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The Power
of
The Way
A Spiritual Journey
By Nodan
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c. 2011 Lighthouse Productions
All rights reserved
ISBN-13:978-1466363472
ISBN-10:1466363479
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
I am Nodan
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Chapter 2
Discovering the Martial Arts
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Chapter 3
Be Careful What You Ask For
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Chapter 4
Training with Sensei
29
Chapter 5
A Journey into Death
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Chapter 6
The Aftermath
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APPENDIX
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END NOTES
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Thank you Lord
for saving me from
the outer darkness.
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Chapter 1
I am Nodan
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I am Nodan and I have no special talent as a writer. In school,
I was an average student and my intellectual abilities are quite
ordinary.
I developed extraordinary strength through seven years of
heavy weightlifting and, as an athlete, I had naturally quick hands
and feet but lacked flexibility and endurance.
I was only able to reach a high level of performance in karate
because of a brilliant teacher, intense makiwara training, and
practice, practice, practice. I have no doubt that a number of my
YouTube viewers could surpass my own martial arts abilities if
they had my determination and my teacher, Master Li.
I am of average size for my generation, and if you passed me
on the street you would not take notice. I have earned much of my
living through hard physical labor and I have been happily married
to the same woman for more than forty years. I am not rich or
famous. Today, I am the kindly old grandfather living next door.
In the mid 1980s, I had an “enlightenment” experience that led
me into demonic realms and the outer darkness of hell, from which
my only escape was through the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah.
In spite of my rejection of Him, God loved me enough to
deliver me from a spiritual death. He loves all people at all times
and calls every soul to his divine light.
After my conversion experience, I lost the desire to do martial
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arts and I did not practice karate for nearly seven years.
Making the YouTube Videos
Then, two students, Yohan and Yakov, brought me back into
the art with their request for private instruction in self defense.
They trained with me for five years and both earned black belts
from an independent panel of martial arts experts.
In 1999, I began teaching private self defense lessons to a
close friend’s nephew. “Grasshopper” was a former high school
track athlete and a serious student. Since there was only the two of
us, I found myself having to be his training partner, which is what
kept me strong in karate into my late 50s.
In 2004, I bought a camcorder and began filming a series of
board breaking demonstrations that were based upon my teacher
Master Li’s “one strike” techniques. To disguise my identity, I
created the fictional character named “Nodan,” who also functions
as a parody; a comic exaggeration of my own misguided quest to
become a great martial arts master.
I chose to remain anonymous to protect the privacy of the
people connected with my experience, and because it was my
conviction that humility finds a refuge in anonymity. After all, it
was out of pride that I had pursued enlightenment and supernatural
power in the first place.
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After filming the breaking demonstrations, I purchased my
first computer and made a dvd, intending to give witness to my
deliverance from the demonic realms.
The viewers rightly criticized my effort, calling it “cheesy,”
with awful acting and poor production values. They recognized
the power in the techniques but, no one seemed to get the point I
was trying to make.
Clearly, this first attempt at getting out my message had been a
failure, and I concluded that Nodan and his message were dead.
I did not discover the existence of YouTube until early 2009.
This time, I wisely hired a professional videographer to help me
edit and produce a series of videos, and serendipitously, Nodan
was resurrected.
Since then, the feature video at the nodankarate channel,
“The Power of The Way,” has generated more than 60,000 views,
and this book is written for those who have expressed interest in
learning about the details of my “enlightenment” experience.
Some have mistakenly thought I am promoting the Christian
religion. I am not. I am simply bearing witness to the power of
Jesus, that divine Man of Light who is admired and embraced by
people from a number of religious and secular traditions, each
according to their own understanding of him.
Before beginning my story, I want to make three clarifications.
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First, the demonic manifestations that I experienced in relation
to persons, places, and things reported in this book are the result of
my own spiritual idolatry, and I do not assume that any of these
were inherently evil in and of themselves.
I have since, for
example, purchased some of the same karate books that I once
burned because they are valuable resources that are not infected by
my former occult involvement.
The truth is, we can allow either good or evil to influence
anything in our lives: our politics and religion, our relationships, or
our entertainments. For those of you who can hear it, I tell you
that our good or bad intentions will direct the realities we create
throughout our lifetimes.
Second, although the names of people in this book have been
changed, I have not altered any of the facts of the case. I have
relied upon the written notes that I recorded at the time of the
events described herein, and upon the recollections of my wife and
others who are connected to this story.
Third, I do not profit financially from the nodankarate
channel on YouTube or from the sale of this book. For me, these
are the fulfillment of my self-imposed obligation to Jesus, the Man
of Light, who delivered me from the outer darkness more than 25
years ago. I have found this yoke to be easy and the burden to be
light.1
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Each reader must judge the credibility of my story for himself.
For my part, I am committed to telling you the truth, without
exaggeration, prejudice, or guile.
A Rebellious Youth
Like many other young people, I had problems at home. The
important thing is how we respond to the adversities in our lives.
In my case, I developed a cynical attitude toward life and grew into
an angry and rebellious youth.
Many of the things I did are too shameful to write about.
The miracle of my teenage years is that I didn’t kill or seriously
injury any one, and that I didn’t get killed or maimed myself.
When I consider all the potential disasters, all the “what ifs,” that
could have happened in my life, I can only conclude that there are
guardian angels around us every moment of every day.
Religion can be a positive or a negative in our lives. In my
case, it was some of both. Our family attended religious services
and the church played a significant role in my early life.
It
provided a sense of community and supervised activities for the
young people.
I learned the basics of the Bible and the story about Jesus and
learned that moral choices mattered. No doubt, this training helped
keep me from making some disastrous decisions in my life.
As it
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was, I often chose to do wrong but, I always knew the difference.
Churches are comprised of imperfect human beings, which
make them messy. I used the hypocrisy of some Christians as an
excuse to reject God and become an angry, self centered youth.
Somehow, the message of God’s love, as revealed in the example
set by Jesus, had not become a reality for me.
Like many others of my generation, I let the short comings of
the institutional church blind me to the reality of the Christ. As a
young adult, I became an agnostic, a person who claims we cannot
know whether God exists or not, and I considered the belief in the
spirit realms to belong to the mythology of the past.
In short, I identified myself with the humanistic philosophy
that believes man is the measure of all things.
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Chapter 2
Discovering
the Martial Arts
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I did not become aware of karate’s existence until I saw an
advertisement in a weight lifting magazine in the early 1960s. The
ad fascinated me with its promise of extraordinary power and
fighting skill. I was familiar with Western boxing and wrestling,
but karate seemed to be ideal for street self defense.
After finishing high school, I left home to attend a college near
a big city and I soon enrolled in a traditional Okinawan karate
school. The classes were rigidly structured with a strong emphasis
on repetitions of the kata and basic techniques. There was no self
defense training or competitive sparring.
