Episode 528 - Sensei Chris Chase

Sensei Chris Chase is a martial arts practitioner and instructor. He is the President of The Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association.

Nobody has all the answers. That's what makes Karate masters so special. It's not that they're superhumans, it's that they're humans. They have the same challenges and setbacks that everybody else does but it's how they deal with it.

Sensei Chris Chase - Episode 528

In the 1970s when martial arts' popularity is still in its infancy and judo was the more popular, you hear about karate only from your friends or relatives. Sensei Chris Chase heard a story from his brother about a small Japanese martial artist and he trained karate from that moment on. Presently, he succeeded in the leadership of The Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association from Master Angi Uezu. How Sensei Chris Chase found his first karate training? Listen to find out more!

Sensei Chris Chase is a martial arts practitioner and instructor. He is the President of The Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association. Nobody has all the answers. That's what makes Karate masters so special. It's not that they're superhumans, it's that they're humans.

Show Notes

Learn more about the Isshinryu Sunsu form hereCheck out Sensei Chris Chase's Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association

Show Transcript

You can read the transcript below or download it here.Jeremy Lesniak: Hello everybody welcome this is whistlekick Martial Arts Radio episode 528 with today’s guest Sensei Chris Chase. I am Jeremy Lesniak, I’m your host here for the show. I’m the founder of whistlekick, I’m a passionate martial artist. And you can probably tell and if you couldn't, you can head on over to whistlekick.com and you can see all the other things that we're doing. Because I and the other people involved in whistlekick are passionate traditional martial artists.We bring you the show twice a week and it's all under the guise, the intentof connecting educating and entertaining traditional martial artists. If you value that work that we do, if you want to help us out, there are a couple of ways you can do that. You can go to whistlekick.com and make a purchase using the code podcast15. That supports the show lets us know that you like what we're doing. You could also support the Patreon, PATREON.com /whistlekick and you can contribute as little as $2 a month. Everybody at every tier gets original content that they will not find anywhere else. And of course, you've got some other ways you could share an episode, you could follow us on social media, tell your friends, tell your instructors, just tell the world about the work that we're doing here at whistlekick.If you want to find the show notes for this episode for any of the other episodes that we've done, go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. It's the very website that we use for this. We keep things separate. I had fun with today's guest. We talked about some of the martial arts elements that we have in common, some of the things that I grew up with that key trains in now. We talked about travel, we talked about training, we talked about a lot of it. We talked about really what it's like to grow up in the arts and to represent them and to make them part of who you are. It's a story that is unique to our guests, but it's also one that I'm surealmost everybody, if not absolutely everyone will relate to. So here we go. Well, how are you? How's everything going for you?Chris Chase: Ah, pretty good. You know, it's uh like everybody else my, my life has been kind of interrupted and partially on hold because the pandemic, no, I my gig is to travel all over the world and visit schools, teach seminars, certifies schools and instructors and uhm prior to this in the last, you know, prior to the pandemic in the in the previous 18 months, I've been in almost as many countries but that's a that's come to a screeching halt. So, and then I kind of have to stop. I got to watch it. I don't beat myself up for not doing anything because there's really not much I can do about it.Jeremy Lesniak: Right. You can, you can sneak into other countries, but I'm not sure how productive that is.Chris Chase: It might be one thing but getting out is the next…Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah. I have a friend client who flew here to take care of her business from Costa Rica in February. She moved to Costa Rica a year ago. So, she was there with her husband flew here and has been trying to get back since.Chris Chase: Wow.Jeremy Lesniak:It's February.Chris Chase: YeahJeremy Lesniak:Her family's there. She's been stuck. They have, they've canceled her flight. I'm not exaggerating seven times.Chris Chase: On that surprise, you know, well, that's Central America, but but I work with a lot of a lot of schools in South America. And it's, they're looking at, they're looking at a year of being shut down and everything. I mean, it's, it's devastating.Jeremy Lesniak:It is, it is and there's no there's no playbook for what we're facing right now.Chris Chase: You know, if you can't, you know, I think we're all gonna remind ourselves you can't. You can't get mad at the people that are trying to do something about it because they're, they're on the learning curve just a little bit ahead of us. You know, I mean, it's everybody's, you know, this is new to everybody. So, but as I was telling Lessee that I kind of dodged the proverbial bullet because back in December, last December, I was I was touring in India. I was uh hosting a tournament and doing seminars and stuff. And uh they flew me on Cathay Pacific, a Chinese air uh airlines and I hit connections both ways in Hong Kong. And uhm when I left. Well, I noticed that in the airport, there were like these kiosks like in between every few gates and stuff, and it was all set up to take passengers temperatures and stuff. And then when I got home news. It wasn't it wasn't long after I got home news of the coronavirus outbreak became news. So, I think I like actually I bolt by about I thought 10 days, but now it's like within a week so…Jeremy Lesniak:Wow.Chris Chase: Yeah,Jeremy Lesniak:that's, that's mind blowing.Chris Chase: Yeah. And, yes.Jeremy Lesniak:So, you know, you brought up and and you know from here we'll we'll shift out of current events I guess.Chris Chase: Yeah sorry.Jeremy Lesniak:No, no, no apologies necessary. I mean, it's it's on everyone's mind. I saw someone this was probably a week or so ago on Facebook post, you know, how do you how have we done? You know, and it wasn't it wasn't a political question. It wasn't an inflammatory question. It was a genuine, you know, what do people think? And I said, we're not gonna know for 10 20 years.Chris Chase: Yeah. Yeah.Jeremy Lesniak:The idea of trying because we're still in the middle. The idea of trying to unpack our response to a thing that nobody's ever dealt with in the middle of dealing with the thing. We can't really do that. It's kind of it's it. I think it'd be like scoring yourself in the middle of a black belt test.Chris Chase: Yeah, yeah.Jeremy Lesniak:You know, it's not over. It's still going. And you don't really have the context coz I don't know about you. I don't know about listeners, you know, every black belt test I've ever had. My, my, within 30 minutes, you know, I was sweaty, and drained, and foggy and couldn't really think straight.Chris Chase: Right. That's right. Well, it's like, when I've run tests and stuff for dance and everything. The first thing I gotta tell him is, you know, what do I need to know, what I, what is the biggest thing you gotta do is you gotta get you have to know us to remember to breathe. Because that's basically it. You know, I mean, we're all living in the moment. Right? So...Jeremy Lesniak:For sure. Well, let's switch gears.Chris Chase: SureJeremy Lesniak:If you're, if you're okay. I mean, the conversation is going well. I don't think we have to.Chris Chase: Yeah.Jeremy Lesniak:Start the clock or anything.Chris Chase: Okay.Jeremy Lesniak:So, let's, let's take a hard left in the martial arts.Chris Chase: Okay.Jeremy Lesniak:And you know, our jump-off question is is almost always how'd you get started, so let's start there.Chris Chase: Well when I when I teach the kids and he asked me about how