I'm A Cartoon!

Just got a package today from a good friend in Japan ---I didn't believe him when he said I was a character in a manga series. My friend had gone on to start his own style of Karate after I left Japan; his son, little Ryu in the picture below, became a national champion. The series happens before that, back in the good old days when he, Ryu and I were training in his small, family dojo. Ryu is about the same age as Tao, so he was about 8-12 when I was there. In this one I'm teaching Ryu what a "feint" is while we were at a tournament (By shouting, Look! A beetle! and stealing his chips.) The characters all use our actual names and, while embellished (heh), it's based on real events and brought back lots of memories. And it looks just like me. LOL. You read it right to left, btw. I might scan some more of our adventures from this series in the future. Click on the image to zoom.


Now there is a certain, small culture of martial arts enthusiasts whom I've never met that will know weird things about me when I return to Japan in the future. It's an odd feeling.