From the beginning, I did not view the point sparring
competitions of the 1960s as realistic. For me, karate was an
exercise in survival, not a sport. All I cared about was that I could
quickly destroy a real attacker in a real situation. I decided to
concentrate on street self defense.
Combat Jujitsu
After studying karate for a short time, I began to work out with
Tex Barnes, a college mate, who had studied combat jujitsu. Tex
brought a metal training knife with a dull, rounded blade to our
first practice session. He repeatedly attacked me and succeeded in
“killing” me a number of times. Afterwards, I had big red welts all
over my body.
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This was a wake up call for me, exposing the fact that real
street defense was different from the traditional training I was
receiving in the dojo. My formal blocks were ineffective, my body
was out of position, and I lacked a strategy for defending against a
skilled knife fighter’s flowing combinations.
Tex showed me wrist locks and joint holds that were effective
against close quarter knife and gun holdups. We also practiced
defending against club attacks and the kinds of grabs and holds
that street criminals were likely to use. This early jujitsu training
would become the most important influence in my future approach
to the martial arts.
Throughout the 1970s, I studied a variety of throwing and
striking arts. I was open-minded toward other styles and did not
hesitate to borrow from them. I learned katas from five different
striking systems and sometimes practiced as many as 50 different
forms in a workout session. I trained hard and tried to familiarize
myself with every martial art.
Along the way, I taught self defense and karate and promoted
seven men to black belt. By the end of the decade, and after fifteen
years of training and study, I felt I had reached my limits for speed
and power and began to wonder if there might be more to karateperhaps something that went beyond the physical aspects of the art.
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When the student is ready the teacher will appear
Quan Li, an expert in the striking arts, heard that I knew the
complete Shotokan kata system. He came to me hoping to learn
some of the more advanced forms.
As we trained together for the first time, it became apparent to
both of us that his technique was far superior to mine. I was
mystified until he explained that I was using muscle power, while
he was leveraging his strength through bone alignment. The
difference was astounding. Quan Li was the best karateka I had
ever seen.
I concluded that I would have to relearn all the fundamentals
of my art if I was to ever approach Li’s level of expertise. Li
agreed to teach me his basics and I exchanged my well worn black
belt for the white belt of a beginner. The teacher had become the
student.
Meeting Sensei
After training with Li for about a year, I wanted to meet his
former karate teacher, whom he always referred to as “Sensei.” Li
was in awe of this man’s exceptional abilities and had told me
amazing stories about him. Sensei had stopped teaching his
ferocious karate style a number of years earlier, believing that it no
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longer fit in a civilized society. Li made arrangements for us to
meet with the master, who was now teaching classes in traditional
Japanese weapons (kobudo).
When I met Sensei, I knew. His presence was different from
that of other men- a quiet, peaceful serenity that I had never seen
before. When he demonstrated techniques, power flowed through
him. Li had shown me the superiority of bone alignment over
muscle strength, but Sensei demonstrated a spiritual power that
seemed to transcend this physical realm.
We asked Sensei for guidance with our karate training and he
agreed to meet with us occasionally to give us some pointers.
At the beginning of our first session together, Sensei looked at
me and said, “Jay, everything you know is wrong.”
He then
looped my karate belt around my waist and instructed me to move
forward as he intermittently pulled and slackened the belt. I
wobbled and lurched my way across the dojo floor because my
stances were not properly “centered.”
After this, he moved behind me. Without looking, I was told
to estimate how far away his fist was from the back my head. I
could feel him close, almost touching me, but when I turned and
looked, he was standing about ten feet away.
I tried again. This time, I was sure he was some distance
away because I could not sense anything close to me.
As I turned
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to look, the side of my face lightly grazed his extended fist.
Somehow, he was able to project his energy at will.
Finally, he stood before me in a relaxed front stance, arms
hanging loosely at his sides, and said, “Attack me.” I paused and
wondered if he was serious. But he just stood there, a strange stare
emanating from his eyes. I shifted into a front fighting stance and
cautiously looked for an opening. There was none. It was as if he
was empty and had every possible attack covered.
After this first lesson with a teacher of such superlative skill
and power, I was more eager than ever to continue my quest to become a great martial arts master. I intensified my home workouts
and Li and I met with Sensei every few months to have him
critique our progress in karate.
Quan Li proved to be as good a teacher as he was a martial
artist. For my part, I was a determined student, hanging on his
every word and imitating his every move. I did not have Quan Li’s
natural ability or his genius at understanding the techniques. I had
to be shown every step of the way, and then practice, practice,
practice, until each movement became part of my subconscious
mind.
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Chapter 3
Be careful what
you ask for
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The occult concerns itself with hidden knowledge that cannot
be explained through logic or reason. I am not qualified to pass
judgment upon the spiritual practices of others. I can only tell you
about my own personal experience, so let each one be persuaded in
his own mind.
Meditation practices are a part of most religious traditions and
can be good or bad, depending on the intentions of the practitioner.
Indian yogis, Jewish Kabbalists, Christian mystics, and Muslim
Sufis have all used this tool to explore the ultimate mysteries of
this life and beyond.
I believed that meditation was an essential tool for reaching
enlightenment through the martial arts, and I spent many hours
concentrating on expanding my mind. But, in my effort to find
truth, I found deception and falsehood because my motivation was
born out of pride. Be careful what you ask for. Those who seek
will find.
It is not necessary to recount all the occult experiences I had in
my quest for enlightenment. So, I will tell about several of the
more influential experiences that reinforced my delusion that I was
following the right path.
My Home Dojo
I built a dojo in my house and Master Funakoshi’s picture was
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the centerpiece on the kamiza wall. The ultimate goal of training
was enlightenment, and to reach that highest level, one’s ego had
to be completely destroyed.
According to Quan Li, practicing his former karate teacher’s
prescribed workout was supposed to burn away the ego, and each
week Li and I would train together for three to four hours.
After a while, we began to experience extraordinary power
during our workouts. We could execute full power punches and
blocks with no protective padding. Somehow, the punches were
being powerfully deflected even though neither of us felt any
contact. This was not possible but, it happened.
Kiai is the vocalization of the energy released during a
technique. We used a kiai on every kick, strike, and block but, our
voices never became hoarse from the constant shouting.
I experienced a wonderful euphoria from the many repetitions
of kata and from striking the makiwara mounted on the floor. On
two occasions, we split the striking post at its base, such was the
power being generated during our workouts. Another time, the
wooden floor in the dojo vibrated beneath us as we trained.
The energy we experienced was exhilarating and steeled my
determination to reach beyond the physical limits of my power.
During the week, I often practiced for three to four hours a day.
What I could not see, however, was that my ego was swelling
with the pride of becoming more and more powerful. What was
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supposed to be destroying my ego was, in fact, building it up.
