Budo international Martial Arts Magazine Jul.-Aug. 2014 | Page 159

Plas and Johan Vos, from Amsterdam,
Holland; Bill "Superfoot" Wallace and Benny
"The Jet" Urquidez, from United States.
I had started in the arts of Kenpo with
Claudio Chaparro and Arturo Petit, from
Chile. Then I continued with Grand Master
Robert Trias, Frank Trejo and Ed Parker, in
Pasadena, California; with Jorge Vazquez,
from Polynesian Kenpo, and Jeff "Perfect
Weapon" Speakman, in Newark, Utah and
various other courses in Spain. My main
encounter came in 1982, when Robert Trias
introduced me to Grandmaster Thomas
Barro Mitose, 22nd descendant of the Clan
of the Mitose Kosho-Monks.
In those years, Grandmaster Mitose and
his children, Mark, Debbie and Elisabeth,
were in full peak as great and outstanding
competitors. I myself competed in the same
division with the Grand Master Mitose
during the USKA world championships, held
in Miami, Ohio, Chicago and Houston,
Texas.
From our first meeting with Grand Master
Thomas Mitose, our souls got linked in
admiration, respect and joint work. At first I
used to teach my students Kosho-Ryu
Kenpo and Fu-Shih Kenpo by separate,
mainly because they were two different arts
and also out of prudence and respect
toward the Mitose family. Later I combined
both into one single program and then, over

the years, I split them up again. Often Soke
Mitose used to joke with me in a healthy and
friendly way, by saying that the Kosho was
an art of peace, and the Fu-Shih or I were
the Tiger part of Kenpo, i.e., the aggressive,
wild or violent side. However, he always
liked my way of feeling and expressing
kenpo in the pursuit of efficiency and
simplicity of maneuvering.
When I met Soke Mitose, I immediately
began to campaign for him, interviewing him
and taking plenty of pictures and videos.
Also I edited books and got him into the
major martial art magazines of Spain. I
brought him to Madrid for the first time in
1985. Since then and up to present day, we
have brought him over on many other
occasions. I also took him to England,
Portugal, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Many
of his now foreign representatives were
previously formed by me or by my own
representatives throughout the world.
In the next future I'm planning to take him
to Norway, Italy and other countries still
unconquered by Kenpo.
Soke Thomas Barro Mitose has stated
publicly and through various media such as
videos, magazines, interviews or public
lectures that our styles do not collide, rather,
they complement each other. We are like Yin
and Yang. Always supporting each other and
never bothering. In his most recent visit to