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By Benjamin Paris
On March
20, 2004, Grandmaster S. Henry Cho held the 40th annual All
American Open Tae Kwon Do/Karate/Kung-Fu Championship Tournament at
Manhattan College in New York City. The events of the 40th
All American Open are noteworthy in their own right, but they also
marked a milestone in American martial arts. Staging any tournament for
40 years is an incredible accomplishment, but the role the All American
Open played in the development of American martial arts demands special
attention. So, the 40th anniversary provides an excellent
opportunity to review both the events of one day and the history of this
institution in American martial arts.
The
2004 Tournament
The 40th
annual event continued a tradition of open tournaments that gives
students from different styles a chance to measure their skills and
learn from each other.
The
honor of Men’s Sparring Grand Champion went to Jose Cintron, a student
of Joseph Rivera from the Bronx, NY. Mr. Cintron stayed on the attack in
his matches, keeping opponents on their heels by alternating between a
strong stabbing front leg side kick, two quick punches, or a front leg
roundhouse followed very closely by one or two punches. More often than
not the kicks were blocked, and the punches lunged too much to be
counted as points, but this strategy still allowed Mr. Cintron to take
control of the tempo and outlast his opponents. Mr. Cintron, the winner
of the Middleweight Division, won in the final against Bryon Johnson, a
student of Amos Johnson of Maryland and the winner of the Lightweight
Division. The score in the final was 2-1, with Mr. Cintron scoring
first, Mr. Johnson evening the score on a counter punch, but Mr. Cintron
prevailing in overtime on a punch that ended the day.
Mr.
Cintron advanced to the final by beating Johnny Faulkner of New Jersey,
winner of the Heavyweight Division. Mr. Johnson advanced to the final by
beating Ben Losman, a student of James Roberts of Maryland and the
winner of the Light Heavyweight Division. In a thrilling match, Mr.
Johnson overcame a significant height and reach disadvantage in scoring
first before Mr. Losman evened the score with a strong punch following a
kick. Mr. Losman stayed on the attack during most of the match, but made
a key error in the final exchange: while pressing the attack, he lowered
his guard to smother the smaller man’s kick, but Mr. Johnson connected
with a high side kick that was the highlight of the finals.
On the
Women’s side, in one division, Ashley Kaicher, a student of Master
Difiglia of New Jersey, prevailed over Alexis Lyon of New York. In the
other, Nazi Sutton of Maryland prevailed over Han Dao of Maryland.
The
Forms competition included a field of many former All American Open
champions. Derrick Williams, the winner of the Senior Forms Division,
won his fourth All American Open Forms Grand Championship. Mr. Williams’
performance of the traditional Shotokhan form Unsu gave him the
edge over the outstanding competition. His intensity, focus, and
explosive combinations inspired awe and continue to set a standard of
forms performance.
Mr.
Williams’ competition in the final included Huyen Dao, a student of Amos
Johnson, the winner of the Women’s Korean Division, and herself a
two-time former champion. Ruby Camacho, a former All American Open
Sparring champion, represented the Karate Division. Han Dao, like her
sister Huyen, also a student of Amos Johnson, represented the Women’s
Karate Division. Daniel Castro, a student of Master Linda Lutes and the
defending Forms Champion of the Eagle Classic on Maryland, represented
the Men’s Korean Division. Myra Gross, also a student of Amos Johnson,
represented the Senior Women’s division.
In the
Weapons Division, Anthony Palumbo prevailed over a field that included
multiple-time champion Earl Woodbury. Joseph Yurschak won in Black Belt
Breaking, and Amos Johnson’s Dojang took home the Best School award for
their students’ strong overall performance.
During
the opening ceremony, Grandmaster Cho continued his tradition of
honoring those who not only contributed to the development of Martial
Arts, but also helped make the All American Open what it is today. Adolf
Lichtenstein, who competed in the All American Open in 1965 and
continued until 1968 when he left for Aruba to teach martial arts,
received the 2004 All American Open Hall of Fame Award. Grandmaster Cho
also announced this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients: Carlos
Farrell, Hawk Frazier, Fillippo Giordano, Mark Hochberg and Al Shackil.
Each recipient has been practicing martial arts and supporting the All
American Open for over 4 decades.
In a
turn of events, James Roberts of Kim Studio in Maryland, a former All
American Open Form Grand champion, led a delegation of past All American
Champions in presenting Grandmaster Cho with an award in recognition of
four decades of outstanding efforts. Grandmaster C. S. Kim and Master
Joe Bruno of Pittsburgh also treated the crowd with an impressive
demonstration of Tang Soo Do.
