Masters 

I have had the great fortune to train under some great masters.  Below are some of the key ones who shared incredible knowledge and experience.  Many of these people will be considered legends someday for what they have provided as a legacy.  Unfortunately when you are young you don't always appreciate what you have.  I was interested mostly in free-sparring and spent my time on Okinawa training about 4 hours per day split between Judo and Karate.  I was in the best shape of my life.  Below are some of the masters I trained under along with little anecdotes and stories about each one.
Tim Piering

College - Judo

I began my training in judo at Loras College in Dubuque, IA learning from Clark Oneyear and Terry Smith.  Clark was a Marine vet from the Korean war.  He was very street smart and a quite a brawler. Clark weighed about 250 lbs and held a black belt in Judo a was also a pro wrestler.  One day he told us not to chew gum in his class because if it got stuck he would hate to have perform a "trigonometry" on us.  I can still remember the group of us looking at each other out of the corner of our eyes.  Terry is still teaching judo at Loras.  A real gung-ho Midwest judoka.  Terry has turned out some great champions and is still in love with the art of judo. Loras Judo  Next, I met Choong Sun Choi at the University of Iowa when I was there for engineering.  Choi was a 4th dan in Taekwondo and also an Olympic pistol shooter.  We became good friends and he became my teacher.  Choi was very smart and flexible both in martial arts and business.  He went on to start many different businesses.

Chicago - Shotokan and Taekwondo

My summer years were spent in Chicago.  I learned Shotokan karate under Shogiro Sugiyama and Ted Hedlund. Chicago JKA  This was my introduction to hard-core karate.  The training was difficult and painful.  Sugiyama used to call us "American sissies" as we did the wheelbarrow walk on our knuckles up the hard wood floor. I learned a hard driving kind of karate in Chicago.  I also spent part of my summers in Marine Officer training to become a platoon leader.  This was during the Vietnam area.  Needless to say I became a man in those early years.

While in Chicago I continued to train under Choong Sun Choi and Kyung Kim Shin 8th dan at the Military Arts Institute. This was first class training in both Judo and Korean karate.  Mr. Shin had the largest dojo in the US.  It was literally a refurbished bowing alley above a supermarket.  I earned my first black in teakwondo and learned some great kicking techniques.  One summer the legendary Mas Oyama came to visit and I got to personally meet him.  Huge man with mangled hands from punching pine trees.

Upon graduation I entered the Marine Corps sand was stationed at Camp Lejeunne,  NC where there were many martial artists.  I got to train on the 2nd Marine Division judo team and eventually won the all Marine Judo Championship for my weight division.  It was a great high point for me.

I found myself holding orders for Okinawa.  Most people did not like to go to the "Rock" but I was overjoyed.  I knew it was the birthplace of Karate.  When I got there it was like I had died and gone to heaven.  There was a dojo on every corner many with great masters teaching.     I began my training under Eizo Shimabuku, 10 dan, in Kin village where Joe Lewis used to train.  I learned the spirit of karate and humility from this great man.  An interview with this master can be found on this link Shimabukuro_Interview  Sometimes he would look in the dojo and not come in to teach because we did not have the right attitude.  Unfortunately I wanted to freespar more and he did not let us do that so I left in search of a teacher who would.  If I were there today, I would have stayed longer with Master Shimabuku but I was restless and looking for more competitive action so I set out to find a more fighting oriented teacher and boy did I find one. 

Okinawa - Shorin-ryu

Okinawa Japan

Birthplace of Karate meaning empty hand or Chinese hand.  Many forms of Te were taught in various regions such as Naha-te and Shuri-te.  These were later combined into one single name Karate which went from Okinawa to Japan then to America.

