Interview de Jon Bluming
Jon Bluming is a leader of Europe’s International Budo Kai Kan Foundation.
Born in Holland 1933, he is a veteran of two tours in the infantry in
Korea. After receiving 3-dan in judo in Holland, he went to Japan in
1959, where he lived until 1961. His instructors included Donn Draeger,
Mas Oyama, Kenji Kurosaki, and Ichitaro Kuroda, and he is graded in
judo (9th Dan), karate (10th Dan), iaido, and jodo.
He is a former coach of the Belgian and Dutch national karate teams,
and his internationally known students include Olympic judo champion
Willem Ruska, world sambo champion Chris Dolman, and current RINGS champion
Dick Vrij. "What I teach," says Bluming, "is neither
Kodokan judo nor Kyokushin Kai karate but instead a mix of one-third
karate and Thai boxing, one-third throwing techniques — I teach seven
different throws — and one-third groundwork. That altogether is the
full circle of unarmed fighting. That is not arrogant, that is the truth."
Realfighting
OSU, Kancho (Bluming), it’s a pleasure speaking to you.
Thank you, I have no objection for an interview with a real budoka,
SO, if you have some questions FIRE AWAY
Currently in the United States the state of martial arts is where many
black belts can’t fight, techniques are taught that are of no use
and the general quality of martial arts instruction is down.
Bluming
Don’t worry about what became of budo in the USA;it is not different
in other countries and in Europe. Perhaps France is a country where
you have to follow the State of French course for several years to become
a STATE LICENSED teacher or sensei, no matter what kind of budo discipline.
The course in judo given by the most famous judo champs from their old
days. NOBODY, not even a new world champion can open a dojo, not even
as an amateur if he does not have a license. THAT’S the only way!
Q
Here in the States, anyone can open a martial arts school anytime
Bluming
In Holland there is freedom in teaching sports, anybody can open a
professional dojo and start to make money. Like a former student of
mine, in the ‘60s who was for 6 weeks in my old dojo and put on a
black belt and started his own affair.
Since especially in those days it was a new thing he had many students
but
did not know his ass from a hole in the ground.
Q
What can be done?
Bluming
Those matters cannot be helped and will continue, especially in the
USA. I have seen karateka with terrific names in the USA and so called
champs who could hardly beat my grandmother if she had an umbrella in
her hands.
Q
What criteria should a potential student use when selecting a school
or teacher?
Bluming
One should always go into the background of the sensei he wants to study
under, and then decide if it’s worth it. Now don’t forget there
are very good sensei’s who never really fought in a contest but have
the ability to show their students how it is done and make good teachers
and champs in the process.
Q
There are many martial arts instructors whose first priority is making
money.
Bluming
Especially in the USA, most guys are teaching to make as much money
as possible and give hardly anything worth knowing in return. Yes, it
has really changed over the years, now they are usually only interested
in MONEY but one thing had not changed, but some still fight and learn
HARD to get on the top.
Q
How did you get started in martial arts?
Bluming
The first time I became really keen on martial arts was as a kid reading
the comic strips of Dick Bos, a so-called famous sort of Zorro in Holland
during WWII.
Q
Your first real practice then started in Korea?
Bluming
When I finally had my first tour of duty in Korea (August 1951) and
was
wounded twice, we had to stop for several weeks in Yong Dong Poo, close
to
Seoul, and I ran into a very small dojo run by a sensei names Park,
(I can’t remember what they where doing, it was not Tae kwon do but
something similar). I practiced there for a few weeks until we left
for Holland and that’s how I really started.
We had NOTHING like that in Holland, and after my second tour of duty
(after seeing a show given by the famous “MIFUNE” (during a tour
to the old KODOKAN) when I was in the hospital in Tokyo (February 1951).
I found a dojo in Amsterdam of the “Neth Amateur Judo Association”
of the famous Dr. Schutte (affectionately called OPA by the students).
Q
So this was the beginning?
