Sensei Floyd Burk's Martial Arts Blog

Memory Lane - Combo and Combat (Feb 2018)

3/19/2018

Just a picture of me judging at a tournament - I thought bell-bottoms were cool.

Sensei here wishing everyone a happy Valentine’s day and President’s Day, and, good cheer as we zoom through winter and cruise into spring break. Oops! It's March and spring break is here, therefore I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Funny, I didn’t publish the February blog because I decided to use the angle and most of the content of that work elsewhere. So, here we are. - FB

Seems like a good time to go down memory lane, again. I have an entertaining story about my first tournament. However, I’ll start with me training at my first dojo which occurred during 1970 and 1971. The dojo was located in the bonus room of the Riverside, California residence of Thomas Ludlow, Esq., who was my father’s attorney. My dad often found himself in need of legal services as his motorcycle dealership brought with it lots of exposure. The attorney’s son and I had become friends and we embarked on this journey around the same time. I was so excited. Our teacher was a brown belt in shito-ryu karate. I knew nothing about belts, titles or whatnot, but it didn’t matter one way or another to me because I was absolutely mesmerized by the skill and power displayed by our teacher. I did know that he cared about us (his students) and I was very happy to be there. The only student I remember having a gi was the attorney, Mr. Ludlow. I just wore my bell-bottom jeans and a t-shirt. Most of the stuff we did was kihon, line drills and combinations.

The training was awesome, and while it didn’t go on long term, some of it stuck. Case in point: Everybody in TAK knows the block-chop-punch-kick combination because it’s done twice in our first kata (tiger cub) and it’s the first situational self-defense technique in our defensive tactic curriculum. What most people don’t know is that combo was the first one I learned from our Riverside sensei. I was attracted to that combo because it really fit with my shorter than average stature and I felt I could use the moves in self-defense right away. I drilled and drilled that combo. It mattered not that my teacher was a brown belt or that I didn’t have a gi. What mattered was that he taught, I learned, and then went on to pass on that knowledge to other eager martial artists.

Want some nostalgia? Ten years later a nephew of our teacher, also a brown belt, walked into my Norco, Cali dojo and signed up. This martial artist was very good at kata and kumite and he had the fastest foot and hand speed I’d ever seen. The man also became one of the original five founders our system.

Here’s the tournament story: During a break in my motorcycle racing season, I competed in my first karate tournament. By now I’d signed up with a shorin-ryu karate dojo in Corona, California, but this time I had a gi. The tournament was held at the Corona High School gym and I was an orange belt at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed all the preparation Sensei put us through as tournament time approached. I entered in sparring and kata. First up was kata. I performed kihon kata (Tiger 1) and didn’t place. Now came sparring, the funny part. The first opponent I faced dropped me like a rock with a solid punch to the solar plexus. I was down. My mom was in the stands and she jumped up screaming at the guy and she gave it to those who were officiating. That was the first (and last) time she ever watched me compete in martial arts. Even though that first event was disastrous, I wasn’t discouraged – I went on to compete in many tournaments with some success.

Although my late folks didn’t attend or see much of the karate I did, they were supportive. I loved updating them about the dojos and events over the years and they always seemed eager to hear about everything. More irony…I have absolutely no photographs from those days. Nothing, “nada”. All I have are fond memories…and that’s okay with me.

– Sensei Floyd Burk

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My First Decade Writing For Black Belt Magazine – Part 3

7/2/2017

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Sensei Burk here concluding my early journey writing for Black Belt Magazine. The past blogs covered 1991 through mid 1997 and were mostly about how one goes about getting started in journalism - using myself as one example. This one is pretty much the same. It’s also about making our own luck. Here’s some advice for eager writers: Write the best article that is humanly possible for yourself. Seek to make your submission easy for the editors to deal with. Finally, it’s not about you. Your mission is to assist your subjects in telling their stories and getting their training methods out there for the benefit of the magazine enthusiasts. I hope readers have enjoyed this series or at least learned a thing or two about the writing business. – FB

I left off saying that my writing world was going great, but would soon crash and burn. It was 20 years ago this October. I had those four articles under my belt, including the Q & A with Joe Lewis, and I had the tournament story waiting on hold for publication. I’d just been given clearance from the magazine to write another feature with the theme of “Bill Wallace’s Hand Techniques”. Wallace is the former world champion full-contact fighter known around the world as “Superfoot”. He also starred in Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan movies and appeared in lots of other stuff. The project would involve a photo-shoot at Black Belt. I’d never done that there before.

Now’s when my world seemed to fall apart. A change in staffing occurred at the magazine, and, the change involved my contacts. I called and they weren’t there anymore. Since all of this was far above my pay grade, I called a friend who knew a few people and he said it was true. I was caught off guard and completely out of sorts over it. I was sure the new staff wouldn’t use me. They would have their own people. I never had the desire to write for any publications other than Black Belt or its sister publications. Consequently, I was convinced that my writing career was over. And, what about my Bill Wallace story? That was down the tubes as well. I was very discouraged. I was a dead man walking.

