Shihan Gordon Doversola, passed away on Tuesday April 19, 2011
Shihan Okinawa-te master Gordon Doversola was an American martial arts pioneer, one of the first karate instructors to teach karate in Southern California.
He was born in Honolulu where he began training in ju-jitsu at age 11, and later became a student of Kempo master James Mitose. After mastering Kempo he met famous Okinawa-te master Taiken Nagusuko and became his disciple.
In 1957 he moved to Los Angeles and opened one of the first karate dojos in the city, teaching traditional Okinawa-te karate. A well respected instructor, sensei Doversola taught his art to thousands of students over the years. Among his better known students were Joe Lewis, Bob Wall, Jim Kelly, Martin Kove, Richard Triplett and Glen Hoyen.
Sensei Doversola was among the first karate instructors to choreograph realistic fight scenes for movies and Television.
He was the technical advisor to Frank Sinatra for the film Manchurion Candidate. He passed away on Tuesday April 19, 2011.
The following is a series of e-mail messages that followed Sensei Doversola's death. May he rest in Peace.
(reply to John Corcoran's email about Sensei Doversola's death)
Thanks John Corcoran,
Another of my instructors dies. When it came to pure martial arts, that was my favorite style---it had everything including 36 long forms and all the weapons. Gordon originally had a jujitsu base and he had 56 amateur boxing bouts under his belt. He followed the Rosicrucian's and could read the ethereal auras off people. I met one of his ju-jitsu masters who taught secretly in downtown L.A. many years ago. He loved his heritage and often took me to Pilipino restaurants; he enjoyed blending the Okinawan and his Pilipino weapons together.
The last I heard about a year ago was that his Daughter would not allow anyone to see him at a hospital. I talked to a nurse there and that was it; she told me that he was out of it and didn't recognize anyone.
P.S. Someone misspelled Manchurian. Gordon and Frank Sinatra really hit if off so the story goes. Gordon was perhaps the first in this country to understand martial arts fight scene choreography to work in the film industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate
Joe Lewis
My Factual Responses to some earlier posts on Glenn Mages's Blog about Sensei Doversola:
From: Brian K.
Bruce and Doversola did not particularly care for he each other and they did have something between a fight and a sparring session. Jim Kelly and Joe Lewis told this story saying that Bruce started out winning with his incredible speed. Doversola admitted that he had never seen anyone as fast as Bruce, but that his blows didn’t stop Doversola out right. On Bruce’s third attack Shihan Doversola caught him and laid him down. Both masters were able to walk away…neither being the clear victor. It just goes to show that as great as Bruce was, there were and are others in his league.”
(reply from: Joe Lewis)
Get the truth in your reports---I NEVER told any such “story.” I was the only person on this planet who had Gordon Doversola and Bruce Lee in the same workout floor at the same time---1969, Sherman Oaks Karate Studio. I had them exchange techniques “on me only.” No one showed disrespect to each other and neither of the two exchanged any movements between them. Gordon quit sparring in front of me in 1965 and Bruce Lee never did. I was there, you were not---end of story.
Both of these men were my instructors for a long time----who else on this planet can say this? Neither of them ever challenged another person and nor would either ever lower themselves to accept a childish challenge---it was below their level of dignity.
If you were “not” there, please do us all a favor and keep your mouth shut. Someone, show us the video footage---or else, please---no more gossiping rumors; there is enough nonsense on the Internet.
From: Kuran M.
Then there was another fight that had Shihan Gordon Doversola fighting Lee in a match that several people witnessed.
(reply from: Joe Lewis)
Please Kuran, will you offer us at least ONE creditable witness that can be trusted to prove this statement? I would like the person’s name or his contact access. I do not believe a single one exists. After I had Bruce and Gordon together for the first time ever, I doubt that there would have been any reason for them to come together ever again. Someone please explain for me why this “alleged sparring” incident would have been important for either of my teachers?
Ending Footnotes:
Larry Delano was my sparring partner for a long time. He wasn’t very big, but he was quick and loved to spar with me.
I believe I had a lot to do with teaching my friend, Jim Kelly, his back fist at the Long Beach Tracy Kenpo School back in 1970. At that time, he did not have down the correct principles---he was telegraphing his initial trigger squeeze and he was tight. I am sure Bruce enhanced his skills during the shooting of “Enter the Dragon.” I do not want any credit---I have enough on my own for six life-times.
I agree that both Bruce Lee and Gordon Doversola were “forerunners” of MMA; however, so were dozens of others even before either of them. I would not agree that either of them was THE forerunner. When I trained in Okinawa, all black belts over there had multiple black belts in several disciplines of martial arts---it was required in the old days.
Why is anyone making such a big deal out of this? Is there some significant factor of great importance here? Who cares!
Joe Lewis
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Hang Time
Bruce Lee and Cus D’Amato Said Same Thing
Cus D’Amato was hailed by Ring Magazine as one of the top five trainers in the past 75 years of boxing. Although the champion, Rocky Graziano, slipped out of D’Amato’s hands as his trainer, Cus developed three other notable world champions, Floyd Patterson, José Torres, and Mike Tyson.