did you start Sensei, I give them a brief I start from the very beginning. I say that uh first the earth cool. Then the dinosaurs came, it went away and then I was born. Uhm but uh when I got into karate, uhm kids weren't in it. And, we're talking 72 73 1972, 1973 and I was I knew I was headed for a high school in Rochester, New York, and great school, I wouldn't go anywhere else but at the time and before I went in there, it had a reputation of being pretty tough. I used to joke and steal a joke from Rodney Dangerfield that my school was so tough that the lunch lady's name was Dominic. And uhm, so anyway, and I've always been small for my age, and you know, a good target to be picked up. So, this was, to say the least it was a it was a major concern of mine. I came late in life. My parents, I already had two brothers that were in college already. And, and uhm one of my, one of my brothers, Steve, he he went away to Chiropractic college in St. Louis. And he heard back from my parents that, you know, put must ask how I'm doing and you know, he's paraphrasing, you know, he's pretty bummed out and stuff and pretty nervous about going to school and, you know, so he told me about a Japanese student that he knew there was a short and some guys on a college football team, they snuck in at night when he was in a lab and they try to jump him, you know, maybe to haze him or whatever. And apparently this Japanese student just mopped the floor with these guys. And so, my my brother's message was that you know, don't let your size you know have get you down about it whatever you know, you can, you can hold your own, you can do whatever you want to do. And that was pretty inspiring when I heard about this story because my brother has a has a reputation for embellishing stories or whatever but you know, I'm so maybe I let my imagination go wild but I envisioned this to short guy in a lab coat, you know, and then you know, from kicks up and catch you guys in the jaws and you're just bouncing off them and he's like Superman. So that really piqued my interest about crafting. And I could say you know, it's easiest for it's easy to, in today's age just to think that, you know, everybody knew about it, but people didn't. People constantly got Judo confused with Karate or it was the same thing. You know, I remember saying Oh, he gave him a judo chop, you know, and all this other stuff because it was literally foreign. It was it was mysterious. And so anyway, there were books like Bruce Tegner and all these other stuff, a couple of my buddies and I would go to the library, take some books out. And then when my my mom and dad were off to work and I got home from school, we take metric, my mattress off the bed, break down the basement and use that for a heavy bag and kicking it and everything that knowing what we're doing, but you know, needless to say the interest was sparked. So, it was getting it was the summertime and that fall to coming September. I'm going to go to a, the high school as a freshman. My mother worked for the local utility company, Rochester Gas Electric and gentlemen was, she worked in telephone service. So, when people wanted to turn on or turn off their service, my mom was personally one of the people that they would contact. So, a gentleman called up to utility company, get his utilities put up, turned on for his business. My mom took that call and said, Oh, what, what kind of business and he says, it's a karate school. My mother was very good, gregarious and had the gift of gab just befriended everybody. And she said, "Oh, you know my son talks about that". So anyway, she got the address, and everything and, and I think that was like a Monday or something. She called my dad and or talked to my dad when he got home and said, next time you go, you know, swing by this school. It's not that far from us, and get some information for Chris. And my dad did, so by Tuesday he came back with this this xerox-copied flyer and it said Isshinryu Karate but at that time I was just going Isshinryu but karate okay. And uh I went there and it was just it was just mind blowing because you have all this I mean this is before the Bruce Lee movies hit and stuff you know I mean it's very very mysterious and I can remember the butterflies in my stomach and just wondering about what's going to be like when I get there? Are guys gonna jump out of the walls and you know, ambush me what what's going on, and walked in and there's just this plains floor. Some pictures, masters at the showmen, the shrine there and I see the same. No, she was beyond this point, bow before you get on, and stuff and I'm really nervous because not that I'm afraid, getting hit and stuff, but I just don't wanna, I don't wanna be that guy that's doing the wrong thing. And they're all, they're all, there are no kids in the karate at this time, at least a minor. The whole idea about kids’ karate program is wasn't even thought of. So, they're mostly like college students the age and everything. And uhm they asked me "Okay, well, how many days you'd like to go?" and have a while I think I got I think was a Tuesday. I think I can do Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, give it a try or whatever. Well, they didn't even have a uniform to fit in. Because I mean, no kids size whatever. I was small for my age. So my first month was a you know, we're waiting for a gi to come in from Japan that would fit me in there's embarrassing pictures of me wearing bell bottoms. It's the seventies so don't get on me.Jeremy Lesniak:What year? What year is this?Chris Chase: We're talking about 1973.Jeremy Lesniak:Okay.Chris Chase: You know, and oh yeah, it's just I look like a, I fell out of the mystery wagon from Scooby Doo or something, you know. And so anyway they they liked me because uhm I wasn't as smart out kid that maybe they were expecting. I was I was a quitter, Jeremy and practically everything I I tried before. Um, I was a boy scout for a week until I you know, so I could go on one campout and then when I did and I found out it was my turn to washing dishes. I said, you know, I think I can do home, I can be home and do chores like that. And you know, that didn't last and stuff but, but I just just took it because, you know, I was taken, there was another guy. I remember he's just this big motorcycle dude. Next to me, and he and we're struggling together, you know, doing the circle set getting the stances and stuff and I'm doing just as good as him if not better. And so now I can learn some more stuff and throwing a punch and everything, and I and I were just listening and I could do it. And it was just, it was just miraculous to me. It just changed me. I started getting confidence right away. And so I was coming all the time. So, you know, I've been training for a while and met Master Angi Uezu, the master of our style. He's the son in law, the number one student of Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, the creator of, the founder of the Isshinryu Karate, and he was happened to be touring in US around this time or shortly, shortly after you know, I was starting to get into it. I think maybe I was a yellow belt or something. And uhm back then, whoever his sponsor was or his host, he would you know, he would book him for different schools. And he would actually stay a month at a time at the school and teach every class as if it was his dojo. It was just a fantastic opportunity. So, I hear I hear murmurs that Mr. Uezu is gonna come to to our dojo. And I am just like, way excited about this. I've seen some pictures and everything. I'm just, you know, I'm just completely over the moon about this, you know, waiting to meet him, much less, you know, train with him. And I remember I walked in, in the dojo and there he was, and it's like, you know, it was like, he glowed. I mean, he just had his his, his his power and everything just from walking just, you know, it's like yeah, I felt it, you know. And he smiled and everything and I would train and like I said, with all adults and everything, and he called me the baby son. And he said, "Oh baby son, first one come last one leave" because I was there as soon as the doors open, and, and I closed the place. So at the end of his tour, he finished going to all the schools he had to and I found about, he told me about this later. It's not like I knew about it. But