Joe Zorich

I took Judo at the Shindo Kan school on Stony Island in Chicago in the late 1960's. Blaise Joseph Zorich owned it and that's where I got my real start in the arts. Carole Wolken was a black belt there and gave me my first lesson at that school. I credit her with sparking me to continue in martial arts.
  Joe, pictured here, was a great guy. He was our "dad". I remember him as a disciplinarian but he knew when to let us go a bit. It was fun and I have lots of great memories of his school.
  It's where I met his son, David. Dave and I are still in touch and he even comes to my seminars in Chicago. Dae continued as well and has earned degrees of black in both Korean karate and judo.
  It was Joe that introduced me to the importance of weight-lifting in a conditioning program, too. He had been a power-lifter.
  When I went back to visit as a young adult I was surprised to see that I was taller than he. That perspective as a kid that instructors are 10 feet tall and know everything sure sticks.
  Dave had sent this picture from an article they did on Joe in one of the major Chicago papers many years ago. Joe passed away some time back but he won't be forgotten.

This is the place

This is way overdue. I was sent this photo of the judo school I started at way back in 1967 last year and I've been delinquent in posting it. My friend-instructor/owner's son, Dave Zorich, sent it to me. Dave and I have met at the school in 1976 and reconnected some years ago. He still lives in Chicago with a wife and family.
The school was at 85th and Stony Island Ave on the South Side. I used to walk there almost every day after school, so I was a regular. I'd go on Saturday, too. Dave and I became buddies. He reminded me that it was he and I who gave that sign a fresh coat of paint. It was a long walk, too - about 2.5 miles each way (uphill both ways!) - which is a lot for a kid.
That school held a lot of great memories. It's where I met Carole Wolken, my first real Judo teacher. She's living in Tucson. I learned the physical and moral principles of judo there. As we got a little older, Dave taught me one of the really important lessons that I teach. That is, don't let judo people get their hands on you. I had gone off and learned some kenpo and came back to visit. Our family had moved so I couldn't train there anymore but I did go back to visit. Dave and I got on the mat to "compare" the styles. When he approached to grab I kicked him. Not hard, but I hit him and he was surprised. Then we hooked up. He hit me with a footsweep and went into an armlock with lightning speed. I had to tap-out.
Thus, the lesson.
Dave and I have maintained that mutual respect for each other. He attained at least a fourth black in Judo, and is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do as well. He attends my Chicago seminars whenever possible. He's teaching, too.
(Here is some trivia. You can't see it in the picture but the little office to the right, next door, is where Jesse Jackson's Operation Push started.)
So, to Joe and Dave Zorich, Carole, and the rest of the Shindo Kan bunch I say thanks for everything. You were the base of my experience and it meant more than you'll ever know.