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GURO JEREMIAH STANLEY On August 18, 2007, Saturday, I took the short flight from Los Angeles, California to San Jose, California to meet up with student and good friend Jeremiah Stanley. For several years in the mid ‘90’s, I lived in San Jose, California where I ran a garage dojo, teaching arnis or Filipino martial arts. In my years of running either a garage or a regular dojo, I probably had the roughest and toughest crew in the San Jose dojo. One of my early students at that school was Jeremiah Stanley. When he joined my school in 1995, he was already a kenpo black belt as well as an advanced student of ju-jitsu studying under Sensei Hans Ingebretsen. Even after I moved away from San Jose, Jeremiah has continued to train with me, coming to several of my Tipunan seminars as well as flying just to socialize as well as continue training in arnis under me. He has also continued his training with Hans, and with Sensei Frank Ferris of the High Sierra Jujitsu school when he is working at Reno, Nevada. When I received an invitation from Jeremiah and Hans not only to attend his upcoming belt test but to also participate in it as a member of the judging panel, I felt honored. Hence, the flight to San Jose. It was also a reunion of sorts for me. It has been a few years since I had been back to the city of San Jose, although I believe I have been to other parts of the Bay Area. It was good to see, in addition to Jeremiah, old friends like Hans Ingebretsen and his wife Sue, Suro Jason Inay of Inayan Eskrima, at least one other former student named Zaylor Corpuz who is actually a Danzan Ryu black belt, and the venerable masters of Hans’ original group, the Kilohana Martial Arts Association, like Prof. James Muro. After all these years, I also got to meet Jeremiah’s dad, and his mom and step-father. The Organization When I lived in San Jose, I had always known Hans Ingrebretsen as the man behind the San Jose Gasshuku or sometimes called the Kilohana, which was an annual training camp showcasing dozens of martial arts styles. I have many fond memories of bringing several students there and experiencing many other styles and training under world-renowned masters like Wally Jay (small circle jiu-jitsu), the late Mike Inay, (Inayan Eskrima), Javier Mendez (world ranked muay thai kickboxing champion), Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu (lua) and many, many more. Hans started his own dojo in 1997 called the Shinbukan Dojo. He started his dojo with three hardcore students whom he affectionate calls “the three wise guys” named Matt Tryon, Noah Harders and Jeremiah Stanley. These three students also happened to be my arnis students in San Jose. We also shared many other students over the years such as Grace Guzman, Talia Jacobson, Zaylor Corpuz and a few others.
He teaches two basic systems in his school, Kenpo Karate and Danzan Ryu Ju-Jitsu. SATURDAY The testing and related events took place on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 18 and 19, 2007.
I arrived around Saturday noontime. Jeremiah picked me up from the airport and whisked me without much ceremony to Hans’ house. The house was full of Hans’ relatives and friends preparing for the anniversary the following day, as well as candidates training for their belt test on judo mats laid out in the backyard. I spent about a half hour training Jeremiah in arnis, and he spent an additional couple of hours’ practicing with his uke, (training partner) Mike Johnson, as well as with another fellow candidate, Ben Lujan.
That evening, I treated Jeremiah to a celebratory dinner at the restaurant TGIF. I would be leaving the following afternoon, and I would not have time to do it then, so I was doing it now even before he passed his belt test. He were both starved and ordered and polished off an inordinate amount of food—their sampler plate and a regular order of seafood pasta, washed down by several mugs of beer. We got to catch up on each other’s activities as we ate and watched the San Francisco 49’ers versus Oakland Raiders football game on big screen at the restaurant, which turned to be an exciting thriller for a pre-season game. SUNDAY The Belt Test The belt test began at 11:00 AM at the Campbell Community Center in the city of Campbell, a suburb of San Jose. There were numerous out-of-town guests, who either drove up or flew in for the event. Some of the out-of-towners included the following: Charlie Robinson, one of the earliest judo champions and pioneers of judo in the United States, and Hans’ judo instructor for the past 20 years, from Marysville, CA. Frank Ferris, Jeremiah’s instructor in Reno, Nevada who runs the High Sierra Jujitsu school, which is a member of the American Judo and Jujitsu Federation. Mike Johnson, a very likable and easy-going but tough, young black belt from the High Sierra Jujitsu school in Reno, who would be Jeremiah’s uke (dummy partner who gets thrown or demonstrated on) for the test. Jay de Leon, all the way from Los Angeles, California.