The
History and Influence of the All American Open
Held at
Madison Square Garden every year from 1967 to 1989, the All American
Open holds a unique place in martial arts tournament history. At its
height, the All American Open had thousands of competitors with
eliminations going from the early morning straight through to the finals
at night. In many cases single divisions contained over 100 very strong
competitors, and so division winners were awarded championship trophies.
George Aschkar related to the author the experience of winning an All
American Open division with 140 competitors: there was a huge gap
between the first fight and the second fight, but the gaps between the
fights were less each time, and every round the competition got tougher.
Grand Champion Gerard Robbins described the competition as “the best of
the best,” and 5-time Grand Champion Mark Williams described the
tournament as “my Olympics.” Holding the All American Open at Madison
Square Garden only added to this prestige. For years, the best fighters
competed in the world’s most famous arena, and no one who was there will
ever forget the quality and intensity of the competition.
Today,
the names of winners such as Thomas LaPuppet, Chuck Norris, Mike Warren
and Herb Perez serve to remind us of how important the All American Open
is to American Martial Arts. At the time of their victories, however,
the All American Open was the tournament that gave them the
chance to prove their skill. When Chuck Norris won Grandmaster Cho’s
Tournament of Champions in 1967, it was arguably the most important
event he had won to that date. At the time, Black Belt Magazine called
it “the most important victory of his career.” It was also common for
show-business representatives to attend the All American Open, looking
for new talent. It was the tournament to win
Of
course, the All American Open was always more than a big tournament.
Then and now, the key word is “Open,” as in open to different styles and
promoting an atmosphere of respect and growth.
[picture
idea: a bout between two competitors of clearly different styles, or
panels of judges representing different styles.]
Today,
the value of open tournaments is well-recognized. They provide
tremendous opportunities to learn about other styles and to test one’s
skills against practitioners of many different styles. There will always
be some that will not tolerate any deviation from the competition rules
they follow in their own style, but overall the martial arts community
recognizes the value of having open tournaments to build mutual respect
and learning. In fact, the tradition of the open tournament is so strong
in American martial arts that it is hard to imagine that it ever could
have been different. But of course, the martial arts world was a very
different place in 1965 (when the All American Open began) and the
pioneers of American martial arts deserve recognition for the culture of
respect and openness that they helped to create.
Consider
the challenge involved in creating the rules for an open tournament.
Before the last half of the 20th century, martial arts were
more or less confined to their country of origin. There was no real need
to create a system that would be acceptable to, for example, both Korean
and Japanese martial artists. With rare exceptions, these traditions
progressed on their own paths. However, when both traditions came to the
United States, a new opportunity arose. A Karate School could be across
town from a Tae Kwon Do school. But how could they compete in a manner
that would be acceptable to both? Today, it may be difficult to get
tournament directors to agree about which target areas and techniques
should be legal, but the differences were even more pronounced in 1965.
In
general, there were fewer problems in the form competition. Although
judges usually liked to see forms with high kicks or jumping kicks in
them, they also liked to see strong, focused, and coordinated moves. The
problem, now and then, was determining the rules for the sparring
competition. In Korea, some open competitions between members of the
seven Kwans were already taking place. The leaders of the Kwans agreed
upon competition rules which emphasized kicking techniques. Kicks were
viewed as stronger and more difficult to execute than punches. So, for
example, in a clash between a kick and a punch, the point would go to
the kick.
In
China, martial artists practiced their arts secretly and thus they
rarely staged martial arts competitions in public. In Japan, however,
there were public martial arts competitions, but unlike Korean
tournaments, Japanese tournaments tended to be limited to one
organization or style. For example Shotokan stylists, for example, would
not compete in the same tournament as Goju or Okinawan stylists due to
disagreements over the rules.
In some
Okinawan tournaments of the time, kicks to the groin, back, or knee
could be legal scoring techniques. In most other circles, groin strikes
were illegal, but some styles actually allowed them in point fighting
competition. Black Belt magazine reported in June of 1969 [Note to
editor: please check date: could be 1967] that none other than Joe Lewis
had been practicing “ridge hand techniques, grabbing techniques, and
controlled attacks to the groin” and that “Much to his disgust,” none of
these were allowed at Grandmaster Cho’s Tournament of Champions.
[picture idea: Joe Lewis circa 1969]. Differences were not limited to
legal techniques or target areas: Some styles preferred a constant flow
of action, whereas others stopped the action to award points.
