My son was fifteen when he finally when he finally said he was ready to learn the martial arts. I had twenty years experience, at the time. I knew lots of martial arts, and I actually was in a quandary as to what to teach him.

As we lived in Los Angles, I decided Karate was the best art to teach him. I knew a half dozen different systems of Karate, however. I didnt know which specific art to teach him.

As I analyzed each of the systems, I began to take from each what were the best techniques. After that I began going through the forms to select the ones that had those techniques in them. Finally, I made slight changes to the forms so that they would contain all the techniques.

That was the hardest class I ever taught, and it lasted a year. There were five other students, and the size and amount of bruises was amazing. Even after all this time, when I meet those fellows again I see them grinning like eagles.

Karate, strictly speaking, is made for self defense. One hopes never to have to use that self defense. But if the day comes when you have to use it, youd better win, right?

So one day my son was walking to work. It was a bright, sunny Los Angeles Day. He walked down the sidewalk without a care in the world.

Hey, man, got some change? It was a bum, and my son said no and shook his head, and he noted that while the first bum followed him, there was a second bum. The second bum walked around the corner of the building that my son was walking past.

Hey, man, gimme some money! The first bum advanced towards my son, who was backing away with his hands up. Suddenly my son felt something flying towards him, and realized that the second bum had circled the building and was jumping off a fence at him!

Aaron twisted quickly and kicked the bum behind him in the chin, and that bum laid down on the sidewalk rather fast. The first bum put his hand on Aarons shoulder and pulled him around as he launched a punch, and Aaron ducked under the punch, locked it in an elbow lock, then started bouncing the bums head between elbow and knee. The other bum got to his feet and came at Aaron once again, and this time Aaron blocked and punched so hard that the bum was launched into a meter pole six feet away, and the pole bent over severely.

The fight was over, and Aaron looked around in confusion. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on to work. The bums were bigger than him and had outweighed him, but his art, the art I had created out of the meanest, nastiest, most functional karate I knew, had worked.

Its been a while since that fight, and I dont teach that system anymore. Ive learned a lot since then, and moved on. Still, that art, that very breakthrough art, which I called by the name of Outlaw Karate, really worked.