at the end of the tour, his sponsor, I think it may have been sent to Harry Appel to Cleveland, I'm not sure. But he said "Look, you've fulfilled the obligation. You've gone to all the schools you have to but there's still a month left on your on your visa. You know, you can go back to any school you want to." And he picked up our dojo in Rochester because he said he wanted, he told me this later, because he wanted to train with the baby son, with me because I was about, I'm a year older than his, than his son, maybe I reminded him of home or whatever. And he just liked the fact that I just hung on every word and I never complained. I just you know, if he told me to do something, I would do it. You know, I really worked hard. And like he said, I was the first one there and the last one to leave. So he came back and he talked to the Sensei, and I managed to get key to the dojo. So I'm like this 13 year old kid in yellow belt and I'm riding my bike in. It's not the best section either, but I had my own key and Master Uezu would, would come early and everything so he could work with me. And he taught me. I learned every concept from him. I got all my dodge from him. I mean, he just took me under his wing. So at the, at the end of that month, I'm trying to figure out what, what, what time of the year it was. I want to say it was summer. I can't quite recollect it now. But anyway, there was a sayonara party for. And my parents, you know, came to pick me up and he said, "Oh, you know, it's oh, Papa son, Mama son", saw my saw my parents, and they just wanted to thank him. You know, oh my son really, you know, you know, you just appreciate it. You know, we appreciate everything you've done for him, and he just thinks you're the greatest, thank you so much and whatever. And he said that if it's alright with them, he would like me. He would like me to come to Okinawa. So I could I could live with with with him and his family and he would train me personally. And that was just unreal to me. And I think to my parents, too. I mean, I mean, wasn't like my parents did. "Oh, yeah, sure. go and take my kid or whatever." But, you know, they saw what what karate done for me. I mean, I was this weak little kid, no, no confidence or whatever. And, you know, I'm, you know, I'm doing this. And so they said, okay, she makes "No sure". So I think they cut they meant it but in a way, in retrospect, they probably just thought that, oh, yeah, you know, he, you know, this is gonna be like everything else or whatever, he's gonna drop this or whatever. Well, that just with the fighter and I graduated school, high school a year early, just so I could get out there. And, I went over there. Barely, you know, I graduated high school. Like, just before I turned 17 my birthday. My birthday was yesterday, by the way, and uhm...Jeremy Lesniak:Well Happy Birthday.Chris Chase: Thank you very much. And uh so anyway, you know, I was barely 18 and people won't realize, you know, the world. The world is very small now because the internet, modern travel, whatever. And it hasn't changed that much in almost 50 years, but in a way it has drastically because not everybody, you know, I'm not I'm not seeing all I know, there's plenty people that may have done this, but there weren't a lot when I did. For example, I had to go to San Francisco to the Japanese consulate to get a visa. Now, it's it's, you know, if you got a US passport, that's automatic, well, it wasn't that and they had to know where I was going or whatever. And so when I got there it was, it might have been, it might as well been a a different planet. I mean, this is the first time I saw like neon signs and I just thought it was just so awesome that I had no idea what it meant. It's not our alphabet, nothing, you know, this is just completely different world. And I was I was accepted a lot because particularly in Okinawa, any any American, you know, they were a GI on a base there or or, or their parents were, you know. The idea that that some American would come to Okinawa that wasn't in the service. It was for many, it was mind-boggling. Why are you here? I'm here because to train with my sensei and maybe it would see I was in the culture into the culture and everything. And I was just accepted with open arms. They just they took it as it was meant to be as a compliment. People will just uh oh my goodness that was you know, you know, here he's a karate man, he's come to train with his Sensei, he knows about the history, our history and all this other stuff. And I hit a lot of people helped me, you know, and that was it. So I was in Okinawa. Well, you know, often I'd come home, come back, you know, home visit stuff, and then, you know, go back and everything, but I spent a good, you know, in between, Okinawa and Tokyo, I'll get to that later, about a good 9 years, and in real formative years for me because I, it's, you know, I became a man, it's where I matured and stuff. And I trained 24/7, you know, a lot of people they go, you know, they take a couple classes, they do, you know, take a tour of Okinawa, whatever, but you know, I lived there. And uh I remember, for example, Master Uezu was it the security police and uh and then he was Marine based there. He was gonna guard the house and everything that was his that was his full time gig, you know and then he had his dojo on the on base and can't foster off of I was part of the the gym there. So a typical day was you know the house they had a flat roof and get up in the morning I had to hit the makiwara you know, a couple hundred times and then we would, we would shimmy up his wife's clothesline pole to get up on the flat roof and we'd work out on the roof or maybe work on a [0:24:39 - 0:24:40] some bunkai, work our way down, shower up, have breakfast. Master Uezu would go off to work at the marine base, I would have some chores to do in the house. And then I would take a bus into Naha where the base was, meet him at his gate and together we'd walk to his dojo there and we work out. And then a lot of times if it was his day off on weekends, he would always take me someplace historical so learn the history and the culture He wanted, he wanted me to have a well, well rounded education and everything. And, you know, then at night we come home have some have dinner. And, you know, maybe if there was some meat in it, because there's more meat in Okinawa diet and mainland Japanese diet. If there were some meat or whatever, you have a steak knife pretty soon, we're in a backyard we're going over knife techniques and stuff. It was just round the clock. It's what I did. And I loved it. I was just like, you know, I'm a big Beatles fan. And they always say that, you know, the Beatles they met the right people met at the right time. And that's that's how it was for me and for Master Uezu when it you know, I just happened to be placed at the right time at the right place where he took me under his wing. And it's just just just a phenomenal experience and from then from there earlier I met and became a good friend with Masayuki Yamazato who was at the time the flyweight kickboxing champion in Japan. And before I could get over to Okinawa, I had to get into Tokyo. And he, he introduced me to a family there, her name is Sasagi, and they own a a sushi restaurant. They live above it and everything and this time, I never even heard of sushi. Almost no one in America did. And there was a family there and Yamazato's son, you know, introduced me told me he told them who I was and everything and there was a mother and father and their son Aichi who was a year older than me. And he had two daughters, one was a year younger than me and another one was a Sachiko and Nana Takiko, she was like two years younger than me. And they just heard how I was into the culture and everything and they've never closed up their restaurant. And they, they close the restaurant because he saw it was in the culture and he wanted to show me the real Japan and they took me up to Nikko where all the where the shrines were and everything, they wanted to share that with me. And they pretty much took me in as a family, they are my family. So so they sponsored me, so I could, you know, work and I got my doctorate through the auspices of Todai Tokyo University and everything and because they sponsored me and you know, like, in all my work with martial