Sylvester and the Invisible Man
I had a black and white cat named Sylvester who considered
my home dojo to be part of his personal domain. One evening the
energy in the dojo was exceptionally strong and after our workout I
asked my wife, Kay, to come into the room and see if she could
sense anything unusual. She entered the room and moved slowly
toward the right side of the kamiza wall. Using both hands, she
traced the invisible outline of a person standing in the corner.
When Kay realized what she had done, she became spooked and
hurried out the door.
Shortly afterwards, Sylvester appeared in the doorway to make
his evening rounds. Li and I watched, curious to see if the cat
would be aware of the spirit presence in the corner.
Sylvester began his slow walk across the back of the dojo.
Suddenly, he turned and went straight to the spot where Kay had
just encountered the spirit. He sat down and stared at the invisible
figure. After a short time, he stood up and casually walked out of
the room.
Kay later said that the spirit was about five feet tall, which
just happened to coincide with the height of the diminutive karate
master, Funakoshi, whose picture graced the kamiza wall. I do
not know whether or not it was Funakoshi’s ghost in the dojo but, I
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believe it was associated with the same spirits we would later
encounter during a Ouija Board séance.
The Séance
My former student, Gary, along with his wife, Deedee,
brought a Ouija Board to our house. Li and I had just finished our
evening workout and we decided to take the board into the dojo
and ask it some questions.
Kay joined us and we lit several
candles for atmosphere and turned off the lights. With pen and
paper in hand, we were ready to begin.
Deedee and Kay placed their fingers lightly on the planchette
and we asked our first question.
“Is Master Funakoshi’s spirit in this dojo?”
The planchette began to slowly move, stopping briefly on ten
specific letters on the board’s alphabet. I wrote down the letters
and to our amazement, the message spelled out the words “Only
for two.”
We asked, “Which two is he here for?”
The answer was, “For true believers.” Li and I knew that the
spirit meant us.
Li asked, “Is Master Ueshiba here?”
“All are here if you learn the truth. The truth is in this room.”
“Are we following the right path?”
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“Many have trained. Few will develop the gift given by . . .”
“Given by whom?”
“It must start from within.”
At this point, Kay became
unnerved by the channeling experience and stopped using the
planchette. Deedee continued on her own.
One of us asked, “Who is speaking to us?” The reply was
enigmatic and poetic.
“Like the sky, all is open. The sword moves with wisdom.”
Li asked, “Does Master Funakoshi live in the flesh?”
“I, you, he.”
Kay suddenly gasped and exclaimed that Funakoshi’s picture
on the wall had just become three dimensional and had projected
itself out towards her. Li recalled Sensei saying that Funakoshi’s
picture does that sometimes.
Kay had seen enough and left the room declaring, “I’m out of
here!” The four of us continued.
“Will Jay and Li become masters?”
“All will be known when each level is attained.”
Li was eager to ask about his own training. “What kata level
should Li be training?”
“Good-bye.”
Li tried another line of questioning. “Was Li a samurai in a
previous life?
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“The tree bears fruit.
Only the beginning is looked upon . . .
know not more than are given. Seek only what is in the heart. All
masters believe.”
We knew something extraordinary was happening. Deedee
had no knowledge of martial arts or the Zen-like answers she was
channeling. At certain times, I watched her eyes to see if she could
be choosing the letters but, she wasn’t even looking at the board.
As we progressed into the séance, the planchette’s movements
became increasingly rapid until I could barely record the letters as
fast as Li and Gary called them out.
Li wanted to know if he would ever teach classes again.
“Is Li destined to teach in the future?”
“Giving is receiving the ki.” This answer was puzzling to
Deedee. When she saw it written out, she asked why “key” was
spelled “ki?” Deedee had no knowledge of this Japanese word and
its reference to energy.
One of us asked, “What is the ki?”
The spirit answered, “Look to yourself.”
“Can we improve this dojo for you?”
“Falling leave.”
I asked, “Will I ever teach again?”
“You will grow through giving to the teachings.”
Li asked, “Will karate-do die with Sensei?”
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The spirit gave us a vague answer.
“Like the seasons winter sleeps.
Slowly spring comes.
Have…”
The planchette stopped moving.
We persisted, “Can you finish this statement?”
“Greed is given to all. I give to two with much to learn.”
With that, the séance was over.
The seductive thrill of
contacting martial spirits reinforced my delusion that I was
following the right path and drew me deeper into my quest for
enlightenment.
Today, I advise people not to seek information by channeling
spirits in this manner. There is no way to know if the information
is reliable and there is always the danger of opening a door to the
demonic realms.
Not long afterwards, I told Sensei about the séance and
showed him a written record of the proceedings. His reaction was
surprising. He claimed to have no understanding of what any of it
meant.
The Medium
Some time after our séance, Li told me about a spiritualist
minister, an old woman named Bertha. For a modest donation, she
gave psychic readings and she claimed to have a five hundred year
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old Native American spirit guide to act as her psychic gatekeeper.
I went to her on four different occasions.
Bertha lived in a dilapidated old house in a poor section of
town. On my first visit, she led me through the house and into a
gloomy kitchen. Reaching across the table, she took hold of my
hands, paused briefly, and then spoke in tongues.
Then she opened her eyes and began, “Now as I come into
close contact with you…” Immediately, information would be
channeled through her Indian guide, usually from a departed
family member.
During the readings, she occasionally would
shake her head disapprovingly and speak out, “no, not you” to
spirits that she didn’t want coming through. I got the impression
there were a number of departed souls, not all of them connected to
me, who were trying to get messages through this gateway from
the other side.
Bertha gave details about my family that she could not have
known beforehand.
I had been careful not to volunteer any
information, and all she knew about me was my first name.
I believe Bertha was channeling information from the spirit
realms but, as with the spirits we encountered during the séance, I
had no way to know for sure which spirits she was contacting, or
whether or not all the information was true.
Curiously, Bertha never revealed any specific information that
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was useful to me, other than to open my mind to the likelihood that
a spirit world separate from this physical world did, in fact, exist.
Even so, this was far from what I would eventually experience in
the spirit realm.
I told Bertha about our encounter with the Ouija board and
asked for her opinion.
She was irritated that I brought up the
subject and informed me that spiritualist ministers had invented the
board to be used in their religious practices in the late 1800s. She
believed that marketing it as a parlor game had trivialized its
significance and put an uninformed public at risk.
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Chapter 4
Training with Sensei
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After training with Quan Li for nearly two years, I made a
momentous decision. To better access Sensei’s spiritual wisdom, I
joined his dojo and began taking formal classes with him. Li and I
continued to train together in karate but, studying with Sensei
added a new dimension to my understanding of the arts.
Sensei was a master of Miyamoto Musashi’s “two swords
style,” in which both the long and short swords are wielded
simultaneously, one in each hand. Musashi’s classic guide to
strategy, A Book of Five Rings,2 was the philosophical basis for
Sensei’s teaching.
In time, I began to comprehend Sensei’s deeper spiritual
understanding of the martial arts. For him, a true sensei was an
enlightened teacher, and he scoffed at the casual use of the title by
Western practitioners of the art.