The other local guests included my good friend Jason Inay, of Inayan Eskrima, as well as the usual notables from Hans’ original Kilohana group like Russ Rhodes, Dale Kahoun, Russell Coelho, James Muro and others. I was honored to join these well-known and respected martial artists in the judging panel.
There were two sets of candidates, one for the Kenpo system and the other for the Jujitsu system. For the record, here is the list of the official candidates, and the belts they tested for. Kenpo Karate Samantha Alvarez All were brown belts testing for shodan (1st dan, black belt) Danzan Ryu JuJitsu Jeremiah Stanley – testing for nidan (2nd dan, black belt)
I had my fifteen minutes of fame at the testing. Hans had requested a short arnis demo from Jeremiah and myself, as part of Jeremiah’s nidan test. We gave the appreciative crowd a furious, fast-paced demo of a double sticks sinawali chain, a single stick counter-for-counter drill, a knife vs. knife flow drill, a knife vs. empty hand parry drill, and several empty hand defense against a knife attack with multiple strikes. At the last sequence, Jeremiah executed his defenses against his uke, Mike Johnson, so he could execute jujitsu throws with his techniques.
I also had a surprise for the crowd, as well as for Jeremiah himself. I had pre-arranged with Jason Inay of Inayan Eskrima to do the counter-for-counter drill with Jeremiah after me. I did this drill with Jason many, many years ago in my own dojo, and he is superb at it. I thought Jeremiah did very well with Jason.
Many in the audience came to me afterwards with kind words about the demo. Maybe they just enjoyed the break from the jujitsu, or they were really Jeremiah’s fans, but it felt good to be appreciated, even though I did it mostly for Jeremiah.
All the candidates passed their tests with flying colors. The event ended with the ceremonial awarding of the belts and certificates duly signed by the masters in attendance.
The Luau Everybody was invited to the luau at Hans’ house to celebrate their wedding anniversary, as well as the dojo anniversary and the now concluded belt test. Hans’ backyard, which was full of judo mats the day before, had been transformed into a lush, colorful tropical setting, thanks mostly to Taylor, Hans’ brother who was visiting with his wife, and many of his creative works.
The food was superb, plentiful, and delicious, including platters of salmon, barbecued meat, sashimi, salads, fruits, mushrooms, and many more. Taylor presented brother Hans with a surprise gift, a handsomely hand-carved Huron war club, decidedly a unique gift for a wedding anniversary. But I am sure Sue would understand, after 18 years of being married to Hans.
It was perfect timing for me. I just had enough time, a little less than a couple of hours, to partake of the feast, socialize and actually meet new people including several who claimed they had actually been to my arnis school years ago, but I can not now recall. Jeremiah drove me to the airport for my short flight back home. It was aloha for now again with Jeremiah, until the next training session, or the next party. Thanks and congratulations, Jeremiah. My thanks to Hans and Sue for ALL their fun events and their usual warm hospitality that weekend. Postscript I have written at least a couple of articles about Jeremiah, and they have been published in an online magazine and may be found somewhere in one or a couple of my websites. For those who are reading about Jeremiah for the first time, I am attaching his martial arts bio printed in the souvenir program for the Shinbukan anniversary and belt best. As a final note, the weekend was not without a sad moment. Jeremiah’s other jujitsu instructor and Hans’ friend Frank Ferris drove up Saturday afternoon with his friend Richard and Jeremiah’s uke and dojo training partner Mike Johnson all the way from Reno, Nevada. They were able to join in the activities that whole day, including their taking out Hans and Sue for dinner. Early the following Sunday morning, Frank Ferris received a phone call from his wife, who informed him that their son was in the hospital as a result of a car accident. Frank and Richard immediately drove home. Frank was able to see his son alive for about fifteen minutes, then his son expired. His son was only 22 years old. Our prayers go out to Frank for his tragic loss.
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