arts and helping Master Uezu so it always was all like a synergy I would, I would go back and forth from Okinawa and Tokyo and and I went off on a tangent here you asked me what got me into it. I'm sorry.Jeremy Lesniak:No, no apologies needed. This is this is what we do on this show.Chris Chase: Oh, okay.Jeremy Lesniak:This is why I didn't stop you.Chris Chase: All right. Well, I'm just gonna keep…Jeremy Lesniak:Keep going. Keep going. You're telling a wonderful story.Chris Chase: Okay, well, I'm just gonna take a sip of water here and wet my palate.Jeremy Lesniak:Yeah, for sure.Chris Chase:So anyway we're talking by now, you know, I was I got there in the, in the 70s. And by now we're talking early 80s. And, Jeremy, I got to tell you. I was living the life. I mean,Jeremy Lesniak:Suppose it yeah.Chris Chase: Yeah. I mean, I mean, I'm I'm totally immersed in the culture and I'm not trying to be as in Japan, in Japan. There's a saying that someone's trying to be more Japanese than the Japanese. You know, it wasn't anything esoteric. It's just that this is you know, this is my life now. I mean, I was just with the right people and they're my family to this day. So in Okinawa and in Tokyo. So uh in Tokyo I lived in a very old neighborhood it's called Adachi-ku. And when I was there their older generation were still walking around wearing and gatehub wearing kimonos, you know? And I would pitch in at the sushi restaurant. I wash dishes and stuff and I could make chawanmushi which is the the custard dessert. I'll take credit for that. But how I how I made money there was I tutored English. I would train I started a karate club for the neighborhood and everything. And all the neighbors, they had kids. They said you have to go see you know you need to talk to Chris. You know, he'll teach you about Japanese culture. And so they, you know, I would teach karate there and I made money tutoring English primarily for like businessmen and high school seniors. Because I don't know if it's changed much but at the time where you get accepted into college there is really gonna make or break your, your future in business there because of the connections you make and everything. And one of the best ways to get in a good school is to qualify high in a lot of the entrance exams. And a way to really qualify high in entrance exams to was was your skill in English. And English is pretty much compulsory in a lot of lower grade schools and everything. But what they didn't have experience with was conversational, conversational English, because let's face it, Jeremy, you know, when you and I speak, we're pretty smart fellas. But you know, it doesn't sound like the textbook that that's great reading from right in English, you know, it's, you know, people don't speak. Well, the New York almost seem music people, we don't talk the way. You know, we don't talk the way you know the way we read it. And the interesting thing was, I would be at the sushi restaurant at the bar there and I wouldn't be saying something just before I could really get fluent in Japanese. But uh I would try saying something in English and they would say write it down. Because they weren't sure about the pronunciation or write it down and then they could like understand. So what I did was, I was getting paid for this. I was having just conversations, and it was great for the sushi restaurant too, because we did it there. So I would meet, meet someone for dinner and having a good, a great sushi dinner, and we will just converse and I would give some tips about. Well, you know, it's more common to see it this way or that way or whatever. But I got paid, essentially to eat and talk. Besides karate, those are two of my other...Jeremy Lesniak:Not a bad gigChris Chase: No and it was, was really good. And the Sasagi family loved it too, because, you know, we're running up to 10. So it was, it was a really great setup. And then I knew ,from the sushi restaurant, a man by the name of [0:32:32 - 0:32:33] and he owned a shipping shipping company. So if I wanted to, you know, I had the ability to just hop on a freighter and get to Okinawa you know, it would take two days and stuff but I can, I can I have access available to me like that. So, I just, you know, I you know, I got family, and the thing that I didn't know, being It was my birthday yesterday. I got a lot of people giving me a birthday well wishes and stuff and, but there's people from all over the world and I've known for, for, you know, 40 years and everything and it was it was really good medicine for me and I think that I don't recommend Facebook for know for for being uplifting because, uh, you know, there's a lot of stuff on there and I think people get the idea that, you know, everybody's life is better than your own because everybody you know, everybody puts a, you know, brave face on everything. But I have to tell you, it made me reminisce about a lot of this stuff and I I got a lot of well wishes from extended family and friends that it was like a, you know, it was good medicine for the soul. You know, I mean, to think that you know, that you have so many people. That means so much, they've touched your life and you've obviously touched theirs that they thought of you. And crap, they did that for me. I mean, it's just, you know, it's, you know, it's a way of life and you can't be obsessed with anything but the way karate is interwoven in my life and made so many opportunities available to me. And the experiences. It's just, it's just phenomenal. So, now we're talking late 80s and now we're getting into the 90s and I I get back and my, my mom and this is this is before anybody really knew a lot about it, my my mom started coming down with Alzheimer's and, you know, short-term memory problems and everything. And I had helped my, you know, I had helped my family. So, you know, I'd be bopped around a little bit, but I came back to Rochester so I could be closer to home, my home there and I opened up a a dojo. So I would I would teach at a dojo and in about every three or four months I would go back to Okinawa and I would help Mr. Uezu because what was happening was when he formed OIKKA, Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association you know we were strong in the US because of you know, so many GIs study it came back to the states opened up a school you know, whatever. But he knew that for us to expand like worldwide stuff we need to you know, we need to grow in mainland Japan too. So I met a good became a student of mine he's a great guy his name is Harumi Suzuki Sensei. And he, this is kind of a this is always gonna be like a Star Wars thing Jeremy where one episode is ahead of time and now we got to go back.Jeremy Lesniak:Yeah let's do it.Chris Chase: Okay, I'm gonna we're saying,Jeremy Lesniak:I'm really, I'm really digging thisChris Chase: Okay so we're sayingJeremy Lesniak:Let's let's go, let's go.Chris Chase: Hey man we're, we're doing prequels now and enlightens pace. So, anyway when when Master Uezu did that last tour, he had to take a leave of absence from his job as the Security Police, okay, so when he came back they told me well you can go but you know, you're not going to be guaranteed that you're gonna be able to get back to work until there's another open. So when he went when he when he left from that side of our party and everything goes back to Okinawa he's he's on a waiting list to get back to his job with the Security Police. So he, uh, he went to Nagoya in Japan which is in the city in different prefecture. In Nagoya, for lack of a better way of putting it, because we don't have a lot of time. It's kind of like an it's really it's it's a bad analogy now, today's times but Nagoya is like Japan's Detroit or the way Detroit was for us, the Motor City. I mean, you had that headquarters, you know, that's where all GM, Ford, and Chrysler were. Well, that's where Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Did you know that? That's that's like, that's their Detroit. So Master Uezu took a job so he could keep you know, supporting his family. He took a job in Nagoya, at a Toyota factory. I think it was managing one of the loading docks or something, it has something to do with inventory. And he taught there for for a well he lived there for a year. Well, rumor started going around, you know, in the plant that you know, there's this