The dojo was the “way room” where the departed spirits of the
masters met with the followers of the Way. Pictures of these past
masters were displayed on the kamiza wall at the front of the dojo.
The kamiza was the “alter of god,” and at the beginning and end of
each workout, Sensei would lead the class through a ceremonial
bow before it. The kneeling bow included sitting meditation which
was intended to empty the mind, thus making it more receptive to
the spirits.
In the 1976 documentary film, “Way of The Sword,” the late
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Japanese karate master, Gogen “The Cat” Yamaguchi, can be seen
kneeling before his crystal ball, summoning the martial spirits.
Yamaguchi was a 10th degree black belt and a Shinto priest. The
film’s commentator translates the Goju-ryu master’s words:
“In my crystal ball I conjure up spirits of past and future. I talk to
the samurai warriors of old and to the fighters who are yet to come,
and the secrets they tell me I pass on through my karate school.”3
The old master can be seen beating his drum to call up spirits
from the past. The commentator notes that, for Yamaguchi, karate
was for protection and self perfection.
Sensei held this same
philosophy.
While the dojo served as the focal point for Sensei’s spiritual
connection with his martial art, astrology and the I Ching (Book of
Changes) were also important to his occult practice. The I Ching
is a Chinese divination system and I once observed Sensei having a
reading done by an expert in that esoteric art. Referring to his
martial art, Sensei once commented to me, “This is my religion.”
During his classes, Sensei would often receive a revelation
about a technique, which he believed to be a gift from the Martial
Spirit. Once, I asked him how he had come by his extraordinary
abilities and he told me about a special visitation he received from
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the Martial Spirit many years earlier. It happened while he was
practicing the Heian Godan kata. As he was starting down the
chute with the double arm block, a tremendous power suddenly
came into his body and he heard an audible voice ask him, “Do
you want it to stop?”
He had only a split second to decide, or the miraculous power
would be gone. He chose to accept it and became Sensei, the most
powerful martial artist I have ever seen.
Li recalls Sensei once telling him, “Once you have the Martial
Spirit no one will ever fight you.”
And, on another occasion he
said to Li, “If I hit you, you should be dead before you hit the
floor.”
It was only later, after my own experience with the demonic,
that I began to understand the meaning of Sensei’s experience.
Jesus and Christianity
Sensei often made derogatory comments about Jesus and
Christianity. Referring to the Biblical account of Jesus feeding a
large multitude of people with several fish and a few loaves of
bread,4 he once quipped, “That boy should have been a baker.”
Then he added sarcastically, “He screwed up and he’s out there
running around and can’t wait to come back and do it all over
again.”
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On other occasions he made pronouncements like, “The Bible
is all lies,” and “There’s no such thing as the devil. You create
your own demons.”
But, he could also be sympathetic. I once heard him lament
the fact that, throughout its history, Christianity has often distorted
the teachings of Jesus. Then, I heard him complain with genuine
pathos, “Look what they’ve done to his message.”
And, on
another occasion he said, “If every person on the planet bowed the
knee in prayer, all this would disappear.”
But, by far the most shocking thing I ever heard Sensei say
concerned his comparison of the power of the martial arts with the
power of Jesus Christ. This happened on several occasions during
our discussions about the tremendous power of the martial arts at
its highest level.
Sensei told us, “Boys, if you think the power of the martial
arts is something, grab a hold of Jesus Christ. There’s a power
that’ll knock you right on your ass!” How startling it was to hear
these words from a self-styled Zen master, who spoke as if he had
first hand knowledge of their reality.
Several years after my own experience, I went back to Sensei
and asked him why he would have told us such a shocking thing
about the power of Jesus Christ. He looked puzzled and denied
having any memory of ever saying such a thing. Then, he admitted
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that he often said things to people that he didn’t remember saying.
Damien Wilson
After five years of training with Li and Sensei, my karate had
undergone a total transformation. I had immersed myself in Zen
philosophy, practiced deep meditation, and pursued a variety of
occult practices in a quest to reach enlightenment.
Sensei would tell us that his power came from God and that
we should ask for it and expect it. But, he never told us which
“god” gave him his power. And, if it was that simple, why didn’t
any of his students possess his special kind of power? Why didn’t
Quan Li, who by now was a master himself?
Damien Wilson was a relative of one of our neighbors. He
heard that I practiced karate and asked if he could train with me.
He had never studied a martial art and I brought him with me to
Li’s dojo one evening.
During our drive to Li’s, Damien told me about his long time
involvement in the occult. He said he experienced astral projection
(soul travel) and could take thoughts out of people’s heads. Then,
he made several astounding claims. He told me that he knew
where Sensei’s power came from and that he could see himself as a
future black belt. Then he informed me, “Now that I’m going to be
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training with you, you’re going to see the real power of the martial
arts.”
By the end of our workout, Li and I agreed that Damien
Wilson was the weakest and most un-coordinated man we had ever
seen, and his extravagant claims seemed ridiculous to us.
A Demonic Exchange
Damien wanted to meet Sensei and I arranged for him to
accompany me to a class. The meeting between the two men was
puzzling. Sensei was ordinarily quite friendly toward visitors, and
it was his custom to sit next to them and explain the workout as a
senior student led the class.
With Damien, however, he had no interaction at all. The two
men sat on opposite ends of the bench and ignored one another. I
do not think there was even one word exchanged between the two
of them during the entire evening.
After class, Sensei talked with Li and me as Damien looked
on. He began telling us about the kind of total commitment it
would take to make the final breakthrough to enlightenment. He
said we had to want it more than anything in the world and expect
it to happen. Suddenly, Sensei pointed to me and declared, “Jay
you’re going to get this, and when you do you’re going to come
back at me, ‘You ___ ___ son of a bitch!’”
36
On our drive home, Damien expressed satisfaction with his
visit and announced, “Me and Sensei have an understanding.”
Say what? By now, I was completely baffled by the events of
the evening. It is only with hindsight that I see that a demonic
exchange had begun to take place.
Damien went with me a second time to Li’s dojo. At one
point during the workout, he went over to Li and stood face to face
with him, without saying a word. Suddenly, Li pointed his finger
in Damien’s face and told him sternly, “That’s not going to work.”
Damien said nothing and slowly moved away.
At the first opportunity, I asked Li what that curious incident
had been about. He answered, “Oh, he was trying to go right down
into my one point!” I was bewildered and none of this made any
sense to me. When I asked Li about this incident again several
weeks later, remarkably, he had no memory of it ever happening.
Later in the workout, I paired off with another karateka, John
Bauer, to practice a formal three step sparring exercise. As we
made the customary bows to one another, John suddenly sprang
backwards, as if he’d just seen a ghost.
Several weeks later, John would admit that he had been
startled by my piercing black eyes.
Toward the end of the workout, Li and I paired off to practice
the same sparring exercise.
