"The
History of the Martial Arts School of Inner Peace and Strength".
The Martial Arts Dojo
of Inner Peace and Strength was founded in 1969 by Sensei's Randy Giles and
James McCoy bringing the martial arts of Japanese Shotokan, Japanese Goju
Ryu and Korean Taekwondo together as one, but it did not end there. Having
an interest in various forms of martial arts, both Giles and McCoy
endeavored to enhance their arts taking various techniques from different
styles and adding them to their school's system.
Using Japanese Shotokan
katas and fighting techniques as a foundation Giles and McCoy utilized and
combined the best from each of the various martial art forms to make their
system of Shotokan not only strong and swift, but fluent, explosive, agile
and unpredictable. The system that Giles and McCoy developed incorporated
the powerful swift low stances and techniques of Shotokan, which is geared
toward close quartered combat with short and precise techniques.
Taking what
they had learned from Japanese Goju Ryu, which means hard and soft Giles and
McCoy enhanced the internal power of the Shotokan, making it more explosive
as well as fluent like water. Along with the high kicks of Korean Taekwondo
it made Giles and McCoy's new system of Shotokan even more flexible and
their art was becoming more rounded. The funny thing is it wasn't until
some years later that Giles discovered that Gichin Funakoshi the Founder of
Japanese Shotokan wanted to do the same thing with his art.
In 1918
Funakoshi wanted to have a center where all martial artists could come and
train and share their art with one another. In this martial arts center
there would be no master sensei everyone would be equal with no one in
charge. Funakoshi believed that every martial art style is meant to change;
that each martial artist was his or her own style. Gichin Funakoshi said
that the "DO" at the end of "Karate-DO" implies that it has a life of it's
own and is meant to change from Karateka to Karateka, which means from one
martial artist to another the style of martial art is meant to change.
Sensei's Giles and McCoy didn't realize it, but they were on the same track
as the Japanese Shotokan Founder over 51 years before Giles and McCoy
founded their Martial Arts Dojo of Inner Peace and Strength.
The martial
arts of the late 1960 were still very clannish especially in the countries
of Japan, Korean and China. In order to control the
uncontrollable these countries formed organizations, such as the JKA (the Japanese Karate
Association), the KTA (the Korean Taekwondo Association) etc, etc. These
associations were developed to have control over the style(s) of martial
arts, which then flowed over into the United States and other countries.
Their strict governing rule other martial masters
endeavored to enhance their arts and the hybrid martial arts styles emerged.
Looking at history way before, Japan, Korean and China tried to control
the martial arts in their countries, various martial artists began
improvising and enhancing their art forms. This is how so many martial art
styles came to be, changed throughout time due to necessity and practicality
and most of these hybrid styles were put to the test as they were in the
olden days, in Kumite (free style combat).
Over the years, Sensei Giles who eventually headed the Martial Arts Dojo of
Inner Peace and Strength as Sensei James McCoy life interests led him
elsewhere. The school's emblem was designed by Sensei Giles with the help
of Sensei McCoy, which was the Korean Flag over the Shotokan Tiger with the
Japanese Goju Fist in the pit of the Shotokan Tiger's stomach in 1969.
Ten years later
while training with Sensei William "Billy" T. Taylor, Taylor was trying to come up
with his own school emblem for a hybrid system he had created called "Sho
Yun O". Sho = Shotokan, Yun, Yunokwan and O for Okinawate. Sensei Giles
designed an emblem showing the Red Japanese sun and crescent moon with the
North Star; a house made of oriental characters with a monk in the lotus
position sitting in the house as the house floats above a water fall which
flows into two martial artists. One martial artist in a black martial
uniform who's standing in Sanchin dachi (Hour glass position) with one fist
open and the other closed.
The waterfall also flows through another martial artist, who's
wearing a white martial arts uniform who thrown out a
side kick with the left leg along with a left back fist while his right hand,
which is open, guards his center line. The colors of the emblem covered the
range of the belts in the martial arts: white, yellow, orange, blue, green,
purple, red, brown, black with a gold frame. The emblem's colors
covered all the colors in the Japanese, Korean and Chinese arts
since Sensei Giles did
want the emblem to be well rounded and worldly, as he felt a martial
artist should always strive to be. In any case, Sensei William "Billy" T.
Taylor did
not accept Sensei's Giles design, and so Sensei Giles decided to use it for
his dojo, for the Martial Arts School of Inner Peace and Strength. With the
help of one of Sensei Giles students, Jorge Abreu, the new School emblem came
to fruition.
The
following is the lineage of the Martial Arts School of Inner Peace and
Strength:
Sensei Randy Giles and James McCoy founders and Instructors.
1st Black Belt student, Tyrone Giles, at the age of 11, was taught since he was
3 years of age. Tyrone Giles quit shortly after receiving his first degree
black belt and Tony Thomas was moved to the number one spot. Shihan Antonio
"Tony"
Thomas has trained with Kyoshi Randy Giles since the age of 13 and has been
in the arts for over 34 years and still continues to train and teach today. Master
Tony Thomas can be found instructing at the Mary Mitchell Family &
Youth Center.
Kyoshi Randy Giles has promoted over 20 black belts some from
other styles that came to the Martial Arts School of Inner Peace and
Strength to enhance their art. Sensei Luis Reyes, under the tutelage of
young master Ernest Ramos of the Tai Chi Combat system, continues to keep the
Ernest Ramos Karate Training Hall open after young master Ernest Ramos
tragic death. Young master Ernest Ramos also studied with Master Randy
Giles and achieved his 2nd degree black belt in the hybrid Shotokan system.
To keep young master Ernest Ramos dream alive, Sensei Luis Reyes continued
his training with the Tai Chi Combat system as well as studying the hybrid
Shotokan system from Master Randy Giles.
Over the years Sensei Luis Reyes
has achieved the rank of 4th degree black belt under the tutelage of Kyoshi
Randy Giles and has produce black belts of his own; one of them being Sensei
Luis Reyes son, Luis "Bebo" Reyes. Luis Reyes' Ernest Ramos Memorial
Training Hall can be found at 1175 Gerard Avenue, Bronx, New York 10458.
Kyoshi Randy Giles
Martial Arts background is as follows:
Japanese
Shotokan under Sensei Rudy Martinez and then Sensei Earl Razor.
Japanese Goju Ryu under Sensei Craig Powell. Praying Mantis under Sifu Wayne
Lambert. Taekwondo under James L. McCoy under Thomas Lowe. Sanchindo under
William "Billy" T. Taylor under Grandmaster San Carlos. Tia Chi Combat under
Grandmaster J.B. La Puppet. Sho Yun O, under Osin William "Billy" T. Taylor. Kyoshi
Giles also has studied Aikijitsu as well as various close quartered combat
arts over the 42 years he has been in the martial arts which he continues to
pass down to his students.
When Sensei Giles and Sensei McCoy founded the
Martial Arts Dojo of Inner Peace and Strength, there was no sports karate as
there are today. Both Giles and McCoy taught martial arts for self defense,
street and hand to hand combat with the science of the body, mind and the
spirit. The martial art is not only an art but a science and even though
each individual is different in some, if not many ways, the science behind
the art still applies.
Sport Karate is in a control environment and is
mostly full of flash and not applicable techniques where as a baton twirler
could compete in weapons and win not having a clue of what they are doing
where kicks that are nothing but leg raises are thrown. In the school of
Martial Arts of Inner Peace and Strength, applicable technique of martial
arts science are applied for purposes of self defense, street and hand to
hand combat as well as the understanding of the sport karate arena. These
teachings continue today under the instructions of Master Tony Thomas and
Sensei Luis Reyes.
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