It
should also be noted that at the time there was no strong tradition of
open tournaments to draw upon. The tradition had to be created, and
Grandmaster Cho played a pivotal role in establishing a forum where
practitioners of many different styles were respected and had fair
opportunities to win. The rules adopted by Grandmaster Cho represented
widely-accepted compromises and quickly became the standard rules for
many other tournaments. Consider for a moment the difficulty in getting
martial artists to agree on anything, much less the tournament rules,
and you will have a sense of just one of Grandmaster Cho’s
accomplishments. [picture idea: Grandmaster Cho judging]
This is
not to imply that the rules have never changed. Weight divisions were
not present initially. At the earliest tournament, competitors were
divided by rank only. Women’s divisions needed to be “invented,” and
when they started, there were no belt divisions. When Ann Roberts first
competed at the All American Open, she competed as a yellow belt in the
Women’s Division. Her first match was against the formidable black belt
competitor Susan Hart. Roberts reports that her biggest mistake was
scoring first. Children’s divisions also were not present initially.
Nowadays, when children often constitute most of the competitors, it’s
difficult to imagine a tournament without children, but the early days
of American martial arts was more adult-centered.
One of
the more obvious changes over time is the emergence of safety equipment.
In 1965 and for some time thereafter, there was no safety equipment to
speak of. [picture idea, some great fighter such as Norris or Warren
fighting without equipment] Fighters were expected to demonstrate
controlled techniques that could connect without causing injury. In
fact, excessive contact could lead to disqualification, even in the case
of a legal technique delivered to a legal target area. The trust and
respect that existed between the competitors helped to minimize the
injuries between them. In time, though, the possibility of honest
mistakes and worse led to the development of headgear, and, later,
safety equipment.
So what
were the benefits of having this common forum? For starters, everyone at
the All American Open had an opportunity to see the most skillful
martial artists from many different styles. Remember that in many
circles martial arts were practiced in secret, and this was a time
before Cable TV, VCRs, and home video. Film of top-level martial artists
was extremely rare. So the All American Open provided a forum for the
best that American martial arts had to offer.
No one appreciated this more
than the competitors themselves. Years later, the competitors recall the
bonds that were formed in the heat of competition. Keith Kelly calls the
All American Open a "Warrior's Paradise." He states: “We were gladiators
fighting the best of the best in the same spot that Mike Warren, Albert
Cheeks, Thomas LaPuppet and Chuck Norris had sweat and bled. There has
never been a feeling of pride to replace that one.” As a result,
“outside the ring [the competitors] were bonded together in a way that
few people outside of this sport could understand.” Everyone connected
with the tournament knew that they were part of something very special.
Most importantly, the friendships that were formed transcended
differences of style and school.
Attention tends to focus on sparring, but it is important not to neglect
the forms competition or the role that competition played in
establishing a culture of respect among martial artists. At the All
American Open it was possible to see breathtaking forms from Korean,
Japanese, and Chinese stylists. 11-time Forms Grand Champion James
Roberts appreciated the opportunity to display “precision, practice,
guts, and energy” and to demonstrate the “life-energy of the form.”
4-time Forms Grand Champion Derrick Williams agrees that the forms
performances displayed both technique and character. Williams hoped to
exhibit “stances, attitude, etiquette, and focus,” and of course he most
certainly succeeded. Earl Woodbury, who has competed in the All American
in four different decades, saw the forms competition as a forum to
present Goju’s system of breathing and contrast between hard and soft
moves. Derrick Williams put it well, then, when he described the
tournament as a “canvas” that “allowed him to be who he is.”
Grandmaster Cho deserves credit for the way those competitions were
structured. To demonstrate respect for different styles, different forms
divisions were set up for different disciplines, and each division had
its own champion. However, in the end, a single Grand Champion was
crowned. How could such a person be selected when the competitors came
from different styles? By focusing on the essence of forms performance:
focus, precision, power, speed, balance, and presentation. Holding a
Grand Championship therefore reinforced the central mission of the All
American Open: to pursue and promote excellence in American martial arts
regardless of specific style. [picture idea: any excellent forms
demonstration]
The
forum of the All American Open did more than communicate; it also
encouraged martial artists to learn from each other and grow. In 1977
Grandmaster Cho observed “For instance, the Tae Kwon Do stylist who
trained in Korea may use a Japanese-style reverse punch now. After
training for a while, the Korean may be better at the reverse punch than
the Japanese stylist, who is supposed to be an expert at it. Take a look
at the flowing techniques of Kung Fu – those techniques have combined
here in this country. Instead of evolution, I think it is a revolution,
in a sense. It is not just exchanging techniques; it is developing a
whole different philosophy. Because of this, we have a revolutionized
way of American Karate that has taken good parts from all the other
different Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Kung Fu styles.” Karate
Illustrated, Feb. 1977.