Bluming
Yes, and I entered the world which made me a budoka, and it has run
my life since then. I was lucky to make it to the top and get the first
most coveted BLACK belt, and years later the red and white belt, being
the first foreigner in the world to get that in Japan.
Q
I’ve noticed many red/white and red belts in the USA
Bluming ;
There are more clowns with red and red and white belts in the USA than
at the Barnum and Bailey circus. It amazes me how many 10th dans there
are running around, whose only concern is to make money and promote
themselves, they never amounted to anything but BULL SHIT.
Q
Did you learn martial arts for self-defense?
Bluming
Learning and fighting was indeed for the art itself. I wanted to learn
and fight, to become one of the best, NOT for the money, I was not even
thinking of the possibility to open a dojo in those days. I was just
an ordinary working bastard who made very little money and JUST LOVED
THE SPORT and the traditions around it all, and I swore that I would
one day go back to Japan to learn it all.
I am still the only one in the world now who holds a REAL 10th dan in
karate from Japan and 5 different organizations who signed it.
GET MY BOOK from Joseph Svinth and you get a good background and I don’t
have to write another book to you. I lived only for Judo in those days
and nothing else. We even had to pay our own tickets (for the train)
to fight in contests in other cities, but we loved it and were real
pissed if we did not get a place on the National team.
Q
You were one of the first people to cross-train in several arts, what
do you think of the no-holds-barred (NHB) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA’s)
that have become so popular, like the UFC, Pride, Pancrase etc?
Bluming
I showed Oyama in March 1966 my idea of all-round karate. For karate
means empty hand, and in my opinion that means anything goes as long
as one has no weapons, not even a pencil in his hands.
It was the UWF who really started in Japan. I went there with Chris
Dolman and Dik Vry. They beat the piss out of the Japanese, the Americans
and especially the Russians. Now don’t forget that Dolman was already
three times world champ in Sambo, European Judo champ and 20 times champion
in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.
So in 1993 Dolman became the first world champion for RINGS in Tokyo
and made $100,000. I think it is great that the evolution of man-to-man
fighting took such a tremendous step. It really pisses me off that I
was getting to old to participate anymore (and because of my injuries).
The K-1, where mostly students of Jan Plas and Johan Vos (both from
my dojo) hold high grades now (Jan is 8th dan). Pancrase also made headlines
with Dolman’s student, Bas Rutten, and my personal student Sem Schilt,
who took the title three times, and now fights the Pride tournaments.
It’s only the cage fights I don’t really like because I think in
Budo, we should remain a little human???
Q
Do these (MMA) people have more skill nowadays than fighters in the
early days?
Bluming
Yes, of course they have more skill than the old time fighters (in karate).
That’s the reason that the Japanese NEVER won anything, certainly
not in all-round karate. They got their asses kicked every time. I challenged
Matsui and his sister-boys to a good team fight to be held in Japan
in 1994. I told him to be Captain so that I could face him, AND in a
ring, so that he couldn’t run away. Then make a 10-man team so that
2nd is Dolman etc. He nearly choked. The witness was Akira Maeda from
Rings place was the West city hotel in Shinjuku.
Don’t forget the almost homo games from the Wado and the JKA Shotokan
karate groups, like no contact. In the old days even my granny could
beat those guys if she had a umbrella in her hands. It is absolutely
no comparison. Good judoka have no chance against a good kick boxer.
But all together with a strong mind and bringing your pain (borders)
to great heights, and a terrific fighting spirit, you can be almost
undefeatable.
Q
Many people in the USA say that Mixed Martial Arts developed so quickly
because many martial arts students wanted to know if their techniques
really worked…they lost confidence in their arts.
Bluming
That’s right, but in a very modest way. WHY? Because in the States
where there are more MOUTH specialists than in Europe (I don’t know
why) there are not that many who want to put their fighting ability
where their mouth is. And even if they have the spirit, there are not
many who are really good and know what they are doing (with a clear
mind).