karate master that's working in the loading docks or in the docks or something inventory. So people started approaching if you know, why don't you teach us karate, why don't you teach us karate, so he did because he wanted to teach. So they set up like boxes and all this other stuff to make this like prefab room in the warehouse, and that's where he taught and then and then on weekends if the plant was closed on Sundays, he actually taught under a bridge if you can imagine that way cool. So, so anyway, he was he a young guy, just out of high school, got a job. At that uh at that car plant. Here's what Master Uezu. He wants to learn karate. So that's Suzuki Sensei. So Suzuki he, he signs up and starts training, and it's not even a month and Master Uezu gets a telegram or whatever or phone call whatever notice that he's got his own job back in Okinawa. So, he packs up. He says goodbye and he goes back to Okinawa goes back to back to his house and his job. Well, Suzuki is kind of crushed. He, he wants to continue with karate, but there's no Isshinryu there. So he, he studies [0:39:47] and now we shoot forward he excels in it becomes a the Japanese national champion and has about 14 dojos in Japan. So now, that's not the prequel. Now we, we've we've flash ahead to like the early to mid 90s and I'm, like I said, I'm blessed that no matter what direction the planes going in, it's going to US or it's going to Japan or I'm going home. So I'm spending some time and I'm helping Master Uezu more training and everything and I'm helping them teach at his dojo. By now the dojo is built up on the second floor of his house. It's the headquarters. Beautiful, beautiful place, and he gets a phone call. And who do you think it is Jeremy? Calls him out of the blue.Jeremy Lesniak:The master.Chris Chase: It's Suzuki. I'm just testing to see if you're listening. I want to make sure I'm not putting you to sleep.Jeremy Lesniak:Not at all.Chris Chase: Okay? So, so it's Suzuki and he goes on and on and set and tells tells him everything I told you about him what his accomplished is work and stuff not in a braggadocio way, because he's hosting on a national tournament. And he says that he wouldn't have had any of his success if it wasn't for the inspiration that he got from Master Uezu. And then even though he only he only studied for for like a month with him, Isshinryu is his true passion. He got into the other system, because this it's really good and he loves it, but he never forgot what he loved about Isshinryu and he wanted him to he wanted Master Uezu to come and show his students and show the rest of Japan Isshinryu and everything. He still regards him as his Sensei and he, he wanted to honor him. So he said, yeah, I could do that. He says, you know, I have I have, you should talk to Chris and he was just gonna, like, remain who I was and stuff and he went, it was Chris Chase. I know, I know him from how you talked about him and everything, and I I I followed how you and he had been doing so much work and everything together. Please, please tell him you know, please have him come with you. He would also be a very special guest and everything. And so I was ready to, you know, head back to Rochester. And he said, what, uh, can you can you hold off and I just called up to my black belts who are [0:42:47] support my students there. They they ran the school. Everything was cool. I was sure I could stay so I stayed about another another three weeks I think and Suzuki sells tickets to go to a [0:43:06]. And, you know, we've demonstrated a we've demonstrated a kata, I think I did, Master Uezu I think did sunsu kata, did seisan kata and and we each did a weapons kata. And they really liked it and stuff and all these guys from [0:43:27 - 0:43:28] we got along really well. And what they really liked was our weapons. Because no OIKKA Isshinryu Karate, Isshinryu is a system that it's its own karate and kobudo recognizes a kobudo system also and they were really intrigued with it and they really liked our practical self defense. So we started doing seminars at all these schools and stuff and and the intention for them as when we did this is that they supplemented their their curriculum with Isshinryu self-defense and and [0:44:05] and then consequently down the line because it wasn't a competition thing like saying, oh, you're doing this wrong are we doing it? No, all we do is say this is what we do. This is why we do it. And if you like it, you know, you know, feel free to use this and stuff. And they converted over to Isshinryu. So now, OIKKA, we got about in the gifu prefecture alone, we have about 14 well, maybe about 16 schools now. And that was a that was a, like an annual thing. Master Uezu and I would go go to mainland Japan we tour there and teach seminars and everything. And then a Master Uezu a suffered a series of strokes. And another just the man is so inspirational, his whole left side was was paralyzed, and you know, through the help of good doctors, but it himself he, he, he rehabbed himself he got himself back, but more of the more the hands-on responsibility, he passed on to me. And that was like, like a moment in my life that I'll never forget. It's it's an honor. But it's a tremendous responsibility, right before we're going to be introduced and stuff, he looked over me he said he goes, coz I speak. You do. You'd be my hands and my feet. And, you know, it just it rocked me. You know, it did. I got from my knees buckle you know? And but we had that that relationship what we do we have that relationship. He introduces me as his son. You know, I am his adopted son that their family is my family and that's why I'm been ingratiated into the the Okinawa community. So, so anyway, that's what we did I you know, he would he would talk to something, do some stuff and then I would go out on the floor and I would demonstrate more, and we work that like that for for quite a while. But as time went on, it will be it's too taxing for Master Uezu. And he, he passed the torch to me, he made me his successor and you know, I'm the Head, the Head Instructor and the President of Isshinryu OIKKA and so that's that's how I got into doing what I'm doing now. You know, I I I run the association I, I, I travel and teach seminars. And the whole idea is that is to what you call it, build on what Master Uezu was doing. From the get go when I met him, he traveled, you know,because it's very important to keep consistency, and to have a standard consistency that we're all on the same page. And that's how you keep the quality together. You know, at first, Master Shimabuku traveled to America, like two to three times, you know, to do that to keep the those GIs that came over open schools to keep in mind, you know, to keep them consistent to keep them, you know, that standard of quality, and then when he couldn't do that anymore he passed it on to his number one student, Master Uezu as his personal representative to do that. And that's what he's done for me, you know, he's passed on is his number one student I'm his personal representative and then, you know, I'm carrying on that work. But Master Uezu still stays very active as the, you know, Chairman Emeritus and a special advisor. And, you know, I clear everything with him and everything. You know, because he, you know, he says your, I call him he said to me is Chris, and you're in the driver's seat now, but I'm still going to ask him for directions. So that's so now of, like I said, that's, that's pretty much what I what I do. My, my dojo, I didn't want to keep the day to day running that school because I didn't want any parents that I'm showing preference. I wanted to concentrate on teaching everybody that's in the association. So I pass the baton on to my students, my schools in New York and Japan with their with Sensei Suzuki. And my wife is a brilliant woman. The only dumb thing she did was say yes to me. That's for a whole another story but anyway, she had some career opportunities, but it would involve moving from Rochester, and she was very patient as I was building my schools and then getting a grasp by the range of OIKKA, I told her that, you know, opportunity knowing that so many times, and then it's not gonna knock anymore. So next time you got an opportunity as long as we're near a major airport. It's good with me because that's that's what I need I