Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Vermont Bar Journal, Fall 2017, Vol. 48, No. 3 | Page 13

JEB: Yeah, I was going to ask that. All
adults or what kind of teaching?
JG: All adults. And I have never charged
to teach karate. I have never accepted a
penny for it, I have always done it for free.
JEB: Oh, wow.
JG: The kind of attention that you need
to give children when they start out was
just not something that I was prepared to
do so I never taught children.
JEB: Right, and some actually send their
kids just for other reasons, to get them to
babysit or to deal with anxiety or whatev-
er.
JG: Yes, so the rule that I set down was
that the minimum age would be 13, which
was what it was in the dojo over in Oki-
nawa, because Miyazato Sensei said that
when children come to the dojo before
the age of 13 they don’t really know why
they are there. He said it was very impor-
tant when he talked to a prospective stu-
dent that they tell him why they are there.
So, my class was purposeful. And in-
tense. And it wasn’t an aerobics class. You
had to come 3 times a week or else you
weren’t going to learn the material and be
able to get in good enough condition to
progress. Many times, people would come
in and watch a class and they would stay
about 20 minutes and then they would
walk out and I would never see them again.
What they would typically say is “I need to
get into better shape before I come to your
class,” and what I would say is that is like
saying ‘I refuse to go in the water until I
learn how to swim.’ The whole reason you
come is to get stronger.
JEB: You were fully immersed at the age
of 15.
JG: That is exactly right. I have tried to
keep training intensely because you always
want to keep striving. Unfortunately, most
people were not interested in what I was
doing because I think they preferred to go
to a commercial karate school with a work-
out that is toned down, where they grade
people every couple of months because
they charge a grading fee, so it’s an income
generator. So after 2 years they could stand
around and have a black belt and say they
accomplished something when they may
have learned absolutely nothing.
JEB: That is not what you were inter-
ested in.
JG: That is not what I was pitching. I
will say that now, I have basically backed
away from taking people in from the pub-
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lic unless they have a recommendation of
some kind or know someone in the class.
I have probably 10 black belts that have
been with me for 20 years or more. They
have progressed to the point where they
do a considerable amount of self-study. I
have a once a month session that I am do-
ing now with my students which gives them
things to work on. I am not there to give
them a workout, I am not there to make
their hearts race, I am there to correct their
technical issues and that is what I am em-
phasizing. Just trying to get what I know
out of my head and to pass it on to them.
ing in one’s own practice, one has to teach.
I have been teaching a traditional karate
class here in Rutland since 1996. I think is
when I started.
JEB: For the mental piece of it?
JG: Well because everything good in
my life, with the possible exception of my
children, has c ome from karate, and that is
not an overstatement. I feel such a debt
to the great teachers that I have had. The
fact that I was able to actually train with the
top people in Japan and this country and
get graded by them. So part of my obliga-
tion to them is to pass this on, and pass it
on as completely and accurately as possi-
ble. I want to at least have 9 or 10 people
who have seen me try to relate everything I
know, if not retain it.
JEB: Right, and could teach themselves.
JG: Yes, and could teach others at some
point, so that is kind of what my emphasis
is right now.
JEB: And it takes a lot of mental focus,
especially the way things are today, you
would think that there are a lot of people
who cannot muster that kind of mental fo-
cus.
JG: Whatever your passion, you must
focus on what you are doing, and dedi-
cate some time to getting better, and I
think that is something some people have
a problem with. Now, for me, it has paid
tremendous rewards, and I would say the
philosophy basically runs my law practice.
It has also kept me in good physical con-
dition, so it has helped mentally and it has
helped physically.
JEB: I am wondering if you can relate
it to the mindfulness programs we have
been doing and trying to get people to
be just more meditative and contempla-
tive in their lives and in their practices, so
that they can have the mental focus and
be whole within themselves to be able to
practice better.
JG: Yes, I think that is certainly part of it,
because the kata, which are the beautiful
forms that karate practitioners do, are basi-
cally moving meditation. Same thing with
the forms in Tai Chi or any martial art and
they were intended to be that way, so that
is a huge part of what is going on.
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2017
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