'Merican TKD. 'Merikan Karate. 'Merican gongfu...

I am of a new type of martial artist. I don't know what I am, just another 'Merican. My teachers were white, black, and red. Not a drop of direct Asian influence.

I think there are going to be more and more of us...

Your thoughts. The good, the bad, the ugly, let's have 'em!

Any other 'Merican Martial Artists out there?

I also have had no asian teachers. However I dont think this affects my arts or performance any. I will be traveling to pheonix soon to see Augustine Fong and maybe that will change my perspective.

He's pretty cool to work out with, but a bit fast-paced for this ol' man! Have fun!

One day I have a tournament story about me at the Kung Fu tournament that involves sifu Fong! One day...

Well... Get to it...

When you've had a chance to spend some time with him...

taebot,
I don't know where you are from, but in my neck of the woods American Karate, American Freestyle Karate are common. Usually the basis is TKD or Shotokan as they are the most prevalent. Then we incorperate whatever we find useful out of other disciplines as opportunities to learn present themselves. All commands, techniques, etc. are in English. We recognize the Aisian roots and some schools do traditional katas while some have created new ones and others drop them all together. I dropped forms training for a long time but have begun re-learning ITF TKD forms. I like all aspects of Martial Arts and felt I was not well-rounded enough anymore. My self-defense comes from aiki-jitsu, hapkido, and krav maga. I've also done some kenpo and ninjitsu. But 1st and last this old Marine is 'Merican to the bone.

From what I heard, it was the US soldiers who learned the MA and came back to teach that decided to do the full asian influence thing. They were the ones who decided to keep teaching the commands in the language that they had learned them. Whatever reasoning they had I don't know.

You are correct about post WWII vets bringing karate and other arts back and staying true to the origins. The Americanization of the martial arts has its roots in the '60's and '70's. I came about and grew in conjunction with the tournament and entertainment(i.e. movies and TV) scenes. Cross training and the rise of non oriental black belts also contributed greatly to this trend. "Super" Dan Anderson was one of the first to label a style as American Karate. In the early '70's he shocked the tournament circuits by refusing to wear a traditional gi. Instead he wore his trademark Superman t-shirt. In the '80's there was actually a martial arts magazine published called American Karate. I loved that mag. Jerry Beasly wrote a column called the State of the Arts where he featured a state and gave a brief rundown on the who's who and what's what in each one. As I've said, I refer to what I practice as American Freestyle. I've taught at an American Freestyle Karate school chain out of Lynchburg, VA. I've trained with a friend who operates an American Freestyle Karate school in Danville, VA and currenltly train at an American Karate school in Martinsville, VA. All have certain things in common but each is quite different and unique in their own ways. Dr. Beasley could tell you even more than I about the trends that led to the Americanization of the oriental arts. He is close to Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace who were a couple of the pioneers.

Silvertigertkd1,
In the early late 60's/1970's guys like Joe Corley and Carson Hurley ( who invented the stretch rack)left their Korean masters to help create "American Karate". The first TKD schools run by Koreans in the 60's were actually the Korean version of Japanese karate. So TKD was often called karate/American karate etc. Korean/American master David Moon was one of the first to import TKD to Mexico. His student Isaias Duenas won the lightweight title at the 1974 PKA world championships. Mexian American Benny Urquidez followed suit as one of the finest fighters of all times. The USA is a melting pot and we have taken the best from all styles to develop "what works". Some call it TKD others American freestyle. No nation controls it. It's just what works.