Q
You really train your fighters well, it seems many fighters from Holland
are on top
Bluming
Yes, I trained them so good that the CRAZY family (The Gracies) with
their big mouths NEVER wanted to fight Chris Dolman no matter how many
times he tried to get them on the mat in Japan. That goes now also for
Sem Schilt. I cannot image that any of the Gracies can beat them. But
the Gracies are great showman and surely no pushovers.
Q
Much of Mixed Martial Arts nowadays concerns itself with three basic
styles that everyone uses; those are Muay Thai (for kicks, knees and
elbows), Boxing (for punches) and various forms of grappling (Gracie,
Sambo, Wrestling, Judo). Are you training your students in these styles
as well, or using strictly Karate and Judo?
Bluming
Yes, that’s right, but I think you give the Gracies too much leverage;
they did NOT bring in something new. And if they change the rules so
that you are allowed to hit or kick when one knee is on the mat that
would change the whole story. I have seen that in February in Tokyo
when one of the Gracie’s fought and lost miserably to a kick boxer.
All he did was constantly dive for the legs knowing that if his knees
are on the mat his opponent was not aloud to hit him. Of course I trained
them in those styles, I did those techniques in Kodokan 42 years ago
when Gracie was in his diapers.
You can learn from every style in fighting, even what not to do. Don’t
get me wrong I am NOT knocking the Gracies, and they are right to make
a good show that brings in the money. But if you claim that nobody can
beat you than he should have fought Chris Dolman, but he always refused
and did not even answer his letters or from Rings Tokyo.
Sem certainly wants to fight them so let them contact PRIDE. But I don’t
think they will do that. People who come to most dojos are certainly
NOT looking to go in to all-round fighting, they just think mostly that
they can learn some self-defense and get some secret stuff??? Ha, ha
and can give a good fight in the streets when they have to. That does
NOT work, for even good fighters are NOT street fighters, for they do
not have the killer instinct, as a real born fighter has. That’s the
reason that you will not often see real good all-round fighters like
Dolman, the first Gracie, Sem Schilt, Ernesto Hoost. Peter Earts, etc.
Q
So you teach a basic sound program for all students, no matter if they
want to train for self-defense or for the ring?
Bluming
The way I teach my students, is basic techniques, as simple as possible,
but techniques that really work, and should became second nature if
necessary, automatically. A fight for your life on the streets is completely
different than a fight for money or especially for a CUP on the mat
of a stadium.
Q
During the
last few years, the term “reality-based martial arts&” has become
very popular. Many people want to concentrate solely on simple but effective
self-defense instruction [that works] without the mysticism and hours
spent practicing kata. Is this starting to become popular in Europe
also and are you involved with this yourself?
Bluming
Popular in Europe, SURE and nothing else, but again we also have 90%
bullshitters against a handful of the best in the world and they have
proved that in the last 10 years.
All the bullshit about mystique etc. is funny, but in my group we do
have some tradition and etiquette which is good for morale and should
become like a kind of brotherhood, and that has nothing to do with the
Chinese or Japanese bullshit.
Q
You’ve had an interesting career in the martial arts; you were actually
one of the forerunners of European Budo.
Bluming
Yes, that’s how it started in Europe. When I came back from Japan
in 1961 there was NOTHING except judo, I had to start from NOTHING so
then it is not that bad, how it finally developed until today.
Q
Tell us about your style of Karate, how it developed and your experiences
with Oyama.
Bluming
Well, in the typical karate fight there are all the corner referees
and the referee and all the whistling and screaming and then they have
to stop, go again, then apart and go again, round after round, which
is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with fighting.
Once I am very close, I want to get the son-a-bitch down, and then do
groundwork, and that’s what I showed Oyama in ’66, and he nearly
had a heart attack. But he allowed me to teach at his dojo, that’s
why Ashihara became one of my students and Peter McLean and a few other
guys, and that’s how I fought the little, (what the hell was his name
again?) oh, Fujihira, who was the lightweight champion, and later lightweight
world champion in Thai boxing, (But of course he was only 63 or 65 kilos,
and I at the time was 102 kilos).
