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One of the things I have always kept in mind thru all my years of study and practice of the Martial Arts is something I call the Super Man Syndrome. I’ve seen it happen more than once over the years, a person earns a Black Belt, gets an attitude and gets his clock cleaned all in that order. That is the Super Man Syndrome.
I am confident in my abilities but I also am not as arrogant or naive as to think I’m invincible. Karate is for defense but it’s the knowledge knowing I can be beat that keeps me rational. By thinking things thru, by looking for a way to defuse a bad situation, by being a peace maker, by avoiding a physical confrontation, by helping everyone involved maintain a degree of dignity so everyone can take a step back without shame is the focus of the Martial Arts. In thinking things thru rationally even if a confrontation cannot be avoided I have an advantage.
With these thoughts in mind, I saw Jeb Bush on the news recently signing the new “Right to Fight Back Law”. I really think some of the Southern States haven’t made it out of the 1950’s. Back then you could punch somebody in the nose if you had a good reason. Next big question is; what’s’ a good reason”? The answer to violence is not more violence. Everyone in any state has the legal right to defend themselves if they are accosted or feel they are in mortal danger providing they use reasonable force. Reasonable force would be knocking down somebody who attacked you first but it wouldn’t include kicking the crap out of him for “5” minutes while he was on the ground.
What the Florida law proposes is totally the opposite of “Realistic Defense Training”, make eye contact, don’t be a victim, speak as loud as you need, back away slowly and give the guy an out. Now however you have all these Red Necks running around with the Super Man Syndrome thinking the law is on their side and rather than trying to avoid confrontations will be eager to punch somebody in the nose or worse.
The underlying precepts of Karate and the Martial Arts are one of Defense and using force as a last resort. The Florida Law is ill conceived and a formula for disaster.

Ernie DeCaro
Auburn, NY
Shorin Ryu Dojo

Years ago in our youth we all thought of ourselves as young lions, now nearly 40 years later those of us who are still at it think of ourselves as old war horses.
We all have a history in Karate; mine started right after I got out of the Navy at Peter Musacchio’s CNY Karate on Hawley Ave in Syracuse in the late 60’s. He was recently out of the Marine Corps and he came back to the states a Nidan in Goju Ryu.
I worked out for a time and then I got married, soon had a family to support while I attended College nights on my Veterans benefits. For 20 years I was in and out of a couple of different Karate Styles, Judo, Aikido and a Karate/Aki-Jitsu Hybrid depending on the hours I worked and the demands of being a husband, father and student. I graduated from College at 38
At the age of 43 my son Joe (He was 16 then!) and I were ranked Sho Dan in Shorin Ryu. Then I was diagnosed with Leukemia, dropped out of Karate and wasted the next 10 years feeling sorry for myself. Next came my cancer adventure in 1997, an Angiosarcoma, an aggressive soft-tissue tumor had formed around the hamstring in my upper rear left leg and buttock. A lot of muscle and tissue was removed with the cancer and I had “6” surgeries in all. After all of that I looked up my original Karate Sensei, Pete Musacchio. Sensei Musacchio had had his own problems; in 1990 he suffered a stroke that should have killed him. I wrote him a letter when I learned of what had taken place in his life, to which he responded that he was opening a new school and he expected to see me there. The first time I stepped out onto the floor and tried to throw a kick, I fell on my back. That was seven years ago and during that time I made Ni-Dan in Goju Ryu Karate and open style defensive Two Circle Jujitsu.
Two years ago I got back to Shorin Ryu with Sensei Tony Musso at his Auburn Dojo. I had done a Jujitsu Seminar for him and was really impressed with his school and people. Tony is a really good man and we’ve known each other for 25 years.
Now I’m a 3rd Dan in Kobayashi Shorin Ryu and not only have I and my contemporaries matured, so have the underlying philosophies of Karate as it’s practiced in the United States. In the 60’s and 70’s it was important to be a good Tournament Fighter. Now the emphasis is on real self defense skills, Karate mixed with Jujitsu or Judo and a dedication to passing the Art, Karate, down for posterity’s sake. Maintaining purity in the Classical Katas is stressed as well as dedication to training.
For those of us that have been at it for as long as I have the Martial Arts, Karate, Judo, Jujitsu are not something we simply do, they are something we have become. I love to Golf, that is something I do. Karate/Jujitsu is part of what and who I am.

Ernie DeCaro
June 5, 2005

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