As I began blocking his punches, Li
37
suddenly stopped and said, “Jay, you’re killing my arms.”
He rolled up the sleeves of his gi and exposed large swollen
welts on his forearms. This was shocking because Li and I had
been practicing this same exercise together with full power
punches and blocks for nearly five years, and neither of us had
ever suffered so much as a minor bruise. I had felt nothing unusual
during the exercise and could not imagine what could have caused
these strange occurrences with John and Li.
Looking back, I can see that a demonic transfer took place
between Sensei and Damien Wilson when the two men met at
Sensei’s dojo, and that the demon then tried to enter into Li during
our workout. Quan Li’s dynamic personality and outstanding
technique would have made him the ideal successor to carry on
Sensei’s ferocious striking art.
After Li rejected it, the demon went into me. I was not
consciously aware of this, and to this day I have no recollection of
exactly when it may have happened. But, judging by those events
that occurred between me and John and Li, it most certainly
happened during that last workout session at Li’s dojo.
Unbeknownst to me, that evening would become even stranger
after I returned home. As I lay in bed that night, I became aware
of an eerie sensation in my lower back. It was a cool energy, about
the size of a softball, and it moved slowly up and down my spine.
38
I sat up in disbelief, hoping that this alien feeling was only a
figment of my imagination. For a brief moment, I wondered if I
was going insane.
I could not help thinking that Damien Wilson was somehow
connected with this strange phenomenon and I decided to call him
first thing in the morning. But, when I spoke with him the next
day, he denied knowing anything about it, and I believed him.
By the end of the day, however, I had somehow managed to
repress these unexplainable events, and the weird sensation in my
spine seemed to have disappeared. I continued on in my blind
pursuit of enlightenment, oblivious to the coming storm that was
about to engulf Kay and me.
39
Chapter 5
A Journey
into Death
40
Two weeks passed and I had to make a previously
scheduled trip to visit out-of-state relatives. For me, the timing for
this was inconvenient because it interfered with my training
routine, and I had the growing conviction that I was getting very
close to a major breakthrough.
Quan Li had recently presented me with an honorary Godan
certificate (5th degree black belt) which, in his organization,
signified that the holder had reached the highest level of physical
performance in his art. This, too, reinforced my belief that I was
getting close to my goal.
So, I was relieved to get back home. Kay picked me up at the
airport and soon began to recount the frightening events that
happened to her at our house during my absence.
It began the day after I left.
While channel surfing the
television, she came across a televangelist teaching on the Bible’s
prohibitions against idolatry. He said, “Anytime you bow down to
an idol or insignificant picture, there will be a demonic spirit
behind it.”
He went on to describe the power that one can get from
bowing down before images and she couldn’t help thinking about
the extraordinary power Li and I experienced during our training.
Kay wondered if she should take down the pictures of the masters
that were hanging in my dojo upstairs.
41
At the thought of taking them down, she felt an evil energy
swirling around her head. Frightened, she telephoned Wayne, one
of my former students, and asked him to come and take the
pictures down.
As he entered the dojo, Wayne could feel a strange energy in
the room.
Then, as he began to step slowly through a kata, Kay
heard him exclaim, “Whoa! I can feel it.” He took the pictures
down and placed them on the floor and left.
The next morning Kay was angry at being intimidated in her
own home and decided it was not enough to just take the pictures
down. She wanted them out of her house. As she went up the
stairs to remove them, the malevolent energy that had swirled
around her head the day before returned with a fury and buzzed
around her like a swarm of angry bees.
Kay was not an outwardly religious person but, she had her
own special relationship with God since she was a little girl. She
prayed for protection and could feel a defensive shield surround
her. Then, she hurried up the stairs and into the dojo, grabbed the
three pictures of the masters off the floor and took them out to the
garage.
After telling me these things, Kay told me she understood how
important the dojo was to me, and she hoped I wouldn’t be too
upset that the dojo pictures had been removed. But, I wasn’t upset
42
at all. What was so obvious to Kay was still hidden from me. I
was unaware of my deep spiritual attachment to my martial art.
Kundalini Fire (the Power of the Serpent)
The next morning, as I sat up in bed and looked into the
dresser mirror across the room, an amazing thing happened. The
eyes in the face reflected back at me were not my eyes! They were
black and piercing, and had an alien intelligence of their own. I
got up and approached the mirror, staring in disbelief. I remember
shaking my head and saying aloud, “No, that’s not me.”
Somehow, I knew the answer was in my dojo across the hall. I
went into the room and assumed a front fighting stance facing into
the full length mirror on the closet door. A pair of piercing black
eyes stared back at me. Then, without knowing why, I said to
them, “Okay, show me the Kundalini Fire.”
The softball sized bundle of cool energy that I had experienced
several weeks earlier instantly reappeared at the base of my spine.
In a sudden rush, the energy began to rise and radiate throughout
my body, intensifying as it moved upwards toward my head. The
supernatural strength I felt was both thrilling and terrifying, and a
feeling of dread swept over me.
I watched in the mirror with horror, as Sensei’s face appeared
to superimpose itself over my own and then morph into a demon of
43
enormous ferocity and power. The monstrous, holographic-like
image reflected itself out towards me with a thunderous roar, as
if from some otherworldly realm. It felt like being in a three
dimensional horror movie, except it was no fantasy. This was
really happening.
Panic stricken, I stepped back and declared to my own
reflection in the mirror, “If this is what it is, I don’t want it.” The
vision faded and the energy receded. I finally understood that the
source of Sensei’s incredible physical prowess was demonic.
With this realization, I suddenly found myself in a place of
indescribable emptiness, a blackness where the only reality was my
conscious mind. Stunned, I knew I was in the outer darkness of
hell, caught in an eternal “now,” beyond time and space. I had
believed in Musashi’s concept of the void, a place where
consciousness does not exist. But now, to my horror, I did exist in
a disembodied state, alone, and without any hope of ever
experiencing anything good again.
With me was the complete record of every thing that I had
ever done in my thirty-eight years on this earth. This included
every unloving, self-centered word, thought, and deed I had ever
committed. I was acutely aware of my rejection of God and that I
was there because of the choices I had made throughout my life.
I was caught in a spiritual eternity with no way out.
44
The Battle Begins
Immediately, I began thinking about what I should do. I had
no intention of telling anyone, including my wife, what had just
happened to me. Who could believe it? I didn’t want to believe it
myself but, it was too real to deny.
At that time, I could only guess that the root cause of this
problem was somehow associated with my bowing down before
the kamiza pictures. I resolved to set that situation right.
After being away for five days, I needed to catch up and do
some errands. When I went into the garage, I saw the kamiza
pictures by the trash barrel where Kay had left them. At the very
thought of discarding them, a deep sadness came over me. After
all, except for my family, they represented the most important
thing in my life. Reluctantly, I removed the pictures from their
frames, tore them into strips, and put them in the trash barrel.