But anyway, Oyama said that one could not touch him (Fujihira), because
you will be knocked out or kicked out. I said sensei, that’s ridiculous,
if there is a strong man, bigger, and the guy is agile and very fast,
he will jump him, so Fujihira wouldn’t have a chance to kick, punch
or do whatever, and even if he does, there will be no more power in
it, no more than 30 or 40 percent of the original kick or punch. And
then he is taken down, and on the ground he is nothing, he is like a
little baby, and he will be ripped apart.
Yeah, well Oyama didn’t think so. So when Fujihira came in the dojo,
(downstairs, only a six mat dojo or something) I saw his face, like,
what the hell is this, you know, then I told him what I said, then asked
don’t you believe it either? So I did one little move forwards, and
he was right away in his fighting stance, and that pissed me off, so
I yelled Bang…and jumped him, and yanked him down, tied his hands
with his own belt, and tied his feet with my belt, and tied them together,
and then he was just like a little post package. And then Oyama came
in, and for the second time he nearly had a heart attack. What is this
he said? Well that’s the style I talked to you about. And you said
he couldn’t be touched, look at him…and that was actually the first
of many incidents that drove me away from Kyokushinkai in 1970.
Q
I was living at Yamaguchi Gogen’s place when I was young, he was nice
to me, did you have any experience with him?
Bluming
Yes, he had a good dojo, and he was a helluva good guy, and a very good
friend of mine.
Q
While I was training at Gogen’s, I went to visit Oyama’s place,
I was downstairs and he walked in (with about five or six Yakuza) and
asked me where I trained. When I told him Gogen’s, one of his guys
laughed and said the ballerina school, but wasn’t Gogen his teacher?
Bluming
Well that’s where he learned his karate…and nowhere else! And I
don’t know if you read one of his old books, (it was written by one
stupid American who didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground).
He claims that Oyama captured the national title of Japan “knockout
karate” in Kyoto in 1947. That’s fuckin’ impossible. That’s
impossible because the Shogun of Japan at that time was MacArthur, and
he forbid any martial art that had to do with fighting, he finally said
Judo was OK (’46 or ’47 I think), because that was a sport, a game,
and not really violent.We trained in the old Kodokan with Suidobashi,
where I trained with weights in the ‘60s. So that’s the first big
lie I came across.
The second one was that he said he was going to the mountain for special
training for no longer than three weeks or six weeks, but no longer
than that… He told me! When I left three years later, he told other
people he was on the mountain for three years? How the fuck did he do
any karate? Then he claims he did Judo, saying he was a Kodokan third
dan. “They say,” he never personally says anything like that; he
always let other people say things about him. And he just nods and looks
at them with a yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s a lie. He never did
ANY Judo at the Kodokan, he did some boxing, when he was a kid, and
the pictures are in my book. But no karate, and no judo as a kid. And
when he claimed he was doing karate in ’46 or ’47, that’s a big
lie also, he just got out of the army.
Q
So his first and only teacher was Gogen?
Bluming
Yes! Yes! And I know that from Kurosaki. I don’t know if you know
Kurosaki, and I don’t know if he wants to talk about it, he did with
me. And he told me they were training with Yamaguchi, and Oyama became
a nidan. On Kurosaki, I don’t know if he had a dan, but Kurosaki was
good, he was a real killer.So then they decided to make their own organization,
because they said there must be a hell of a lot of money in this business,
and they made it worldwide so every school and member would pay a fee
every year, members would pay $10, and later the fee was brought down
to $3, and I finally brought it down to $3 for a lifetime membership.
Q
Did you meet Tadashi Nakamura?
Bluming
Yes, of course, he was a kid. And all the talk where he is a big champion
is a lie; he never fucking entered any kind of championship.
Q
Didn’t he beat some top Muay Thai champion?
Bluming
No, no, no, no, no, he did beat someone there, but not a top Thai boxer.
But the one who really beat a lightweight Thai boxer was Fujihira. But
he threw him with ippon seinage a few times, and that banged the guy
up so he could knock him out.