Before Bert Randolph Sugar took control of Ring Magazine in 1979, the magazine’s staff had sent Mr. D’Amato to meet me in New York City in an attempt to get me to come to the Catskills in New York State to train with him in hopes of some day fighting Mohammad Ali. Although at that time (in 1971) I had been knocking out all my kickboxing opponents in less than two rounds, my heart was into acting, not fighting. I was already a champion in two separate fighting sports; however, Cus was very disappointed in my lack of interest to pursue becoming a pro boxer.
I felt that Cus and Bruce Lee shared some of the same ideas on tactics of ring strategy. Take time to view this clip and I will highlight a few concepts that both Cus and Bruce talked about with me at length. I have marked the time intervals on the clip at the exact place my comments are relevant.
The main point both Bruce and Cus shared about fighting was accepting the practice of developing head rhythm for defense of one’s cranial cavity, and body rhythm for defense of ones body---not the use of ones hand (blocking, trapping, cuffing, etc) for defense. This premise is the “opposite” of what the majority of martial arts styles advocates and teach. They each believed in what is called an aggressive defensive---if you have the time to block or trap, then you have time to hit. [In other words, one uses head rhythm to protect the head, body rhythm to protect the body, and foot rhythm (and leg checks) to protect the legs.]
Clip time: (1:50 min) D’Amato uses defensive timing to work in behind Ali’s punches. Ali had a tendency to pause at the end of his combinations---thus leaving his “back door” open for a counter. This is where Ali often got hit during his fights; he entered the pocket but didn’t disengage quickly enough or he exited the same route in which he entered. This is a weakness of most martial arts fighting styles.
Clip time: (4:32) Ali leaves too much hang time on the end of his right punch, often his straight right. Notice Ali is leaning too much---overextending his right hand---which leaves him off balance. This make him vulnerable for a perfectly timed counter and it causes him to be unable to follow up with a left hook or left forty-five punch. Cus told me that this was the key to how he could teach me to beat Ali. He would have me draw Ali’s straight right; I would slip it outside, and come underneath with a shovel hook to the liver.
I’ve worked that move for decades and it has become my favorite “dirty dozen” shot. Anyone can drop a fighter with a cranial shot; few fighters have ever developed an accurate knock-out body punch. Many martial artists have acquired the same bad habit as Ali---they lean too much when they punch and end up with their shoulder forward of their feet. Rule: Always keep your feet under your punches.
Clip time: (4:36) Ali catches hooks while caught on the ropes. This was one of his bad habits and the same is true of many combatants. One must learn to keep his back always pointed towards the center of the ring. If your opponent tries to cut the ring off (called squeezing) avoid the habit of always moving straight backwards.
In the end, a master fighter knows how to execute the three attributes of an effective strategy: 1) confuse, 2) deceive, and 3) then exploit your opponent. The key skill necessary to pull off this kind of control is mobility. Keep in mind that Ali, Dempsey, and Tyson all three had a three-year plus layoff during their careers for various reasons. When each of them eventually returned to the ring for their first return bout, neither of them still had their strong legs and they paid the price.
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters.” Cus D’Amato
Cus D’Amato was hailed by Ring Magazine as one of the top five trainers in the past 75 years of boxing. Although the champion, Rocky Graziano, slipped out of D’Amato’s hands as his trainer, Cus developed three other notable world champions, Floyd Patterson, José Torres, and Mike Tyson.
Before Bert Randolph Sugar took control of Ring Magazine in 1979, the magazine’s staff had sent Mr. D’Amato to meet me in New York City in an attempt to get me to come to the Catskills in New York State to train with him in hopes of some day fighting Mohammad Ali. Although at that time (in 1971) I had been knocking out all my kickboxing opponents in less than two rounds, my heart was into acting, not fighting. I was already a champion in two separate fighting sports; however, Cus was very disappointed in my lack of interest to pursue becoming a pro boxer.
I felt that Cus and Bruce Lee shared some of the same ideas on tactics of ring strategy. Take time to view this clip and I will highlight a few concepts that both Cus and Bruce talked about with me at length. I have marked the time intervals on the clip at the exact place my comments are relevant.
The main point both Bruce and Cus shared about fighting was accepting the practice of developing head rhythm for defense of one’s cranial cavity, and body rhythm for defense of ones body---not the use of ones hand (blocking, trapping, cuffing, etc) for defense. This premise is the “opposite” of what the majority of martial arts styles advocates and teach. They each believed in what is called an aggressive defensive---if you have the time to block or trap, then you have time to hit. [In other words, one uses head rhythm to protect the head, body rhythm to protect the body, and foot rhythm (and leg checks) to protect the legs.]