need to travel. So that's what we did. So consequently, firstly moved from Rochester to Cleveland and then for another opportunity we're in Miami and two years ago moved here to Phoenix so I'm in the states with my family here, that's where I'm kind of based out now. But our goal is that thanks to technology, she can work from anywhere, my Sunday school you can study anywhere that we're gonna spend, you know, winters here, summers back in Rochester, and Japan, Okinawa in the in the fall and spring. So we'll be back around but you know, we're almost there. But you know, so that my family can, I can be more with my family more but that's, that's what I do. I just travel and I I get back to Okinawa a lot. You know, to to represent and everything there and help other dojo there. And uhm you know, but it's like you said, it's, it's a great game. I'm kind of I'm in a holding pen right now because of the pandemic as everybody else's. But, you know, I'm, I'm a real lucky guy, I do what I love and I got friends and family literally all over the world.Jeremy Lesniak:If we go back to the beginning, we were talking about how clarity really comes in hindsight.Chris Chase: Yeah.Jeremy Lesniak:And as you told your story, it's so clear that you ended up doing the right things at the right times that you were on this path. And that happens so often for people who fall into martial arts and really, I think that's the best word for this. You kind of fell into it. You were taking books out and kicking your mattress, but it didn't sound you know, I didn't hear anything from you saying that you were going to your parents actively looking to train and here we have this moment of of kismet where a school opens in your area and they call for utilities and your mother answers the phone.Chris Chase: Yeah, yeahJeremy Lesniak:It's it's so clear. Again in hindsight so I'm curious if we go back if we talk about those early days when you define yourself as a quitter, how early did you know this was your thing?Chris Chase: Truthfully, the first day, the first day when I before I walked out of there, I just knew that this is what I wanted to do.Jeremy Lesniak:Can you describe that? Can you describe what that feels like?Chris Chase: I can, I can describe it now because I understand it. But I didn't then but empowerment. You know, empowerment and just and from that also is just peace. Like like inner peace because I mean, it was like I had, I had a, I had a map drawn out for me what I want to do and how I how I'm going to do it, you know? And and what I take from it is that, you know, well, I'm really, I don't except that I don't like to talk about it. But I'm, I'm really reserved to talk about coz I don't want to because I'm thinking, you know, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging in this and I'm saying like, well, you know, it's not special for me. It's like, if someone asked me one of what his, Robert Downey Jr. After everybody, you know, it was gonna be like somebody with, "What's it like being Robert Downey Jr's kid?", well, that kid could say, well, what's it like not being Robert Downey Jr's kid is insane to me really. How, you know, it's like, I'm kind of surprised that people say, you know, when people get to know me or someone introduces me and maybe they give me a give a little background as wow, you know, it took so much guts, you know, to just just leave and go there and stuff like that. And, and I I don't see it that way because it just seemed completely crazy not to do it. And that's what I tried to impress upon my students almost like regardless of their age, but you know, especially when you're talking with young young kids and stuff is that, that they you don't want to be an old man in a rocking chair thinking about what if, you know. What, what if? What if I, you know, what if I did you know what if I, I did like I thought about, you know, getting out of school earlier, whatever, and just just just packing up and going to Okinawa, you know? And then and you regret because you're not happy you didn't see it. And I say that, that the worst thing I think you can you can live with is regret. It's better to try something. And even if it didn't work out, everything happens for a reason. Right? So it's like, you know if so I tell them no, look, if you want to do that, go ahead and do it. If it turned out that it wasn't what you thought it was. That's okay, because you had to find it out. So you can find your path, whatever. But you don't want to be you don't want that regret thinking well, I should have done that or, you know what would happen if I made that choice or something. You know just check it out, go for it. It's, you know, and I'm glad we're doing this because, you know, I'll be I'll be really honest with you. I mean, nobody has all the answers. I mean, in karate masters and everything else, and that's what makes them so special. It's not that they're, they're superhuman, it's that they're human. And they have the same foibles and stuff and same challenges and setbacks that, that everybody else does it, but it's how they deal with it. Oh, and it's like, you know, and that's, that's what kind of keeps me going. I mean, my worlds rocked, you know, from this pandemic I got to worry about, about older family members. I'm checking in Japan all the time, you know, because when the virus gets more starts spiking again, I think of my my family in Rochester too, and thinking about, you know, that mortgage is coming in every month and I'm not, you know, I'm not making money like I was, I mean, I'm definitely you know, this, my, my, you know, this is my livelihood. But we all have that we just got it, you know, we got to power through it. One time. I'm back in 2009, I had an injury. I started developing this difficulty swallowing it wasn't choking wasn't in my windpipe, was in my esophagus, the foot would gotta get, I'm not gonna get gross here, so don't worry. But that I would swallow thinking it's in my stomach, but it will be trapped in my esophagus just before I went into my stomach. And I had to go to emergency a few times, they would do and ask opinion, you know, clear it out or whatever and say they don't follow up with the doctor bah bah bah bah and that would do that. So finally, one time I happened to remember because my brother's birthday like when I came to an ICU I called my brother wishing my happy birthday. But anyway, I, I went to emergency because I couldn't swallow. They want to give an endoscopy and my esophagus detached from my stomach. Both lungs collapsed. My wife is in the in the in the waiting the lobby there and they're here code blue, code blue. And she's thinking it's not Chris. She's about 10 people running with that crash cart and stuff. And then I'll see another code blue code blue and then there's like another 10 some cart  but they can't be Chris. It's it's no sooner left her mind the doctor comes out and tells her yeah, that was Chris. My heart didn't stop complete. Let's slow down where were you know I coded and I was in 9 days in intensive care. And I couldn't even have like a tablespoon of water. So, so anyway, when they cut me open to reattach my esophagus, everything they go right to your abdominals and for crying minutes. That's your core, right? I mean, so so I mean, I couldn't then sit up in bed or whatever. And then I had to, you know, I was really worried about that. And one of my students could go there, but she went, you know, she went to the lobby went and dropped off a cart. And I'll never forget it. It was a, it was a quote by Winston Churchill. And he said, When England was, you know, in the Battle of Britain during World War Two, he said that when you're going through hell keep going. And that's, you know, and that's what it's about. I mean, right now we got to keep going. So make a long story short, obviously, you know, I pulled through, I kind of rehab myself like a week later I was back on the, on the floor teaching classes and everything. But, what this stems from, is that there's a lot of older masters in Okinawa that have the same scar as me and Master Uezu hit something similar. It's that there's a theory of like, because I started young, and I was doing Sanchin a lot and real heart and there's a lot of stress. So that's why we say now especially like if they're under 18, you know, half power or whatever. And even