As I drove to the post office thinking about my situation, the
thought occurred to me to replace the portraits of the masters with
something different.
I settled on a mirror for the centerpiece of the kamiza. I would
put my original black belt certificate on one side of the mirror and
the honorary Godan certificate I had recently received from Quan
Li on the other side. Without realizing it, I would now be bowing
45
down before myself. Oh, vanity of vanities! The sheer foolishness
of this is beyond words.
I returned home and mounted the mirror and certificates on the
kamiza. Then, I found another picture of Master Funakoshi in the
dojo closet which I tore into strips and discarded into the bathroom
trash basket. This particular portrait had hung in my two previous
dojos, and Kay later told me that its eyes used to follow her when
she moved about the room.
I took one last look at my re-habilitated kamiza wall and went
down to dinner, hoping that my world would now return to normal.
Casting out Satan
After dinner, Kay went upstairs to take her evening bath.
Afterwards, as she was washing out the tub, a demonic entity
threatened to violate her with the most heinous sexual abuses
imaginable. It claimed it had the power to get her at any time.
Kay was shocked by the filth and vulgarity of the threats and,
without thinking, she reached into the bathroom trash basket and
pulled out a narrow strip of paper. Two piercing black eyes glared
back at her. Terrified, she dropped the strip of paper back into the
basket and hurried down the stairs to tell me.
I was too stunned for words. Kay knew nothing about my
earlier encounter with the demon and my tearing up and discarding
46
Funakoshi’s picture in the bathroom trash basket. I now realized I
had a much bigger problem than just fixing my dojo’s kamiza.
In a rage, I stormed up the stairs, my fist raised, determined to
bring this madness to an end. I issued a challenge to whatever had
just threatened Kay.
“Okay, come out and show yourself. It’s going to be you and
me to the death!” When nothing appeared I taunted the vile spirit,
“Come on you bastard, take a form!”
There was dead silence. Then, a dreadful realization came
over me. I remembered the response Jesus gave his opponents
when they accused him of casting out demons by the power of
Satan. He told them, if Satan casts out Satan, his kingdom will fall,
just as a house divided against itself cannot stand.5
I finally understood. The spirit that had threatened Kay was
from the same demonic realm as the monstrous demon that had
morphed out of me earlier that day.
My heart sank and my resolve was swept away. Sensei once
told us that the highest level of the martial arts was “controlled
insanity.” I was there.
A Purging Fire
The thought occurred to me that nothing purges like fire. I
picked up the torn strips of Funakoshi’s picture from the bathroom
47
trash basket and went downstairs. I lit a fire in the living room
fireplace and burned them.
After this, I went through the dojo closet again to see what else
should be burned. I found two books by Master Funakoshi. On
the jacket cover of Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text was a
photograph of the 14th century statue of Kongorikishi, one of two
Hindu warrior gods who are often seen guarding the entrances to
Japanese Buddhist temples. His ferocious, “spirit released” visage
reminded me of the demonic face that had appeared to me earlier
in the day.
I took these books, my rank certificates and a prized personal
letter from Sensei, and set about the task of burning them. I felt I
had finally found a way to fight back. But, as I placed the last
group of pages of Funakoshi’s master text onto the fire, a most
incredible thing happened. The pages suddenly began to slowly
turn, as if by an invisible hand.
There was a pause, and the one page in the book that showed
photographs of the master in various kata poses was displayed
before my eyes.6
A silent voice called out to me, “Do you really
want to give up this beautiful art that has become such an
important part of your life?” Had I invested too much time and
effort in this exquisite art to give it up?
As the last few pages of the book were consumed in the fire, an
48
image appeared on the brick inside the fireplace. It looked like the
ferocious face of Kongorukishi, just as it appeared on the jacket
cover of the book. Somehow, the demon had seared its raging
image onto the brick inside the fireplace. The uncanny picture
could have passed for the work of a skilled charcoal artist.
Do you love me more than these?
By now, I realized that getting free from these demonic spirits
was going to cost me more than a few karate books, certificates,
and portraits of the masters. My self identity as a martial artist, the
very essence of my soul, was at stake. To live without the martial
arts was unthinkable but, this was coming down to an agonizing
choice. Could I keep my beloved karate and live with Sensei’s
controlled insanity?
I imagined Jesus sitting in the chair across from me asking,
“Do you love me more than these?”
My heart dropped into my stomach. I had trained for so many
years and I had developed great power in my karate. Was Jesus
asking me to give it all up for him?
The stakes could not have been higher and I wasn’t ready to
fold. I placed Master Funakoshi’s paperback autobiography in the
fire. As it burst into flames it made a loud hissing sound. To my
shame, I continued to hold out, pride preventing me from making
49
that final decision.
But, my mind kept going back to the time Li and I gave Sensei
a small token of our appreciation, a brass plaque with the kanji
symbol for “hope.” I could vividly remember how he took the
plaque in both hands and then, with his eyes downcast,
said
mournfully, “I have no hope.”
Finally, I accepted the fact that I could not live with the same
hopelessness and controlled insanity that Sensei lived with, and I
chose to sacrifice my identity as a martial artist. I chose to die. I
chose Jesus.
Once I made the decision, I experienced a psychic death. The
soul of a samurai is in his hara and mine was literally drained out
onto the floor. I felt like an empty shell.
Then, after a brief pause, a warm and wonderful Spirit of Love
poured in from above, filling the void with the peace that passes all
understanding. Now, I knew that God is Love, and that from that
point on, every thing would work out according to His will.
I went into the kitchen to make a cup of hot tea while Kay
watched the last embers of the fire burn themselves out.
Suddenly, she came running into the kitchen exclaiming, “Jay, you
gotta come see this!”
I followed her back into the living room and she pointed to the
fireplace. The ferocious image of the demon that had been seared
50
onto the fireplace brick now appeared to be a pathetic, tortured
face screaming out in agony. I knew then that my decision to
follow Jesus had released the power of his Spirit and that the
powers of darkness had been defeated.
The powerful Martial Spirit that had entered into me had been
expelled. But, as Kay and I were to soon find out, the demonic
infestation in our home would need further purging.
51
Chapter 6
The Aftermath
52
Kay and I now understood that demonic energy can infect
physical objects. The next day I gathered up a number of items
that had been associated with my past martial arts training and took
them to the town dump.
Day after day, more things came to our attention because of
the negative energies emanating from them. Sometimes these were
accompanied by a strong smell of sulfur.
Kay kept feeling that something was “stabbing” her in the
back when she was in our bedroom. Then, I remembered that the
wicker chair in the corner had once been used in my karate school
nearly ten years earlier.
Another incident involved Gary and his wife Deedee. Gary
was visiting his family here, while Deedee remained at their home,
more than a thousand miles away.
As we were out driving with Gary, Kay and I began telling
him about our recent experience with the demons. Suddenly, our
car was filled with the noxious odor of sulfur dioxide. There was
no rational explanation for this overwhelming rotten egg smell
because we were not near any industrial or dumping facilities.