I came across Fuse Kise who was an 8 dan at the time (now 10 dan) who loved the fighting aspect of the art.  We spend long hours freesparring in sweaty stinky kendo armor that never dried out because of the humidity.  I loved it.  This little vortex of energy had a glint in his eye.  He took my black belt away and started me at white belt.  Every month I tested until I made 2nd degree black belt in Shorin-ryu.  I went to many tournaments.  He threw me into tournaments when I was a brown belt and I would fight until I lost then he would put a black belt on me and throw me back in to fight in that division.  I eventually took 4th place on the islands big karate tournament which included all of the styles.  This was pretty good for an American and I owed it all to his rigorous training.  He had a harsh sense of humor.  He would hook kick the nerve bundle inside of our inner thigh above the knee.  As we crumpled to the ground rolling in pain he would laugh and ask us if we would like "more ouchi".  Kise's teacher was Hohan Soken who was a legend at the time.  He was a white haired 84 years old master still working out at that age.  He trained in White Crane kung-fu which involved standing on a floating log on one foot and doing techniques.  It was stuff right out of ancient budo stories you hear about but never get to meet the legend.  I still remember him doing weapons katas where he had a kama (sicle) on a rope and would swing it out far from his body and pull it back.  Okinawa was a mystical land filled with mythical masters.  www.matsumuraorthodox.com When I wasn't training, I spent my time visiting other dojo's.  The toughest was Ueichi-ryu.  I saw Kanei Ueichi and his top students in action.  This was a level of mental and physical toughness I had never seen.  I ended my time on Okinawa by testing for and receiving a black belt in Kodokan Judo in addition to 2nd dan in Shorin-ryu.  I remember my test in which I kept throwing a smaller Okinwan competitor but he kept twisting in air like a cat and landing on his feet again.  I have never seen anything like it.  I finally had to get a hold of this slippery cat and beat him on the ground.  I had the opportunity to train under one of the best ground fighters in the world.  His nickname was "the snake".  He moved like a snake and often fought laying on his back.  Foolish person that would try to break in on him; he would wrap them up like the island snake called the Habu, a very poisonous snake hiding in the 6 foot tall saw grass.  Okinawa was full of rich history and tradition and the people have an indomitable spirit.  This small island has more Centenarians (100+ years old) per capita than any other country.  This is a testament to their lifestyle.

Los Angeles - Gosoku ryu

Upon release from the Marine Corps I came to California the next best place to Okinawa for martial arts study.  I immediately looked up Tak Kubota, 10 dan, and started training at his dojo in Glendale Ca.  Again the trainings were rigorous and he had many skilled tough fighters such as Val and Bobon.  Soke Kubota always knew the capabilities of each student and would match them with others of similar strengths so they would grow.  He was extremely dedicated to the art and had many visions which turned into unique kata's each capturing a certain karate spirit.  Kubota Interview  I then trained at Tom Serrano's IKA dojo in Pasadena and took over teaching the 6am morning class for over a decade.  That is where I worked out and developed the matrix systems and Integrated Martial Arts.  Tom Serrano was a great teacher and a kind of gentle giant.  He was the best kata teacher and practitioner I have ever met.  He has won numerous kata awards while weighing in at 250 lbs so he is powerful, fast, and graceful; a rare combination.

Aikido

Ki ,Chi or Qi means life force.

Having practiced the hard martial arts for several decades I decided it would be good to try a softer style.  That is when I chose to study Aikido under Rod Kobayashi in Los Angeles.  Rod was a little fire plug of a man with a gleam in his eye and uplifting spirit.  He was a whirling dervish with a 6th sense.  One day at summer camp he sensed something wrong and ran out of the door.  A baby was left alone in a car and it was rolling down hill.  Rod managed to catch the car before it got away.  He had a huge command of Ki and was a head instructor of Koichi Tohei's Ki society.   Rod went on to found Seidokan Aikido.  After years of hard work I received my black belt in Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.  This system integrated mind and body and strongly emphasized the use of Ki or internal energy when doing techniques.  Tohei used to come to teach weekend aikido camps in California.  His power was superior and has use of Ki most amazing.  Tohei Sensei Ki Society  I became a believer in the power of Ki for techniques and that gradually led me to investigate Qi-gong.

Qi-Gong

I still find Qi-Gong mystifying.  The healing and regenerative power is almost too much to be believed.  This art form is older than all other art forms and formed the basis of Tai-Chi.  In this system, the body is composed of  channels that Qi or life energy moves through.  These flow freely and remain in balance.  If the flow is blocked or too much stays in one area, the person becomes ill.  Qi-Gong uses exercises, breathing and herbs to help get the Qi flowing again.  A master has great Qi and can even turn around illnesses such as cancer which have been documented in many cases.  Although most Qi-Gong is used for healing and regeneration there are deeper levels of it as a martial art.  These are not taught openly as are other martial arts.  Some of the movements capture the energy of animals.  Thus there are kata's or exercise such as Tiger, Dragon, Eagle, and Crane.  These obviously overlap with the Gung Fu animal systems from China.  Two masters I have had the privilege of learning from are Master Si-Tu Jie and Master Hong Liu.  Both teach in Southern California when stopping by from their busy international travels.  Master Hong teaches an incredible rejuvenation series for health and flexibility.  I perform Qi-Gong at 5am every morning outside.  It is one of the most beautiful and fulfilling things you can do.  It is a case where the forms teach you as you progress and you learn to sense energy.  This is another whole exciting frontier with great opportunity not only to remain healthy but also helps others.

Master Hong www.qimaster.com 
Master Si-Tu www.weituoqigong.org