Pursuits of Happiness |
the time . So he just sat and watched others work with me .
After two days or so , he took me out to lunch and he said ‘ ok , you come train now ,’ meaning that I was in . My training sort of got completed there , because I was able to get instruction from the top people in the world and ultimately graded over there several times as well . Now I am at this wonderful stage where , and I will never say I know this style inside out , I can focus on refining what I already know .
JEB : And you were in your early 30 ’ s I believe you said ?
JG : I was probably in my mid 30 ’ s when I started training with Chuck Merriman down in Connecticut .
JEB : And you were practicing law full time ? JG : Oh yeah .
JEB : Ok . Did you have a family too ? JG : Oh yes .
JEB : You are raising a family , you have a full-time law practice and you are doing this ?
JG : Yes , right and they were certainly very understanding about that and I was very careful to make sure I was doing what needed to be done at home and at work . This is something that was so much a part of me that I just didn ’ t want to let it go of it and I am very grateful that I didn ’ t . I will say that I think the practice of law is one of the most unhealthy professions that there is and karate has helped me deal with that .
JEB : That is a recurring theme .
JG : I see a lot of lawyers my age , and I think that they are headed for major , major physical problems .
JEB : Well there is an increase of focus on wellness and wellness education now . There have been a few recent studies with hard data about how much substance abuse or stress induced illnesses are present within the practice of law . It is a huge number .
JG : I think that if a lawyer does not have another passion in their life of some kind , they are headed for serious trouble . If not physical trouble , then certainly psychological trouble , and I can say that certainly after watching the number of lawyers who have gotten into trouble , both physically and emotionally , over the course of my career .
JEB : That is one of VBA President and Bar Counsel , Mike Kennedy ’ s biggest recurrent themes . We were just talking the other day and he essentially said that he believes you have got to have a passion or a hobby outside the practice of law to
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keep you sane and healthy .
JG : And the biggest struggle is of course if it ’ s a passion that requires a lot of time . The way that I do that is I put in an hour and a half at 6 o ’ clock every morning , because not much is happening here in the office yet and then also on Saturday morning for 2 hours as well . It is not really enough but at least it is maintenance .
JEB : Right . Even just working out is doing something to stay healthy . A lot of attorneys are finding , ok if I can get up at 6 and do the workout , I am just better for it , a better lawyer for it .
JG : Absolutely . My training has been great physical exercise , but it has also grounded me in my head as far as keeping things in perspective , and that I think is just as important as the physical side .
JEB : When researching for this interview I found this quote from Miyagi Chojun the founder of GoJu Ryu : “ the ultimate aim of karate-do is to build character , conquer human misery and find spiritual freedom .” Is that correct ?
JG : That is absolutely correct , and what happened when the Americans originally brought karate back here is they didn ’ t train for very long in Okinawa so they didn ’ t understand the underlying purpose , so they tended to emphasize the fighting .
JEB : Yeah , the fighting , not the spiritual freedom .
JG : Yes , because they had not spent enough time there to become in touch with the other things that were important , but that is an excellent summation from my perspective of what karate means to me , especially as I get older and I can ’ t do some of the things I could do when I was younger .
JEB : You mentioned taking up Tai Chi recently , is that a transition that you find is easier when you are older to keep the mental but not as physically demanding ?
JG : Tai Chi is something I have always been interested in , because Tai Chi is really the original Asian martial art . I am going to be 60 this month and I wanted to be able to continue to train in another marital art as my ability to practice intensely in karate begins to moderate . So I took up Tai Chi to continue learning new things as time goes on .
JEB : Happy birthday ! You don ’ t look it !
JG : I appreciate that . A year and a half ago I started studying Yang style Tai Chi , which is one of the major styles with a top student of a very famous Kung Fu / Tai Chi instructor named Yang Jwing Ming . I have been training with him once a month , not for 3 days but basically 1 afternoon
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a month and starting to progress in that . Very different from karate and the biggest issue I have had is that many of the things I have been doing for 40 years in karate are “ wrong ” as far as Tai Chi is concerned .
JEB : So isn ’ t Tai Chi all meditative ?
JG : Oh , no . The reason I sought out this particular instructor is that Tai Chi can be taught in many ways . Tai Chi originally was absolutely oriented to self-defense , and the reason that I am studying this particular tradition is because they have retained the martial applications of the form so it is meditative and self-defense oriented at the same time .
JEB : I don ’ t think Americans understand Tai Chi to be combative at all from what I ’ ve seen from the slow forms .
JG : No , not at all . The primary form of sparring in Tai Chi is something called “ push hands ” and as opposed to punching and kicking it is really unbalancing , so Tai Chi is really more an unbalancing art in its combative form than for instance karate which is largely striking and then to a lesser extent joint disarticulations and other things like that .
JEB : You were talking about unbalancing your opponents , right ?
JG : Correct . The one other thing I will say about Tai Chi is there is no end to it ; it is something you could study for 80 years and you still won ’ t …
JEB : Be a master ?
JG : No . And that is something that is very important I think , also , is that none of my teachers have ever referred to themselves as “ master ” or “ grand master ” or anything else like that . My teacher in Okinawa , Miyazato Sensei , was a legendary karate instructor with people coming from all over the world to study with him . The only title he or any of my teachers have ever used is “ Sensei ,” which means “ teacher ,” not master or some other superlative .
JEB : Do you still bow to them when you see them ?
JG : Oh , absolutely , but the point is that the simple title of “ teacher ” was honorable enough for them .
JEB : I like that .
JG : They didn ’ t need to be a “ master ” or “ grand master ” or “ professor ” or any of this other nonsense that crops up in some American karate schools .
JEB : From reading , I understood , to get to achieve the higher levels of black belt , you have to teach . Is that correct ?
JG : Well the expression in Japan is “ to teach is to learn .” As a way of progress-
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