Tough Jews

My sensei and my sons.

My Sensei's Tougher That Your Sensei

Hanshi Richard Lenchus, founder of The Legend (a hybrid Shotokan system) wrote to his blackbelts this morning:

Learning 22 katas doesn't mean anything if you can't do one well, but I have this problem of loving to teach even things I don't know well, as you all know. I think you all should go to Staten Island at least once a week to be polished up... Here are the katas I have taught you all:

Heian Shodan
Heian Nidan
Heian Sandan
Heian Yondan
Heian Godan
Tekki Sho
Tekki Ni
Empi
Chinte
Kanku Sho
Kanku Dai
Bassi Sho
Bassi Dai
Jion
Elbow Kata
Sepai (goju kata)

In Vermont we also did:
Jutte
Gojushiho Sho
Gojushiho Dai
Gangaku
Mask 1
Mask 2
Earth
Wind
Bo kata Evening Storm

We must review all before we go on to:
Nijushiho Sho
Nijushiho Dai
Tekki San
Kurumfa
Tensho
Seiochin
Unsu
Seiza

Chuck Norris and Rick Lenchus...by Request

As noted here and there, I trained for many years with Hanshi Richard Lenchus. He gave me flying lessons (so to speak), my first blackbelt, and a second set of balls (the brass ones). The blackbelt prompted a letter of congrats from celebrated Sensei Chuck Norris, an old sparring partner of my sensei's... As a boy, no one ever frightened me like Rick Lenchus. And after that, nothing could.


Pictured: Aaron Banks, Rick Lenchus and Chuck Norris

My Classical Shotokan Roots

Some yutz has been obsessively writing me to "question" the authenticity of my martial arts training, considering, as he put it, my tendency towards occasionally using it. Frankly, I couldn't be happier for the opportunity to break out the family album.

I received my shodan (1st degree blackbelt) directly from Grand Master Richard Lenchus, founder and O'Sensei of the Legend Shotokan System, a worldwide syndicate of dojos based on traditional Shotokan plus Lenchus' own inimitable style of kata and kumite. A Legend blackbelt takes anywhere from seven to ten years to achieve. Unlike what's found in American Tae Kwon Do and many other U.S. dojos, rank in the Legend system cannot be bought--it must be fought for, on every level. Information on Sensei Lenchus and "The Legend" is available all over the web, including numerous articles that it has been my honor to pen.

My Sensei trained with and received rank from Kawanabe Sensei in Atsugi, Japan in 1958. I have had the good fortune of corresponding with my teacher's teacher, who is regarded as a pioneer in Shotokan.

Kawanabe Sensei received his training and rank directly from the legendary Funakoshi Sensei, the founder of Shotokan and pioneer of modern-day Japanese martial arts. Funakoshi Sensei's legacy rests in a document containing his philosophies of karate training now referred to as the niju kun. These rules are the premise of training for all Shotokan karateka and are published in The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate wherein Funakoshi lays out 20 rules by which students of karate become better human beings.

I currently hold the rank of Sensei in Legend Shotokan but am no longer actively training nor teaching. I also have a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do as well as training in Ishin Ru and American Combat Karate.

My two oldest sons, Avi (20) and Benjy (18), both trained in Shotokan and Tae Kwon Do as children. Each of them are accomplished wrestlers, too, and actively training in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu schools within the Gracie system (the top of the food chain). Benjy, whose wrestling record was 21 and 2 his senior year, recently took first place in his very first BJJ tourament--an invitational in Haifa, Israel.

Avi Meth

Benjy Meth

The Legend is Down but not Out

In all the years I’ve known him, I’ve only seen Grandmaster Richard Lenchus knocked down once, and that by the double-bout of pneumonia that recently gripped him. Nothing human could put my sensei on his back.

“One minute I'm home, the next I find myself in here,” said Mr. Lenchus this morning from the hospital. “They woke me up by putting a needle in my stomach. That wasn’t nice.”

At first, the East Coast fighting legend wasn’t even sure what he was doing in the hospital. “They asked me if I knew why I was in here. ‘My penis is too big,’ I told them. ‘My arms are too large for my shirt.’”

Having a guy like Lenchus in the hospital isn’t easy on anybody, least of all the staff. “He’s been walking around singing to the other patients,” reported the head nurse. “What the hell is hav-a-negliah? I’d send for an orderly, but they’re all scared of him.”

Get well soon, Sensei!

All I Ever Wanted Was to Impress This Man

Hanshi Richard Lenchus, the man who taught me Shotokan and first put a gun in my hand ("You can't smack someone, Mr. Meth, if he's too far away!") just started blogging. Prone to occassional hyperbole (but without question the baddest motherfucker I've ever known), Sensei looks back on some of his students who made the grade, including your humble host:

Sensei Clifford Meth is one of the most awesome fighters without fear. He has instilled this into all his sons who are all fighting champions. [He] is a wonderful writer and knowledgeable not only in the Martial Arts but in the Literary Arts. He is also a dear friend and supporter who I hold close.

Note that the photo on the left was taken when I was still thin and quick. Today I'd use the gun.