With all due respect, I would like to send greetings and salutations to those brothers and sisters who travel east and do the work of the GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE. I got the magazine on ebay. It was a late day in May, that Grand Master Frank Ruiz and I shot the cover for the April 1972 Edition of OFFICIAL KARATE MAGAZINE. The photographer was Joe Griffin. His studio was on west 40th Street. I remember that day. It was raining that day and we got to the studio late and drenched from the rain. After having some coffee and something to eat, we got down to the business of the shoot. I was a young Shodan and very excited about doing the cover with my grand master. During the shoot the photographer decided to go with this photo. We used one roll of film, that 32 shots on the roll. Grand Master Ruiz had no facial expressions. Mr. Joe Griffin wanted the grand master to make a face expression for the shot. Joe said "Make a face, Frank". 32 shots were taken and I remember telling Sensei Ruiz "For gods sake, please make a face sensei". After all, getting slammed in the neck 32 times was no fun!! It was, to say the least an exhausting shoot. Proud to do the cover with then Sensei Ruiz, I will cherish that moment in martial arts history. For many years, I was the grand master's uki for many of his demonstrations. When we did our knife sequence, he would always insist that we use a live blade. That made it real, when most demonstrators did not use live blades. I cut the grand master twice during some of these performances. I would later be cut by one of my own students. As they say, the apple doesn't fall from the tree. This was old school training still being used at the NISEI GOJU RYU HOMBU DOJO. It very hard to train a good uki these days. Never the less, I enjoyed every minute we worked together. Rest in peace Grand Master Ruiz, we still work it in the same spirit and dedication. OSU!!!
Respectful Hands,
Hanshi W. Roldan
Nisei Goju Ryu
World Headquarters