Clip time: (1:50 min) D’Amato uses defensive timing to work in behind Ali’s punches. Ali had a tendency to pause at the end of his combinations---thus leaving his “back door” open for a counter. This is where Ali often got hit during his fights; he entered the pocket but didn’t disengage quickly enough or he exited the same route in which he entered. This is a weakness of most martial arts fighting styles.
Clip time: (4:32) Ali leaves too much hang time on the end of his right punch, often his straight right. Notice Ali is leaning too much---overextending his right hand---which leaves him off balance. This make him vulnerable for a perfectly timed counter and it causes him to be unable to follow up with a left hook or left forty-five punch. Cus told me that this was the key to how he could teach me to beat Ali. He would have me draw Ali’s straight right; I would slip it outside, and come underneath with a shovel hook to the liver.
I’ve worked that move for decades and it has become my favorite “dirty dozen” shot. Anyone can drop a fighter with a cranial shot; few fighters have ever developed an accurate knock-out body punch. Many martial artists have acquired the same bad habit as Ali---they lean too much when they punch and end up with their shoulder forward of their feet. Rule: Always keep your feet under your punches.
Clip time: (4:36) Ali catches hooks while caught on the ropes. This was one of his bad habits and the same is true of many combatants. One must learn to keep his back always pointed towards the center of the ring. If your opponent tries to cut the ring off (called squeezing) avoid the habit of always moving straight backwards.
In the end, a master fighter knows how to execute the three attributes of an effective strategy: 1) confuse, 2) deceive, and 3) then exploit your opponent. The key skill necessary to pull off this kind of control is mobility. Keep in mind that Ali, Dempsey, and Tyson all three had a three-year plus layoff during their careers for various reasons. When each of them eventually returned to the ring for their first return bout, neither of them still had their strong legs and they paid the price.
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters.” Cus D’Amato
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Tunney vs Dempsey
Question: Opinion on Gene Tunney - Bruce Lee eventually appreciated the style and skill of Gene Tunney. Was wondering what your thoughts were on this?
GENE TUNNEY vs JACK DEMPSEY: Simple comparison---as sharpshooter/counter-puncher vs a pressure fighter/slugger---the best fighter “that day” won.
Unknown facts: Georges Carpentier was the first martial artist to win a world title in two separate sports: A world champion in savate and also was the Light-heavyweight World Boxing Champion. (P.S. Joe Lewis was the second and Troy Dorsey was the third.)
1ST $million dollar gate in boxing’s history: (1921) Carpentier vs Dempsey (KO in round 4) Dempsey knocks out 1st two-sport champion.
After Jack Dempsey knocked out Luis Firpo in the 2nd round in 1923, he took off from boxing for three years (traveling, making movies and partying), until 1926 when he fought Tunney the first time. Dempsey was not focused and nor was he the same fighter from years earlier. Tunney, a U.S. Marine like me, studied Dempsey’s style and trained to deny him access to the pocket by jabbing and moving backwards exercising defensive timing with a counter-punching style game plan. Defensive timing means you come in the “back door.” This means that after an opponent completes his punch or if he leaves his punches hanging---the door is left open too long. Sluggers have this tendency.
Dempsey could not work the “squeeze” (closing off the ring or “walking” opponent to the ropes.) Tunney was the first heavyweight champion to successfully employ this unpopular counter punching strategy. He won a second fight 364 days later during the alleged “long count.”
I offer he best advice on how to confront and fight the basic nine different types of fighters in my manual: http://www.joelewisfightingsystems.com/manual/default.aspx
GENE TUNNEY vs JACK DEMPSEY: Simple comparison---as sharpshooter/counter-puncher vs a pressure fighter/slugger---the best fighter “that day” won.
Unknown facts: Georges Carpentier was the first martial artist to win a world title in two separate sports: A world champion in savate and also was the Light-heavyweight World Boxing Champion. (P.S. Joe Lewis was the second and Troy Dorsey was the third.)
1ST $million dollar gate in boxing’s history: (1921) Carpentier vs Dempsey (KO in round 4) Dempsey knocks out 1st two-sport champion.
After Jack Dempsey knocked out Luis Firpo in the 2nd round in 1923, he took off from boxing for three years (traveling, making movies and partying), until 1926 when he fought Tunney the first time. Dempsey was not focused and nor was he the same fighter from years earlier. Tunney, a U.S. Marine like me, studied Dempsey’s style and trained to deny him access to the pocket by jabbing and moving backwards exercising defensive timing with a counter-punching style game plan. Defensive timing means you come in the “back door.” This means that after an opponent completes his punch or if he leaves his punches hanging---the door is left open too long. Sluggers have this tendency.
Dempsey could not work the “squeeze” (closing off the ring or “walking” opponent to the ropes.) Tunney was the first heavyweight champion to successfully employ this unpopular counter punching strategy. He won a second fight 364 days later during the alleged “long count.”
I offer he best advice on how to confront and fight the basic nine different types of fighters in my manual: http://www.joelewisfightingsystems.com/manual/default.aspx
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