Q
What about the story, that Oyama sent someone to New York to kill Nakamura,
is that true?
Bluming
Yes, that’s true; they shot him in the knees.
Nakamura was a good dojo fighter, absolutely, he was a terrific teacher,
absolutely, but in the old system, the old fashioned system, he couldn’t
do anything today with the caged fights, the K-1 fights, the free fights,
they would kill him, even if he was 20 years of age, in that old style,
but that’s the old fashioned way. One thing I didn’t like is that
he gave himself a 10th dan when he was about 40, in Japan you have to
be at least 61 to receive this belt.
What I admired about Nakamura is that he saw the dirty things that were
being done with the so-called world championships, and he wouldn’t
go along with it. He was a referee when, I think it was Williams, from
the States, the big Black fellow, and a hell of a good fighter, he gave
him the decision and the Japanese were screaming to reverse the decision,
and he didn’t want to do that, and then he wrote a letter saying,
sorry, my heart is with Kyokushinkai, I really love you, but I cannot
abide with you anymore, because of all the dirty business. This (organization)
has nothing to do with the true spirit of and tradition of karate, and
sorry, I can’t do it anymore. That was already when he was sent to
New York to teach there. And opened the first dojo under Japanese supervision
of the Hombu. I was in New York with my wife in June 1971, Nakamura
and Shigeru Oyama invited me to a Japanese dinner and that’s the last
time I ever saw them.
Q
Do you remember Shigeru Oyama?
Bluming
Oh yes, he’s an asshole. He tried to run his so-called Oyama worldwide
organization but always asked for more money so everyone quit on him.
Q
I was thrown out of his school, (in New York City), because I didn’t
fight by their silly (karate) rules, I also threw people to the ground.
Bluming
Yeah (laughter), that’s what I mean, the old fashioned way, like keeping
the kids happy and take their money. But anyway nowadays he drinks more
than he trains and his students in Holland have come to my dojo now,
they don’t
want anything to do with him.
Q
You once mentioned you teach seven throws to your students, which throws
are those?
Bluming
Well to show them the way, how everything started from the beginning
I show them the 1) Uki-goshi, the ordinary wrestling hip throw, and
the second one is the full hip-throw2) O-Goshi (the hip is completely
in) the third one is the hip-leg throw 3) Haraigoshi), the next one
is 4) Osotogari (going to the back), then comes 5) Ippon seionage (going
under a puncher’s arm and throwing him over your head), 6) and the
next one is kosoto-gake, on the other side, backwards, then the last
one is Deashi-kake, like the kickboxers do, but right behind the ankle
with the inside of your foot.
Those are the seven throws I show them, but I always tell them, look,
you don’t really need to know those seven throws really well, but
if you only have a good hip throw - a good Haraigoshi, and a good Osoto-Gari,
and a good side kick like a good kosoto-gake, or Deashi-Kake, then you’re
in, that’s all you need.
And on the ground I teach them, what I call the circle, you start with
Kesa-gatame from Judo, and when he gets a little out of it you go on
both knees, and go around him with both arms, one around his neck, one
around his body, and when he gets out nearly out of that, you must put
your left leg forwards besides his body, so you sit on your ass again,
and then you lay with your whole chest on his head, and when he gets
out of that, you quickly push his head in the middle by your crotch,
and push down with your elbows on his biceps, but really strong, but
don’t grip him, once you grip him, then you make one body from two,
and if he’s strong he can twist you around.
Q
What do you think about the Gracies?
Bluming
You know, I admire Gracie, at least the first one, some of the other
ones, I don’t know, they are big mouths. I saw one last February fighting
at Rings, and he was just a big showoff, and he caught a low kick so
hard that both legs came from the floor and he banged his head. Every
time they try to rush forward and grab your legs, but you know what’s
funny about it, they know as soon as they grab your leg, there’s always
one leg on the tatami. Once that happens, you are not allowed to hit
him. If I would fight a guy like that, I would tell him, look, even
at my age, I like to fight you, but no rules! So more bullshit with
one leg on the ground, and I’m not allowed to hit you, so once he
comes in then, I will punch so hard, or a shuto so hard, it will break
his fucking neck. But you’re not allowed to do that.