By
establishing a gold standard of prestige, the All American Open
encouraged martial artists to go beyond simple respect and truly learn
from each other. In the heat of competition, it became very clear very
quickly which techniques and strategies would work and which would not.
Over time, this communication and learning led to crossovers of kinds.
Chuck Norris’ spinning-back kicks and kicking combinations were
revolutionary in the 1960’s, but other All American Open fighters picked
them up quickly. [picture idea, Chuck Norris.] Michael Warren took
kicking combinations to a new level; When his fight was announced, other
nearby rings would stop so that all the fighters could see the fighter
who many believe was the best of his generation.
The
learning went in all directions. Many Japanese fighters began to use the
advanced kicking techniques normally associated with Korean stylists.
Hopping and jumping kicks became part of the common fighting vocabulary.
Derrick Williams, for example, remembers being impressed with the way
that Korean stylists could penetrate the guard with kicks, and this
inspired him to use kicks to “get into the fortress.” Korean stylists,
in turn, learned from the example of Japanese fighters and improved
their reverse punches. Grand Champion Gerard Robbins, for example,
credits the All American Open with teaching him to use reverse punches
more effectively. According to Robbins, fighters began to see that
reverse punches could earn points easily and effectively counter many
kicking techniques. Carlos Farrell, finalist in the 1968 tournament,
agrees. He points out that in the early years of the tournament, many
Japanese fighters would strike the blocking arm with a roundhouse kick
and then immediately follow with a reverse punch. This technique became
widespread very quickly, even among Korean fighters. Over time, the best
fighters were not Korean fighters or Japanese fighters, they were simply
fighters. Luis Fernandez put it well, explaining that the All American
Open allowed him to develop his conception of the perfect martial
artist.
Learning
was not limited to finding out which techniques were effective.
The All American Open also exposed ineffective techniques and
strategies. Carlos Farrell points out that in the early years, many
fighters held their arms in awkward positions, most probably mimicking a
position from a form. They quickly found that these positions prevented
them from blocking effectively. Gerard Robbins points out that in the
early years, many fighters fought in forward stance, with their
shoulders facing their opponent. But as they found that this position
left them open to attack and did not let them move easily, they tended
to adopt the side-facing position that is familiar today.
Something new was created in America by combining the best elements from
a diversity of sources, and there is something uniquely American about
that process. The United States is a country that is constantly changing
and growing, drawing on the strengths of different groups as it
challenges all to constantly seek improvement. In its own way,
Grandmaster Cho and the aptly-named All American Open took this nature
and applied it to a new field. A diversity of traditions and styles led
to the development of truly American martial arts.
Years
ago the author asked Grandmaster Cho why the All American Open grew in
stature during those early years. He responded that even-handedness was
the key. Many tournaments at the time set either the rules or the
judging so as to favor their own style or school. The All American Open
succeeded because there was no agenda beyond promoting respect and
excellence. Grandmaster Cho saw the tournament’s potential to cross
boundaries and help martial artists discover shared values. Instead of
using the All American Open as a platform for personal gain, Grandmaster
Cho kept it (and keeps it) true to its mission. Grandmaster Cho has
never sought prestige or plaudits, but this modesty does not reduce the
debt American martial arts owes him for his work and sacrifice.
None of
this should be interpreted to downplay the accomplishments of other
pioneers in American martial arts. But it is clear that the history of
American martial arts is incomplete without recognizing the
accomplishments of Grandmaster S. Henry Cho and the All American Open.
More
About Grandmaster Cho
Grandmaster S. Henry Cho, Black Belt magazine's "Man of the Year" in
1971, has been a major figure in East Coast Martial arts for over forty
years. He was one of the first few Tae Kwon Do teachers in the entire
United States. In 1961, Grandmaster Cho opened his own Dojang on West 27th
Street in New York City and, now, it is known as the first
Korean-owned Martial Arts Dojang in the United States.
He has
continued to promote the martial arts in a variety of ways. In 1964, he
toured American and Canadian cities, demonstrating Tae Kwon Do for the
Wonderful World of Sports. Grandmaster Cho has also appeared on many
national programs such as the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and
"Good Morning America." His book, Tae Kwon Do: Secrets of Korean Karate,
was published in 1968 and it is still sold today. This book on free
fighting techniques has been widely used by free fighting competitors of
open tournaments throughout the world during the past thirty-six years.
Mayor Willie Brown, Jr. honored Grandmaster Cho by proclaiming October
30, 1999 as “Grandmaster Sihak Henry Cho Day” in San Francisco. Today,
he continues to lead S. Henry Cho affiliated schools all over the world.
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