I knew this had something to do with Gary and Deedee and I
urged him to call her when we got back to our house. He called
Deedee and she told him how earlier that same day, she had
returned home to the awful stench of rotten eggs in their house.
53
She followed the source of the odor to their two dogs, both of
whom had large bloody sores all over their bodies. Gary advised
her to take them to a veterinarian.
Deedee later reported that, by the time she got the dogs to the
animal hospital, both the smell and the sores had mysteriously
disappeared. I was reminded of the large welts that had appeared
on Quan Li’s forearms during our last workout together. Those,
too, had mysteriously disappeared shortly afterwards.
Each day, more contaminated items, demonic manifestations,
and strange events continued to occur. We were feeling unsettled
and not sleeping well.
I had a friend who was a kung fu sifu and had become the
assistant pastor at a local church. Because of his own experiences,
he understood our predicament and offered his prayers.
After a week, he telephoned and asked how we had slept the
previous night.
Had anything in our home situation changed? At
that moment, we both realized that the atmosphere in the house
had, in fact, changed. The malaise we had been experiencing for
the previous week and a half was gone and our home finally felt
normal again.
Then he told us that, at their meeting the previous night, the
deacon’s at his church had prayed for our deliverance from the
demonic presence in our home. Indeed, prayer changes things.
54
Reflections
More than twenty-five years have transpired since Kay and I
experienced these life changing events. Enlightenment can mean
different things to different people. For me, it revealed truths of
which I have no doubt; that the spirit realms are real, and that hell
and demons are real. This being so, I am equally certain that
heaven and angels are real.
I am also sure that the Spirit of Love that filled me when I said
yes to Jesus- that indescribable peace that is still beyond my
understanding, is real.
My own spiritual journey has had its ups and downs along the
way because I am not perfect. Jesus taught that to love one’s
neighbor as oneself was to love Him,7 and this seems to be the
point of life- learning how to love one another unconditionally.
Love is the true Power of The Way.
A remarkable example of this truth is illustrated in Dr. George
Ritchie’s book, Return from Tomorrow, that chronicles his near
death experience and subsequent military service in Germany
during World War II.
Ritchie was a 22 year old U.S. army medic assigned to getting
medical help for the survivors of a Nazi concentration camp at the
close of the war. He had already been devastated by the death and
destruction he had witnessed during the war and now he saw a new
55
kind of horror- scores of men dying everyday from the irreversible
effects of slow starvation.
Ritchie tells about one prisoner, a Jewish lawyer from
Warsaw, whose wife and five children were killed by the Germans.
He, himself, was only spared because he spoke fluent German,
along with English, French, Russian, and Polish.
“Wild Bill Cody,” as he was called by the American soldiers
because of his long handle bar mustache, was especially helpful in
resolving disagreements among the different nationalities in the
camp, and in dealing with the problems that arose in processing
prisoner release papers.
Concerning Wild Bill’s character, Dr. Ritchie tells us, “His
compassion for his fellow prisoners glowed on his face, and it was
to this glow that I came when my own spirits were low.”8
So Ritchie was astonished when he learned that Wild Bill had
been in the camp for six years, because he showed no mental or
physical deterioration like the other prisoners.
How was this
possible?
One day, as the two men were sipping afternoon tea together,
Ritchie commented that many of the prisoners were not able to
forgive the Germans for their terrible cruelty.
It was then that Wild Bill began to tell him how the Germans
had machine gunned his entire family, and how he had begged for
56
them to kill him too.
Ritchie describes Wild Bill’s response to this life shattering
tragedy in the following passage from his book:
“He paused, perhaps seeing his wife and five children. ‘I had
to decide right then,’ he continued, ‘whether to let myself hate the
soldiers who had done this . . . In my practice I had seen too often
what hate could do to people’s minds and bodies. Hate had just
killed the six people who mattered most to me in the world. I
decided then that I would spend the rest of my life- whether it was
a few days or many years- loving every person I came in contact
with.’
Loving every person . . . this was the power that had kept a
man well in the face of every privation. It was the Power I had
first met in a hospital room in Texas, and was learning little by
little to recognize wherever He chose to shine through- whether the
human vehicle was aware of Him or not.”9
The Power that was shining through this Jewish lawyer was
the same Power that had appeared to Ritchie during his near-death
experience in Texas. It was Jesus and his Spirit of Love.
Sadly, over the centuries much damage has been done to the
world’s opinion of Jesus by those so called followers who have not
always acted with love toward others.
57
Unfortunately, some of these hypocrites have been influential
leaders within the church itself.
Jesus told his followers to be peacemakers, to be forgiving and
merciful, and to not pass judgment on others. He advised them not
to amass wealth and to keep a humble spirit. Spiritual pride can
infect believers when they compare themselves one to another or
place too much emphasis on being “right.”
Jesus warned that many of those who called him ‘Lord’ and
who did great things in his name would be rejected in the end.10
Why would Jesus tell his followers such a thing?
I believe it will be because they ignored his new command that
they should love one another. Jesus said to his followers:
“I am giving you a new commandment; that you continue on
loving each other in the same way that I have loved you. Everyone
will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”11
The Best Religion
There is often prejudice among religious groups as to which is
the best denomination. Sometimes, this narrow-mindedness leads
to the rejection of others.
Several years ago, a friend told me about a book written by a
former atheist, Dr. Howard Storm, in which he describes the near-
58
death experience that he had in Paris back in 1985. I studied his
account and came to the conclusion that he was an honest witness.
This past summer I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Storm
and, after spending some time with him, I am more convinced than
ever of his credibility. I highly recommend his book, My Descent
into Death: A Second Chance at Life, to those who would like to
discover his profound insights into Jesus and the spirit realms.
During his near-death experience, he encountered Jesus as a
divine Man of Light, along with several of the angels. He was
given the unique opportunity to ask them questions, and one of the
questions he asked was, which is the best religion?
“Question: Which is the best religion?
I was expecting them to answer with something like Methodist or
Presbyterian or Catholic, or some other denomination.
They answered, ‘The religion that brings you closest to God.’
Question: But which one is that?
There are good people in bad religions and there are bad people in
good religions. It is not so important which religion, but what
individuals do with the religion they have been given. Religions
are a vehicle to take you to a destination. The purpose of religion
is to help you have a personal relationship with God. God wants
59
us to love him with all our being and to know the truth of God. If
we find God in an intimate, loving relationship, then we are going
the right way. Too often people find religion to be self-serving,
interested in perpetuating itself and controlling people’s lives in
order to be dominant. Religion is only a means to find God.
Religion is not the destination.
True religion is the love of God in
every word, thought, and deed of the person. God loves all people
and is pleased by religions that seek him in spirit and in truth.
