Last weekend I got to honor a friend. I’d like to tell you about him.
Clint Overland describes himself as white scum. He has done some questionable things in the past. Before he found religion, he wasn’t exactly a boy scout. At the same time, he was an MP in the military and currently works for a local police department- NOT as a police officer I should add.
Clint has seen some shit. He will point out his scars and some of the parts of his body that don’t work at 100 percent anymore due to past adventures. He will use then as lessons to point out to others as to why you don’t want to be involved in violence. He will also give you the total of all the money he has spent on lawyers and bail bondsmen to help drive home that point.
Clint learned to fight mainly by fighting. He knows his stuff, but I myself would rather pay for lessons in cash than in blood like he did. But he speaks from practical experience, and not mere education.
We had a get together last weekend. There is a group of people I hang out with that comprises a wealth of experience and knowledge. I like to call it a Woodstock for people you don’t want to meet in a dark ally. You want experienced police officers, we have a few of them. You want trained snipers, we have at least one. You want someone that kicked a brown bear in the throat because he wasn’t going to slow down on his run, we have someone that bat shit crazy as well. We’ve lost a few of them along the way. That is the cost of the type of life some of this group has.
Clint doesn’t have any sort of paper to hang on a wall, but he has a hell of a lot more knowledge and experience than anyone in America who is called soke, or has given themselves the title of grandmaster, hanshi, shihan or anything like that. And he can convey his knowledge to others. During the weekend, I took part in training with him on the idea of hitting without making a special move to chamber the next blow. If you are Bujinkan, the same type of idea can be found on the pages relating to “Inashigata” of the purple taijutsu book by Masaaki Hatsumi. (Blatant plug, that section is translated in the current edition of “Densho” which is out this week.) Maybe Clint hasn’t gone through a dojo to learn these types of things, but he picked some things up along with a few of his teeth at the end of a night of bouncing at a biker bar.
So on Saturday night, after many beers, someone came up with the great idea to recognize Clint’s skill with a certificate. I signed it and we presented it to him in front of the crowd. I was glad to help show the world that people with skills recognize Clint as he deserved, and I was honored to be counted along with some of the folks that signed it. Because there were some pretty damn heavy hitters signing it with me.
This is kind of how it should be. We didn’t say Clint was a shihan, or sensei, or anything like that. He is a refugee from Texas who likes to pretend to be a dumb redneck. (But, I once made an obscure quote from Shakespeare in front of him and he caught it. As the Japanese say, a wise hawk hides its claws.) He was not part of any Japanese tradition, so why use a Japanese title? Instead we acknowledged him as a master of mayhem. That gave him a chuckle.
Now, I really should point out all the differences between what we did with Clint, and the typical moron who calls himself a grandmaster in America.
First of all, Clint didn’t ask for it. Contrast this with the people who apply for groups merely for the chance to be acknowledged. Some people pay a bucketload of money to have a piece of paper on their wall to impress students. They may talk about it as if it wasn’t paid for, but it is. I saw one moron talk about how he was recognized by the Black Dragon Fighting Society, and how it was really elite because they charge 100 dollars a year to weed out the less committed. Clint didn’t ask for this, didn’t pay us for this and realizes that I am looking forward to years of teasing him by calling him “Soke Clint”.
Second, this isn’t going to be used as any sort of credential. When Clint wants a job as a bouncer, they call his past employers. If they really need to test his skills, he will probably show them a thing or two. In contrast, people get wall candy to try to say they are qualified to do something, like teach martial arts. I have detailed in a previous blog about how Brad Marshall and his Kenpo Karate Family International gives out certificates for people to use as qualifications to just about everyone that asks. He has even given them to people like Dan Harmon, convicted criminal, wife beater, someone who terrorized his own kids and a totally incompetent martial artist. This certificate was for Clint, no one else. We appreciate him and wanted to let him know that we think someone should acknowledge his skill. That is all that was intended, that is all he will use it for. That is the way it should be.
Next, there is the fact that Clint actually has busted heads, a lot of them. He never joined any of the martial arts circle jerks that give out ranks to each other because he honestly can point to the fact that he is alive after all he has done to prove he has skill. None of the guys who get certificates from groups like the World Head of Family Sokeship Council are anywhere near his level of skill.
I can’t fail to mention that Clint doesn’t take himself too seriously. He likes a laugh and will poke fun at himself. His stories of him being shown up by a well hung midget leaves us in stitches. Him and I once did a little bit for the people at out annual event that paid homage to the movie “Clerks II.” I was the guy in the donkey suit dancing to the song “Naughty Girls Need Love Too.” Anyone that takes themselves too seriously isn’t worth listening to. Take a look at all the patches some of these guys wear, or their attempts to ape the way Japanese dress- usually getting it wrong. Those that have skill don’t have to worry about impressing others. Those that make a great effort to appear to be a wise old teacher usually are back stabbing assholes. Clint doesn’t try to impress or take himself seriously. He laughs at the world, himself and the people in Walmart at 2 am. It is because he would never use this to try to impress others that he deserves this sort of thing.
Last is that Clint is known to us. We have interacted for years. I have learned a lot from him, he has learned a little from me. Some of us have gone at it with him to test our skills and others have seen him actually take on people trying to start fights where he worked as a bouncer. We know he deserves a little recognition because we have spent more time together than probably any person calling himself soke in America has spent with the groups they paid to recognize his title.
Clint is a friend, and he deserves to have his friends tell him they think highly of him. That is really all this is. This is really all that should matter in the martial arts. Those that are good appreciate the opinions of those they respect. They don’t ask for recognition, they don’t pay for certificates and dinners for them to preen and posture. This isn’t about what Clint can do with the certificate to open up doors in the martial arts. Instead, it is a bunch of friends who have some skill and seen some real damage telling the world that he is someone we would want covering our back when the shit hits the fan, and we respect him greatly. It was a chance to help a friend feel good and let him know his friends love him. That is what these sorts of things should be about. Clint deserves at least this much.
I am proud to call him my friend, and happy to do at least this to show the world he has friends that love him.