now, you know, many, many masters recommended and we're, we're among them. It say that you need to leave a reserve of air. When you're doing the Ibuki Breathing. When you're training Sanchin, when you really need it, you'll push it out, but to put you that constant stress you know, it's, it's, it's, it's really hard on your body. And I think that really contributed to to what my problems were. And that's why a lot of like goju a lot of the old masters, they stopped doing Sanchin. And they work more on [1:01:07], which is working on the inhalation, as opposed to the exhalation. The Sanchin is great, and good for it, but, but it's like anything else, it's good for it, you know, everything in moderation. So, so let that be a lesson to you about their kids, stay in school and don't do Sanchin full power all the time. So...Jeremy Lesniak:There's something I want to ask you about it that you talked about in the story. And it's only because one of the styles I was raised in Isshinryu  that I'm even I even have the context to ask this question.Chris Chase: Yeah, you [1:01:42 - 1:01:44]Jeremy Lesniak:I'm I'm sure and we will we will spare the listeners this but I'm sure if we compared notes uhm were, I doubt we're more than one degree of separation.Chris Chase: Yeah, at that.Jeremy Lesniak:But that was when you when you traveled over at the invite while you were there and you stuck around and you you demoed Sunsu which correct me if I'm wrong, but it's the only exclusively Isshinryu Kata.Chris Chase: You are correct.Jeremy Lesniak:Okay. Was there something in that or coz anybody who knows this kata knows that it's if I was gonna make a list of kata that I thought were great to demonstrate, especially to practitioners of other martial arts, I don't know that I would put it anywhere near the top.Chris Chase:Really?Jeremy Lesniak:So I so I was curious, why, if you were...Chris Chase: Discussions over.Jeremy Lesniak:Okay. I wasn't sure if perhaps you would disagree. Or if maybe there was, there was something more to it, you know, such that well I'll instead of putting words in your mouth, I'll let you let you answer.Chris Chase: Okay. What, if people wanna know a lot about Isshinryu, Sunsu is great if it's done right. Okay, if it's done right, um, because it has parts, as you know, of many of the other Empty-Hand Katas that we had. There's a Seisan, your Sachin a lot of Kusanko, a lot of Wansu, you know, a little bit a little bit of Chinto but there's a little bit you know, it's like, it's, it's like it's like an Italian American mother's marinara sauce. There's a little bit of everything in there, you know, okay, so and and the other thing is, again, if it's done right, it shows how Isshinryu generates its power, that vertical punch that the the Okinawan term is called chinkuchi. The closest thing in Japanese for that term would be kime, which means focus. Now a lot of people touch upon what does chinkuchi really mean. There's some of it in the breathing, there's a lot in power, it's, it's that moment of impact, where everything is is is for lack of a better way put tightened up, and that that can cause of a [1:04:28 - 1:04:29]. They can cost of shockwave afterwards from the power and then when done right, that showcases it. So even if people don't know it while looking at you, there's something about it that strikes people. So you know, in today with with Kata and the WKF and I no problem with WKF this is not a political thing so don't don't get nervous uh you know, it's whatever floats your boat and consequently you know for a while and for a long time WKF they didn't they didn't accept a lot of Okinawan Kata that, you know, some work but a lot of it stems from from Shotokan because a lot of these guys that started this had roots in Shotokan or maybe or [1:05:24 - 1:05:29]. And what happened was a lot of it and I'm not putting it down, but it is different. A lot of those moves are and this is the right term but you know, I'm on the spot. This is life. It's theatrical. It's kind of like overdramatized. So like when you look at it when when, you know a lot of the competition, you know, they do the team kata and they do the bunkai. So they'll do a kata and all of a sudden you see him running up the guy shoulder and hitting the guy in the head with a spinning back kick. And at that point, I say, did I step out to get a get a sandwich in the kitchen while they're doing that kata because I didn't see it moving the kata. You know, it's, it's, it's kind of like really extrapolate. Now, if that's the way someone trains I'm not putting it down, it takes great skill and everything. But particularly with a traditional Okinawan [1:06:30 - 1:06:31], even though it's a well it's a modern style. It's only modern because it's some of the concepts you know, we do the vertical, vertical punch, but Master Chan Choku Sensei of [1:06:45]. He did like a half twist, you know?So it's kind of Master Uezu, just measured with Shimabuki refined, it just brought it to the next level. So when in a lot of styles, maybe they don't have that in the regular curriculum, like they used to, but, but I think who we appeal to, are people that that like the practicality, you know, if there's some move this a little extra little flowery or whatever Master Shimabuku took that out, you know, he went right to the, you know, little slaying here, but right to the meat potatoes of a technique, his his his premises is if we don't do that, in a real life application, why should we practice it that way? So like a lot of guys, when they're sparring, they're not throwing a full twist punch. And that's what he's saying. I mean, when he first started, he he got a lot of pushback from his own students a lot of this higher dans because it was just so radical that things were not gonna twist. So it time it was, you know, you don't want to lose people. You know, he said that, okay, do what you're comfortable with. So in this dojo, I mean, half the people are twist punch, and half of them are vertical punching. And then finally, I caught again, I'm paraphrasing. But I think he got to the point we're saying, look, you know what, you go big or you stay home. It's either one way or the other way. I was right. You know, I'm on the right path. We need to do it this way. So now we go back to another part of your question about would that be the right kata coz it's only Isshinryu? Well, it is a solely Isshinryu Kata but interesting enough one of the most popular if not the most popular school in Okinawa, is Chubu which means middle. Chubu [1:08:50-1:08:51] and they do, believe it or not sunsu kata select the world, the Okinawa World Tournament. That was one of the katas it was on the list that could be done. Because this [1:09:08 - 1:09:09] is actually if you want to get technical, it's just a it's like a revisionist Isshinryu school because remember when I said there were a lot of his Master Shimbuku's higher dans that just didn't like the vertical punch, they want to stay with the twist punch. Those are the those are the [1:09:32 - 1:09:33] guys. They have a picture in their show men of Master Shimabuku so.Jeremy Lesniak:Thanks for indulging me.Chris Chase: Yeah. Did that answer the question in some…Jeremy Lesniak:It didChris Chase: extrapolated way?Jeremy Lesniak:You know, I I on this show anyway, I very rarely ask a question that has any kind of expectation of a structured answer. I asked the question because I want to hear the guest say more things.Chris Chase: Okay, well, it worked.Jeremy Lesniak:It sure did. It sure did. You've made my job easy today. So let's, let's tie this up, right up, sort of neatly. You know, let's look into the future we get to time machine, maybe you're a fan of Doctor Who or something and you move forward in time as far as you want to. And you have the opportunity to look back at what's transpired between this moment and that time. What would you hope you would see what would you hope happens over the next year 5, 10 however many into the future from now, with regard to your martial arts?Chris Chase: My training personally or just...?Jeremy Lesniak:All of it. Let me ask you, this in a different way. We did a follow up to this episode.Chris Chase: Yeah.Jeremy Lesniak:And I said Sensei fill me in from when we talked last in August of 2020 up until now, what's going on?Chris Chase: Well Jeremy I got my toes in