The Bio-Vlog

“Seated at my table with me is karate black belt, Diego Gonzalez.Diego, you started fighting with Mr. Turner fifty years ago. Please share with us a few fighting and fun stories.”“Okay, Mr. Racherbaumer. When Mr. Turner first started training, and I had to fight in…

It’s a blasting, hot summer day, it’s time for my second, marquee karate test, “and it isn’t going to be fun!”  Douglas, my Father and I step inside the Tijuana dojo. Douglas says, exasperated, “It feels like an interrogation bunker, and today the temperature topped…

I’m not thrilled, as it’s my turn to get thumped. Murphy motions my opponent to step forward. When he does so, he bows, and I bow as well. A split-second after the bow, before I even have a chance to hold up my arms and…

The fret of not seeing a punch or kick coming my way and getting seriously hurt causes me to use every ploy I can come up with to stall my first fight, like hiding in the corner looking down, pretending I’m invisible. I manage to…

I join Murphy’s school at a fee of six dollars per month, which is the Mexican rate he kindly offers me; the U.S. rate is nine dollars a month.   After I join, I have no idea what is in store for me. How could I?…

I come face-to-face with Sensei John Murphy, a man who sounds like some kind of super hero from a comic book. Douglas makes the introductions, “Sensei, I’d like you to meet Mr. Rick Turner. I spoke to you about him training here; his brother is…

After returning to the States, Sensei married a beautiful Hispanic woman, Rosemary. “As you train, you will notice that, during nightly fights,” Douglas says with a sly snicker, “Rosemary has the thankless job of mopping up the blood from the wooden floor so that nobody…

“Mr. Douglas,” I ask curiously, “When and where did Sensei Murphy get his black belt?” Douglas explains, in “1957, after basic training in the Army, Sensei Murphy was sent to Japan. He joined a karate school and diligently studied under Sato and Yamaguchi, two chief…

We step from Douglas’ car, I case my cards and place them in my bag. There is the hint of a past rain. The smell of mold is pervasive, “That could mean trouble for an asthmatic like me.” The Tijuana karate school is a dirty,…

Douglas continues, “Sensei Murphy is in combat with the bear-size man. “Sensei, with a grand heave of his body, swung the bear around and clamped his teeth onto the bear’s nose. This was an incredulous, action-movie moment that, in retelling seems exaggerated. Yet it happened,…