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A Budo Baka

A friend of mine emailed me yesterday to ask me to tell her what "budo baka" meant. After explaining that it's loosely translated as "martial arts idiot" but often is meant derogatorily to describe a martial arts addict, I continued the reply with the following:

The typical image of a "budo baka" here is a Caucasian guy who thinks he's more Japanese than the Japanese. He often squints even in low light and takes on a strange Japanese-sounding accent whenever he starts to recite obscure historical and cultural trivia related to long-dead swordsmen or Zen philosophy.

I'm sure you all know at least one of them.

My Martial Arts Highlights

I just thought I'd list some of my major martial arts highlights on the Web before I forget what I've done. I compiled this list from memory, so there may be some discrepancies, but most what is on here is correct. If I come across anything on here that is wrong, I will update the page with the correct information as soon as I can.

Since I started my first karate class in 1981, I might have dabbled in a dozen or so different martial arts, including Shotokan, Renshinkan, and Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu karate; Okinawan kobudo; Chen style taiqiquan; Nippon Shorinji Kempo; Brazilian jiu-jitsu; boxing, etc. Despite this wide exposure, however, I feel I’ve only really delved deeply into maybe three styles: Karate, Naginata, and Kobudo. The following is a short list of my accomplishments and highlights:

2006 KARATE SKIF World Championships, Tokyo -- US Team member

2006 KARATE SKIF – USA Nat’l Championships, Contra Costa, Calif.

• 3^d Place Kata
• 3d Place Kumite

2006 NAGINATA USNF National Championships, Sonoma, Calif.

• 2^nd Place Men’s Shiai

2004 NAGINATA USNF National Championships, Bryn Mawr, Penn.

• US National Champion Men’s Shiai

2004 NAGINATA Received Naginata Sandan from INF

2003 NAGINATA INF World Championships, San Jose, Calif.

• World Champion Men’s Team Shiai

2002 NAGINATA Received Naginata Nidan from USNF

2001 KOBUDO RBKD National Championships, San Francisco

• US National Champion Bojutsu Kata

2000 NAGINATA Received Naginata Shodan from INF, Honolulu

2000 KOBUDO Okinawan Karate/Kobudo Pan American Championships, San Diego

• 2^nd Place Kata
• 2^nd Place Kobudo
• 3d Place Kumite

1997 KOBUDO Okinawan Karate/Kobudo World Championships, Naha, Okinawa Japan

• Finalist Kobudo kata

1995 NAGINATA Began Naginata Training Under Takako Miyagi, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

1994-7 KOBUDO Yamanni Ryu Bojutsu Student of Chogi Kishaba, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

1992 KARATE Received Shotokan Sandan from Hirokazu Kanazawa

1989 KARATE SKIF Pan-Am Championships, Chihuahua, Mexico -- US Team member

1988 KARATE SKIF World Championships, Utsunomiya-shi, Japan -- US Team member

1985 KOBUDO Began Training in Yamanni Ryu Bojutsu Under Toshihiro Oshiro

1981 KARATE Began Training in Shotokan Karate Under Hajime Yokota