the You Tube. Com
with video clips from our schools. Please leave comments where we can view your videos. There is history with the founders of Limalama to be heard.
1 Lima Lama Nokaoi form You Tube.com
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H9qkFbWHUE
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0dlKya3NNE
4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaaMwPjxgls
June 9th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hello Martin,
Lima Lama is near and dear to my heart as it was on the first official styles of martial arts I learned. Watching these videos brought back some memories of how Hal and Sal demonstrated the moves. Thanks so much for sharing.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Hey John,
What kind of drills did you do that you can recall? Im interested in knowing how it was practiced in the old days. I practice limalama in Mexico and I think it has changed quite a bit. Thanks for any info you could give me.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:39 am
O and did you practice specific self defense techniques? or just a combination of blocks and defenses?
Thanks
August 30th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Hi John,
I learned a combination of kata, techniques, basics and sparring. We did a lot of the slapping hand techniques and we were always told our hands were better than karate hands. Later when Sal Esquival visited our class – he had us start working on karate basics because he believed it was a good foundation for Lima Lama.
When I later learned Kenpo karate, I was surprised to find some similar techniques. I later found out that Tino worked out with Ed Parker and I guess they share techniques and such.
I do remember thinking at the time that my lay blocks and my half-drag kicks along with my slapping strikes were better than karate hands…
I’ve seen some LimaLama videos and it now seems like karate on steroids that includes the fast hands I remember!
March 26th, 2010 at 10:50 am
You are right, there are only a few really exceptional masters of Limalama left in the world today. I have studied Kenpo, Limalama and Nokaoi with GM Richard Nunez since 1966 and I have met and studied with the six men who helped create the art of Limalama in the US. The history of the first black belt association of Limalama started in 1964 and GM Nunez was one of the founders of that association. GM Nunez has created a new system of the arts in 1995 that has taken Limalama to a higher level in the art of Nokaoi. GM Nunez in his seventies is still teaching in Whittier, CA. You can find all the information of Nokaoi-Limalama at the web site
nokaoi-online.com.
I earned my 2nd degree black in Limalama in the early seventies and from those early days I can honestly state GM Nunez has improved and made a very well rounded martial art in Nokaoi today. There is no wasted effort of strikes and counters in Nokaoi and anyone can use this art to defend themselves because there so many options that are avialable. No matter what physical condition or age Nokaoi offers the answer for self defense. You should come and see the advantages GM Nunez teaches in the higher belts, no matter what system you have earned your belt in. Never stop yourself from experiencing a true martial art.
June 1st, 2010 at 7:14 am
mr jonh zimmer , i teach kemposilama in houston texas, papa tino and me working for kemposilama, my grand father is very good friend, ting fong wong and ark wong, come together california, my grand father not teach,my grand father learn siulam kung fu , lee fong, sudent direct lee yao san, founder li gar system in tai san canton china,papa tino and me meet in santa cruz ca, 1995,him say me keep going whit kemposilama, you have same style kung fu im, trainning i know you root,i promise papa tino teach kemposilama , whit chinese root original,i have now copy right of kemposilama, kempo is wonderful system, limalama is magic, powefull, is not the style you are more important,whit dicipline, respect,heart strong, respect all elders of martial arts,i love papa tino,my grand father, all my teachers, mahalo aloha ramon yee
thank you mr jonh w.zimmer
June 9th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Hi Martin,
Thanks for your insight about GM Nunez.
Hi Martin,
Lima Lama has always been close to my heart. I’d probably love kemposlamma.
Thanks for sharing your insight gentlemen.
June 9th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
aloha
I was a student of Dan Mitchell while stationed MP company camp Pendleton 1973 great instructions spoke to Rudy few years ago been praticing chen ,yang, taichi and Hsing-1 chuan past twenty plus years .
September 24th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
MY NAME IS CELINA ESQUIVEL DAUGHTER OF DANIEL ESQUIVEL AND GRAND DAUGHTER OF “SAL ESQUIVEL”. I WILL BE HOSTING A BENIFIT ON BEHALF OF MY FATHER AND GRAND FATHER SOON. MORE INFO TO COME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTENED PLEASE MAIL ME AT CELINE.ESQUIVEL@HOTMAIL.COM THANK YOU
September 27th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Hi Celina! I met Master Sal Esquivel a few times but always liked his pragmatic approach to fighting. Sorry I won’t be able to attend but would gladly forward any information if you like.