One of my best students, Gilbert Eifel, he fought one of the wrestlers
who was light heavyweight champion from Sydney, and fought at that same
tournament in February last year in Rings in Tokyo, and he jumped forward
and gripped the legs of the big Negro Eifel, and Eifel just elbowed
him, Bang, and he nearly killed him, right between the shoulders, wap!
But he was almost disqualified, he lost three points, he lost the goddam
shiai, and he lost the title, it cost him $200K.
And that’s what I mean phony, and this wrestler didn’t do anything,
not an arm lock, not a leg lock, absolutely nothing except jumping forward,
grip with both hands, one leg or two legs, and nothing happened, not
a throw, punch or kick, and he won $200K by decision.
Q
So they’re training to beat the rules, that’s it?
Bluming
Right, right, and Gracie, the first Gracie, he claimed no one could
beat him, then Dolman, my student who was the first “real” unofficial
world champion beat everybody, the Russians, Ukrainians, an American
I don’t know, he beat the piss out of them, really bad, and he said
I want to fight with our friend Gracie, he wrote him a registered letter
and never received an answer. That was in ’93, and then came the bullshit
story, well you can always come to my dojo and fight me, they won’t
fight you in the dojo, but in the arena, so they can make another $100K.
All the fight organizations in Japan are run by gangsters, the top Yakuza,
everybody knows that.
Q
Yeah, Mas Oyama surrounded himself with gangsters.
Bluming
Yes, but Kurosaki too, Kurosaki used to be his consigliere.
Q
Is Kurosaki the guy who hated Gaijins (white people) and beat them up
all the time?
Bluming
I don’t know? I never fought with him, he never wanted to, because
he saw me beat up one of the champions, and I didn’t know any karate,
and I was just starting, I was there for 10 days or something like that,
but I was a fanatic in this place and I was already a fourth dan in
Judo. And as soon as I had this guy in the corner he didn’t know what
to do, he wanted to punch me but I just gripped his gi and picked him
up, he was hanging above my head and Oyama screamed STOP, so I put him
down again, so from that day on, everyone was walking big circles around
me.
Q
How tall are you?
Bluming
In those days I was 6’- 4” (in centimeters 196) or something like
that, now I shrunk.
Q
But you’re solid.
Bluming
Yes, but I wasn’t solid when I started, In my old Judo days as an
amateur I weighed 78 kilos, and when Draeger (Donn Draeger) started
training me, in March 1959, by November I was a solid 102 kilos.
Q
Was Draeger a nice guy?
Bluming
He was the best; he could run circles around all the top Judoka in the
Kodokan, all the 8th and 9th and 10th dans. He knew more in his left
hand than they knew in their whole body in Judo. He was a real martial
artist, and had the body of a Greek god. He was so strong, he was one
man I could never throw when we were fighting around a bit, and on the
ground I could never do anything with him.
Q
How tall was he?
Bluming
He was 190 or 192, he was an old Marine Major, but he was solid, he
was strong.
Q
It seems like you and Draeger were the first mixed martial arts, cross-trainers?
Bluming
Yes, Draeger asked me around the summer of ’59, Jon, you really want
to know the background of the Japanese samurai, of all the martial arts,
I said yes, he said let’s join the bo-jitsu class from Shimizu and
Kuroda.He said they’re police instructors, one is 10th dan, the other
is 7th dan.They’re terrific, and we can learn about the sword, the
live sword, Kendo and bo-jitsu (stickfighting). So that’s what we
did, twice a week, for two and a half years, and then we gave a big
demonstration in 1961, in Hibiya Hall, and it was also a test, and we
both got a third dan from the Japanese Kendo Federation in Bo-Jitsu;
and before I left for Holland I go my third dan in iai-jitsu. In ’66
I got my second dan in Kendo from Kuroda.