God abhors the misuse of religion that creates divisiveness
between people, that justifies violence, that promotes pride in selfrighteousness. God is far greater than a religion. The Spirit of
Christ speaks to all people in all time to draw them to God.”12
Choose your “Myth” wisely
Cosmology is the study of the origins of the universe and a
long held principle of science is that something cannot come from
nothing.
Therefore, it was widely accepted, from Aristotle to
Einstein, that the universe was eternal, without a beginning and
without an end. In fact, the majority of scientists still believed this
to be true into the 1960s.
Einstein later admitted that believing in an eternal universe,
in spite of his own mathematical calculations to the contrary, was
the biggest blunder of his scientific career, and today the Big Bang
60
Theory of a beginning to the universe is accepted by most
scientists. If Albert Einstein had trusted the opening words of the
Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,”
he would not have fallen for the “myth” of an eternal universe.
How ironic it is that this part of the “creation myth” has more
credibility today than yesterday’s “science myth” of an eternal
universe.
But, the truth is that science advances upon its past mistakes,
so how can we ever know anything for sure? With this in mind,
Nodan offers these final words of advice to his YouTube viewers:
“The best self defense for mind, body, and spirit is to do unto
others as you would have others do unto you and love your
neighbor as yourself, because only love lasts forever. What you
see is what will be, so choose your myth wisely and seek the
highest ideal. Pursue love because, in the end, everything else is
meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
If Love is the true Power of The Way, how can we best pursue
it? For me, The Way is through Jesus the Christ, history’s best and
most enduring example of divine love.
Jesus is the best friend you could ever have.
61
APPENDIX
62
Warning !
The breaking and self defense
demonstrations shown in this book
can be dangerous and should never
be attempted without the supervision
of a well qualified instructor!
63
Master Li
Li trained in a number of striking arts, along with Judo,
Aikido, and Kobudo (traditional Japanese weapons). He earned a
black belt in Sensei’s karate-do in the early 1970s, and eventually
continued on to perfect his own unique interpretation of the art.
In the YouTube video, “Nodan’s Teacher,” Master Li can be
seen leading two karate students through the Heian Yodan and
Heian Godan katas.
His speed, power, and precision are a benchmark of excellence
for the traditional striking arts.
64
Li’s brilliance was in his profound striking technique which
Nodan later identified and named, “The Five Principles.”
First Principle: Proper Bone Alignment
Second Principle: The 1-2 Timing
Third Principle: Extension of Ki
Fourth Principle: Correct Breathing
Fifth Principle: Soft and Hard
While none of these principles are new to the martial arts,
Quan Li’s emphasis on the “Extension of Ki” set him apart from
most other karate masters (see the video, “The Five Principles”).
65
Striking Makiwara
The traditional Okinawan makiwara was a rigid post wrapped
in rice straw and buried three feet in the ground. With training, its
users formed visible calcifications and calluses on their hands.
To prevent this and to protect the hands from injury, Nodan
designed a flexible, rubber padded striking post, and his breaking
demonstrations show that callus formation is not necessary for the
development of powerful horizontal strikes.
With intensive makiwara practice, the body’s core (legs, hips,
abdominals, and upper torso) is strengthened to where it is capable
of transferring an extraordinary amount of energy into a target.
66
The Breaking Demonstrations
Nodan used un-spaced, suspended horizontal board breaks
because they closely resemble the kind of counter strikes used in
street self defense, and because they give dramatic evidence for the
extraordinary power in Master Li’s “one strike” techniques.
This form of breaking requires both a significant transfer of
body weight into the board stack and enough speed to overcome
the movement of the suspended bag.
Front Cover Photo: 5 board break with Reverse Thrust Punch
4 Board Break with Bent Wrist Strike
67
Extending ki with Bent Wrist Strike
This 3 board break from a Cat Stance
requires a concentrated Extension of Ki.
68
5 board break with Palm Heel Strike
The Palm Heel Strike to the head from the Neutral Stance is a
powerful countering technique for close quarter street defense.
An un-spaced 5 board stack can support a 650 lb. (295.5 kg)
barbell placed across the centerline of the wood and running
parallel with the grain.
In the video, “Board Strength and Breaking difficulty,” unedited film segments demonstrate that Nodan’s board testing and
breaking demonstrations are real.
69
5 board break with Front Thrust Kick
The Front Thrust Kick uses a “down and in” motion.
70
7 board break with the right hand
Downward breaking techniques are stronger than horizontal
ones because it is easier to drop the body weight down onto a
target than it is to transfer it laterally into a target.
Also, the terminal velocity of downward strikes is greater due
to the longer travel distance of the hand.
71
7 Board break with the left hand
Nodan used these rigidly supported downward breaks to show
their relative ease when compared to suspended horizontal breaks,
and to emphasize the importance of developing both the right and
left sides of every technique. An injury to one side can occur
before or during a confrontation. Also, street situations are fluid
and unpredictable, and having the option of using either side is a
strategic necessity.
72
Close Range Knife Holdup
Nodan’s students, Yohan and Yakov, demonstrate
a joint hold defense with front kick counter attack.
Nodan’s karate was self defense and not a competitive sport.
Psychology, deception, and understanding the predatory nature of
street criminals was foundational to his strategy.
There are no rules in the street. Spear hands to the eyes and
throat, grabs and strikes to the groin, and biting are all effective
counter attacks that are not permitted in sporting competitions.
Also, sport fighters never face armed or multiple opponents.
73
Overhead Club Attack: stepping inside the “kill” zone
Yakov assumes a Neutral Stance position and waits for
Yohan to begin his attack, before stepping in to block.
74
Lunging Knife Attack: angle stepping out of the “kill” zone
Yakov waits for Yohan to commit to a lunging attack.
Then, he simultaneously blocks and angle steps away.
75
Centered Stance Demonstration
The First Principle, Proper Bone Alignment, begins with a
centered stance. Nodan and his assistant, Yakov “The Hammer,”
are aided by three former students in the demonstration.
The three men will attempt to push Yakov out of his one
legged Crane Stance. Yakov must maintain his stance and then, by
“moving in center,” push the three men backwards.
Master Li used this method of stance testing to help monitor a
student’s progress in the First Principle.
76
77
END NOTES
1. Matthew 11:28-30
2. Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings, The Overlook
Press, c. 1974.
3. “Way of The Sword,” c.1976, distributed by Coe Film
Associates, #65 E 96th Street, New York, N.Y. 10128
4. Matthew 14:15-21; 15:32-38
5. Matthew 12:26; Mark 3:23; Luke11:18
6. Gichen Funakoshi, Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text,
Kodansha America, Inc., c. 1973, p. 34
7. Matthew 25:34-40
8. George G. Richie, Return from Tomorrow, Chosen Books,
c. 1978, 2007, p. 130
9. Ibid. p.131-132
10. Matthew 7:21-23
11. John 13:34
12. Howard Storm, My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at
Life, Doubleday, c. 2005, p. 73
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Nodan’s videos can be seen at Nodankarate on YouTube.