After some time had passed, my wife Martha started talking to me about the situation. As is the case with many husbands, I often resisted listening, preferring to just fix things on my own. Fortunately, this time I listened. Martha said I should proceed just as if nothing had happened. I said, “What are you talking about?” I thought she was nuts. She said, “Why don’t you send a fax and try and set up the Wallace photo-shoot and see what happens”. I said, “Who do I send it to?” She said, “To whom it may concern, honey”. And that’s just what I did. I remember it being a Friday. I continued to mope around all weekend (what a waste of time that is).

The following Monday or Tuesday the phone rang. I answered, and the person on the other end said, “Hi, is this Floyd Burk”? I said yes. He said, “My name is Robert Young. I’m the acting editor (the new staff that I was worried about) for Black Belt Magazine. I received your fax regarding the Bill Wallace hand techniques story and would like to talk to you about it”. I said, great. Young said, “We would like to use it in the issue that’s going into production next, and, we want to make it the cover. But, would you mind changing the angle from hand techniques to kicking and flexibility?” I said, no I don’t mind. I said, “When do you want us to go there for the photo-shoot?” Young said, “As soon as possible”.

Now that was a shocker. After giving me the deadline to turn in the story, Young told me they were going to publish my tournament article in the issue that was in production. After we hung up, I looked at my wife and jumped for joy. She was right after all. I was truly grateful.

It was all very surreal. The article went from being an unscheduled inside story to a soon-to-go-into-production cover story. I remember Martha and I prancing around the house singing, “Cover story, cover story, we got a cover story”. Very corny indeed. I called up Wallace to set up the shoot and scheduled it for early November. After interviewing Wallace, I wrote the story. I put my heart and soul into crafting fresh content that was easy to read and understand. I worked on it night and day for a couple of weeks. Whether I was at home or at the dojo, I was working on the story. I finished the piece a day or two before the shoot.

It seems like it couldn’t get any better, but it does. Wallace invited me to be his partner in the photo-shoot. I didn’t know if his cover would be solo or not but who cares – a picture or two inside Black Belt is a big deal. In the end, it was six pages of pictures, and, the cover included me. In January 1998, the issue hit the newsstands. To say the least I was thrilled. I felt so good about the results of the collaboration between Wallace and myself. I also really appreciated the editor taking a chance on me. I ended up writing three more covers that year and more in 1999 including a dozen features. Yet, none of it would have happened had I just sat around feeling sorry for myself and hadn’t sent that fax. We really do make our own luck. – Floyd Burk

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My First Decade Writing For Black Belt Magazine – Part 1

5/20/2017

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Sensei Burk here writing my first blog. I decided to begin with a history of my writing career with Black Belt Magazine. I first learned of the existence of the magazine in 1980. While serving an internship at a dojo in Antelope Valley, CA, a co-owner of that dojo and I attended a PKA kickboxing event in Santa Monica, CA. There are two things I recall from that event: Chuck Norris was sitting not far from where we were, and someone handing me a copy of Black Belt Magazine. I truly loved that magazine and I started buying it occasionally and on a regular basis when I had the funds. A few years later while teaching seminars at schools around the United States, it occurred to me that the magazine could assist me in teaching my methods to people beyond my own dojo and the organization that I represented. There began my inspiration to write for Black Belt Magazine. – FB

In January 1991 I submitted my first query letter to Black Belt Magazine inquiring if they were interested in publishing a training story about sparring and self-defense. I got a letter back saying the article idea had been accepted on speculation. Speculation meant Black Belt would take a look at the finished article but would not guarantee to use it. It took about two months to write the article, do a photo-shoot (a group of students did the shooting and appeared with me in the photos) and submit the manuscript with the photos to Black Belt. Shortly thereafter, I receive a letter saying the article had been accepted and would be published in an issue to be determined later. I was thrilled to say the least, and started looking in my mailbox for the publication letter.

I continued looking, and a year later, I had come to a cross roads. It was determined that my two part article was too bulky to publish as is. Unless I agreed to take out the self-defense aspect, I would have to seek publication elsewhere. Consequently, I re-wrote the article, then arranged for a re-shoot of some of the photos. In fall of 1994 I received that publication letter I was waiting for. The article would be published in Black Belt Magazine's December 1994 issue.

Despite all the time and work, it was one of the coolest moments for me. The same when the magazine arrived in my mailbox. I was surprised to see a couple of tournament fighters appearing in the lead photo instead of me and one of the others from the shoots. However, I was so jazzed to have the project done, it didn’t bother me at all. I went from reader of Black Belt to a published freelance writer for Black Belt. I was on a natural high for several months.

As that high started to wane, I sent in another query. I was surprised to get a letter stating that my article idea didn’t meet their editorial needs. I sent in more queries and received those same letters. With all of the headaches with the first article, then the non-acceptance letters, I could have become discouraged enough to give up on my writing career. I was at another cross roads. Do I throw in the towel, or keep steady with a philosophy I always tell the students, “Success usually comes at the end of an endeavor”? – Floyd Burk

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Memory Lane - Combo and Combat (Feb 2018)

My First Decade Writing For Black Belt Magazine – Part 3

My First Decade Writing For Black Belt Magazine – Part 1

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