Q
So you were the unpublicized pioneers of mixed martial arts? I thought
it all started in America?
Bluming
No, In America they have about a million organizations, and one is worse
than the other. And once you say, let’s get together and do a little
work in the dojo, they piss in their pants; they don’t want to do
that. As a matter of fact I just had some fall-out with some members
in my organization. A guy called Antonio Bustillo, from Miami, Aguilar
Fernando from Miami, and Carlos Feliz, who is from Puerto Rico but lives
in Florida. They asked to be members, so I said OK, and they paid their
lifetime membership fee, only $15, I mean I’m not in it for the money,
I’m in it for the fun, but I need to run the organization and I need
some money to do that. So they also asked for a grade, and they sent
me certificates that they had grades by other organizations, so I found
that I had to start somewhere, so I made Bustillo (a former police officer)
a fourth dan, and Carlos also a fourth dan.
Now it turns out that Carlos hadn’t done anything for years and years,
and was just a fat pig and wants a certificate from the famous Budokai,
from Bluming, and also he want to organize something to make money or
what. Then all of a sudden two guys from Uruguay come in; their names
are Guzman and Daniel, both good guys who have dojos. Carlos, Fernando
and Bustillo don’t have dojos, they just train somewhere sometimes.
Now I accepted those guys because Carlos asked me too, he was some kind
of assistant, so I said, if you say these guys are good, I will accept
them. And I did, then all of a sudden when they became 4th dans, then
everyone started screaming, how is this possible, and finally I told
Carlos, you were the one who told me to accept them. So I told Carlos
if you can’t accept it, if it is against your principles (ha, ha,
ha) then quit and he did. So I said OK, thanks for everything you did
for me, and this is the end then, and then Bustillo quit, and the other
one Fernando stopped too. I didn’t care, I slept very well that night,
because I was sick of all that bullshit, and that’s what you have
in that whole Budo world. For 50 years I’m in it, in Holland, with
Judo in the old days, with Karate later, I was the one who introduced
Karate and Judo to Europe; no one did any Karate and Judo. Some people
couldn’t even spell it, and some people didn’t even know what it
meant. I started from scratch, in December 1961, and we made the first
European Union in January 2, 1962, and look at it now in Europe, there
are a couple of million dojos, and nobody knows I started it, almost
nobody.
So I’m happy Bustillo and the other guys left, they don’t have members,
nothing, the hell with them, and that is the thing you always have to
deal with, that’s why I like Joseph Svinth, because he is apart from
any bullshit and politics, he says people want to train, fine, if they
don’t want to train, fuck off. And we don’t care about grades and
just want to be taught by someone who knows what he is doing. So they
invited me last year, and it was a good seminar. I didn’t know the
guys, and now I do know the guys and they invited me again.
Q
Kancho, getting back to styles, I like Muay Thai very much, especially
the elbow and knees, what’s your feeling on it.
Bluming
Yes, yes, it’s good, it’s very good. The only thing what I have
against Muay Thai for self-defense is that there is no throws, and no
groundwork.
And you know, it’s very funny, the Chinese Boxing Federation, the
Wing Chun, they are very very selfish and dedicated to their own style.
My boys went over there (to Emin Boztepe’s) Dolman and Vrij and a
few other guys, because he claimed no one can beat him, you know, he
was on his knees crying, and I’m not kidding you. He’s an asshole.
He said, please guys this is only for advertising, come on, I just want
to make a dollar, that’s all, so they just spit on him and they left.
No, he’s an asshole. I personally don’t know him.
Then there’s a guy named Dick Wachtberger. To my great surprise, last
year he called me and said, “Mr. Bluming, sensei, is it possible that
you accept an invitation to teach for a few hours?” I was surprised;
he said we want to see some other styles, and what’s going on. I said
sure, so he was so surprised and so happy with it, after the teaching,
that he instead of the money he promised me, he gave me 50% more. He
said you deserve it (laughter) it was funny. So after that I taught
again and next month I teach again there. They want to know about groundwork
and some throws, and that’s nice.