the sand and my tie in my hand and then the tax free Cayman Islands no.Jeremy Lesniak:There's no more Coronavirus.Chris Chase: Yeah. Yeah. So wouldn't it be great if they found out that the best way to fight Coronavirus was to get back in the dojo and workout? I'm not saying it is but when it'd be great but I would hope that you know, there's a lot of talk about all the politics and martial arts and Isshinryu gets gets more than it's deserved share for that. And the reason why is because when you look at other other styles like like, like [1:11:53], their governing body is is a [1:11:56] Association. And if you look at the structure of an association, the presidents, the chairman's directors, most of them aren't even karate guys. Their their former Prime Ministers or cabinet members like congressman here and their their the retired bank CEOs and all this other stuff. There's a structured business like administration, and I'm not criticizing them because it's very useful stuff. Well, Master Shimabuku was making Isshinryu. His whole idea was, he just wanted refined his craft. And the whole idea also was that he wanted that to be a medium, a medium for people to learn about Okinawa and culture and the benefits of living that way, of you know, a peaceful way. You know you Isshinryu is one heart he trained to be a person with a good heart. That was that's what his focus. It wasn't like he was going to start a style and and say, okay, I'm gonna make Isshinryu and we're gonna head this Karate Association and this is what you know, he wasn't at that. So then Master Uezu he picked it up from where Master Shimbuku left of him. And then he started to get more structured and more structured. And now worth passing me. It's not like, this isn't my idea. I'm just, I'm just carrying it forward in the future plan. And the whole idea was, yeah, we're big in the US, but I need to reach out to more places in the world that like Isshinryu and everything, and grow that way. So we could all had this community because like now, the world is smaller. It's you know, it's like we can't have everybody all worlds coming in Okinawa at once, you know, but we can we can go to them. So that's kind of like where I hope it is, is that you know, like for example, in a couple weeks, today's the fourth in 16 days from now we were supposed to have our world tournament in Sacramento, California, and it was gonna be huge. We had the the Sacramento Board of Department Tourism, everything backing us up. We had we had television coverage all signed up. We had special special hotels and everything when there were there were buses with with with the stuff that they were really pushing it and supporting us and everything. We had people from like 16 countries. So the same thing with us that happened to the Olympics we had to stop there. But what I'm saying is I see us growing and using modern technology to keep to keep together, you know, like webinars and stuff like that I see that in the future, I want to see is one community and getting back to why did we get into this in the first place? Because this is our passion. And we love to train and and, you know, it's like it's I'd like to see it's like in a way, the way I explained it is like, OIKKA is is the university and Isshinryu is our is our science it's our it's our, it's our art, that's, that's our curriculum that's, that's our program, and all the other dojos, our campuses of that university, everybody's got their you know, like, like when I go to a when someone hosts me at their dojo, you do a seminar or whatever. I don't go in there like you know, like I never forget that it's their place. It's something I took Master Uezu long time ago when we were traveling. We're going to go to visit a dojo. And of course, Master Uezu outrank them. And I'm just a young guy, but I outrank them. And he said, Chris, he said before, before he walked in the door, he says, remember, you're my son, and we have this rank and everything, but this is his dojo. This is his, you know, that's his whole, you know, we need to remember to respect that. So it's like I always say, when I go into a place that someone invites if Jeremy, if some day, God bless you, you decided to invite me over for dinner, I'm not going to get up and leave the table and adjust your thermostat. Because I'm a guest. I'm a guest in your home. But what I'm saying is that people need to realize the necessity and hope in the future that more people get the idea of what an association is really about. It's about that. It's about that the glue that keeps us together, it keeps it keeps a standard of quality and to resource for school owners and their students to win and to enhance and advance their study of what we love, with no politics involved about it. That's what it's about. When someone would come to my dojo and say that, you know, well, I come from this lineage, I want this and I say, look, you know what? Classes at seven, we all [1:17:16 - 1:17:17]. Come on down, just get on the forum, and let's just work out. That's what makes us all happy. Right? And I just hope that that people just don't, don't forget that. You know, we do this because it's what we love, and it's something important that we need to enrich our lives. So that's, that's what I hope for the future.Jeremy Lesniak:What if people wanna connect with you, find your association, you online, websites, social media, you got any of that stuff?Chris Chase: Yeah. OIKKA.com. That that talks about you know, our different stuff. Here's my contact in it. We also have a Facebook page. You know, if you go Okinawa I'm gonna spell it out Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association, you'll see that it has a lot of information also, but I'm really accessible if someone emails me or whatever I answer it. And if I can help anybody, that's, that's my job.Jeremy Lesniak:I appreciate you being here. Thanks for your time. And one more thing as we go, I always invite the guests to choose the way that we send out this part of the show. So parting words, wisdom, jokes, whatever that might be as we transition into the outro that I'm going to record later. Okay, what would your final words be?Chris Chase: Well, uh, you know, it's like, it's kind of like, keep it simple. I'm reminded that I was I was at my dojo and one of my students head the school in Ohio and he just happened to be at at conference that he had to go but he didn't wanna leave without saying hello to me. And uh we met up for lunch and we're walking up the parking lot he was gonna say we were saying goodbye to each other and he was really serious, Sensei you know thanks for the opportunity Do you have any words of wisdom for me before I leave? He was serious about it, you know, but I just wanted to kind of keep it real. So I told him that you know that two wrongs don't make a right. But three, let's get you back on the highway. That's my words of wisdom. That's what I got.Jeremy Lesniak:Like I said in the intro, talk about a story that we can all relate to. I'm sure you took something from it. I took a lot from it. And I hope whether you did or not, you at least enjoyed it. Maybe felt some inspiration to train or think about the things that we do as martial artists. Thank you again, Sensei for joining me on the show. I appreciate your time and hope we get to talk again soon. Find the show notes for this and all the other episodes whistlekickmartialartsradio.com videos links social media a whole bunch more. You can also sign up for the newsletter which we have upgraded to weekly, more frequent but shorter installments. If you want to support the work that we do with all of our content, you've got some choices. You could use the code podcast15 and save 15% off anything at whistlekick.com. You might also consider buying one of our Amazon books, telling others about the show or supporting the Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com/whistlekick $2 a month and up it all helps, we appreciate everyone who has contributed. Don't forget if you see somebody on the street or in training wearing something with whistlekick on it. Make sure you introduce yourself, say hello. And maybe you can connect over an episode who knows. Our social media is @whistlekick. My email address Jeremy@whistlekick.com. That ends today's episode until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day.