The Agony and the Ecstasy

Recently I had the pleasure of being introduced to the art of Isshen-Ryu Karate by Sensei John Kerker. I first became aware of Sensei Kerker after a friend Victor Smith returned from a seminar with him. Knowing Victor to be a skilled and experienced martial artist I noted his enthusiastic review of his time spent with him. Victor mentioned that Mr. Kerker only lived about three hours from me in Iowa. I tucked the idea away in the back of my mind.

In one of those "Wow it's a small world" moments, I found out via Facebook that Mr. Kerker and I grew up in the the same town an actually graduated from high school the same year. I contacted Mr. Kerker on Facebook and we exchanged a few messages. When he invited me to his seminar I decided to take him up on the offer.

Last Saturday morning I rolled into tiny Carson Iowa around 8 a.m. and pulled up to the dojo. Upon entering Sensei greeted me warmly as we chatted a bit. Know that when you are hosting a seminar one has a lot on their mind I decided not to monopolize his time. I moved on, dressed out and began to introduce myself to attendees  from around the country.

Mr. Kerker's sensei was Sherman Harrill. He studied with Tatsuo Shimabuku on Okinawa while in the military. They have very heavy hands ( in a good way ). I was impressed with their bunkai and striking power. Sensei Harrill was renowned for his in depth exploration into the application of Isshin Ryu kata and traditional weapons. After Sensei Harrill's unfortunate passing in 2001 Mr. Kerker assumed responsibility for the dojo and teaching.

Shortly after 9:00 we got started.

Though I'm not familiar with Isshin Ryu kata, Mr. Kerker was able to present his concepts and techniques via common basics. He showed shared fundamentals and principles. As he shared his approach he was clear about why he did things a particular way. That being the case there was never even a hint of condescension  toward other styles. In fact many styles were represented there that day. I have seen that kind of distain in other seminars. The level of contact in striking during drills varied with each training partner and their preference and ability to tolerate discomfort. There was never any sense that people were whacking on or thumping others to show or to dominate. Any force seemed on to clarify or demonstrate the effect on an opponent and how it effected their ability to respond or dismantled their structure so as to put an attacker in a compromised position. I was surprised by the subtlety of their Ma ai and positioning relative to the opponent. It was a very Okinawan approach.

I enjoyed my time in Carson very much. Karate people tend to be a bit odd. I found that I am not the only karateka that has the tendency to laugh when I get hit hard. If you are going to progress in karate you have to be a person that can see pain as purposeful (if not pleasurable). Kirk Douglas once starred in a movie about the life of the painter Vincent Van Gogh entitled "The Agony and the Ecstasy". Most pepole understand that to produce great art a person will expeirience both agony and ecstasy. It is the same in the martial arts as well.

I can't really say I experienced agony but I did get pretty close to ecstay. In addition to the quality training, I can say that it was the most enjoyable seminar I have attended. I would encourage anyone that has the chance to train with Sensei Kerker to do so.