Q
I just got back into martial arts last year after a nine-year hiatus,
and I agree with you, the politics just stinks. So when I came back,
I said no more traditional bullshit. Now I do Muay Thai for elbows,
knees and kicks, boxing for punches, and Gracie for groundwork, what
do you think of that?
Bluming
Good, good! Yes that’s good, Gracie certainly knows groundwork. That’s
why in 1980, after a few years completely quitting, because I didn’t
want anything to do with those assholes in the organizations, the Dutch
Marines called me and said, “Sensei, we want you to come back and
teach again.” Because I taught them from 1964, well I came there,
and I taught them again, and I said, no more traditional karate, all
around karate, so throws and groundwork. Oh, they loved it. I’m still
teaching there, last year I was at the Dutch Marine base in the Caribbean,
and this year I go there again.
Q
How much do you charge for a seminar?
Bluming
Oh, that has nothing to do with a charge, if they can get a lot of people
together, and can pay wherever I have to go (business class) and have
a reasonable hotel, and they say look, we have so much money, I say
OK. I mean, I don’t do like the Japanese, I want ten thousand dollars
and my family must all come first class. And then they teach you things
that you learn in the first week at the Kodokan as a beginner. That’s
ridiculous.
Q
When I was a teen in Japan we (all the students) were pressured to join
every special training camp, otherwise we were ostracized. So we all
paid $150 dollars to go to useless training camps, where we practiced
beginner exercises.
Bluming
Yes, yes, and in those days that was a lot of money. In the old days
they did that in Europe too. They don’t do that here anymore, because
there is not one dojo or organization in Holland that invites a Japanese
to teach anymore, because we are much better. They are absolutely beaten
all the time. Is there any Japanese who ever won a world championship
in Karate? No, Oyama did…by rigging the thing (laughter).
One of my students who is now a 6th dan, the one who runs the Marine
and Navy training in Curacao. He said to me, (when he was in Holland),
“Sensei, there’s a Mr. Suzuki from England, he is a Japanese, he
is an 8th dan, he is going to teach in one of the local dojos. Are you
mad if I go there?” I said no, you can go wherever you want to. You
can learn from every style, even if it is how not to do it. It was expensive,
165 Dutch florins, and he’ll only come, only if there are 30 guys.
So two days later he calls me and says sensei, you were right. Stupid
bastard that I am, you know what we did? For 20 minutes we sat there
in Zazen, because he claimed we didn’t know how to, he corrected our
heads and our feet and our hands. It was driving us crazy, because our
western legs weren’t made for Zazen. So after we had 20 minutes warming
up, then he taught us 20 minutes like the old fashioned way, you know,
open up with the stance and start ichi, ni, san, mate, turn around,
ichi, ni, san, second time with the feet and so on. The they stopped
and everybody though, oh now he’s going to show us some real nice
techniques, but that was the end, $165. And I said I told you, the Japanese
are all pimps on the martial arts. Except for a few guys, like Kuroda,
who didn’t care about money. Once I didn’t go to his dojo, because
I didn’t have any money, so the next time I went there he was mad
that I didn’t come, he didn’t care about the money at all. He said
it’s not for the money, and that’s a true Budoka!
You know it’s the same with Kurosaki, he has a beautiful song, translated,
it means, straight away, it has nothing to do with money, it has to
do with spirit, training and to make yourself better. And that’s Kurosaki,
he doesn’t want money.
Q
In America, many people chase the mysticism; they actually want it and
invent it when there isn’t any.
Bluming
There’s no mysticism in martial arts, it’s hard work, sweat, tears,
they invent it because they don’t know how to fight or what they’re
doing.And that’s the way they keep their students together, so at
least they can buy a good car and house.
It has nothing to do with sports.
Q
Well Kancho, thank you for everything. I appreciate you’re one of
the only people who honestly state the truth.
Bluming
Yeah, because I don’t need the money.
Q
Again, thank you very much
Bluming
Well old boy, hope I didn’t bend you ear too much.
Without spirit budo is but an empty shell