The Art of Isshin-ryu Karate
Without Grand Master
Donald Hugh Nagle
On August 23, 1999, despite having various health concerns, we were stunned to find out that Sensei Nagle had passed away. I received a phone call from my close friend Ralph Passero, who had been an unofficial guardian of Sensei, to tell me that he had died that morning. I was unable to speak and Ralph said that he would call later. I was inconsolable and spent most of that day, simply sitting and trying to see the future without my best friend and Sensei, who was always able to teach me something new, no matter how long I had been teaching. He was the “Essence” of Shimabukuryu Tatsuo Soke’s creation, Isshin-Ryu.
Others who studied under the Soke, made sure that everyone knew that Master Nagle had come to Shimabuku’s dojo during his last six months of his Okinawan tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps. Undoubtedly, they wanted to debase his reputation in Isshin-ryu, but that was not to be. Whatever it was inside him, allowed his mind and body to become to fulfill the destiny of Soke’s creation. Many others came back from Okinawa with Black belts, but none were comparable to Sensei Nagle. He became Isshin-ryu, it was inherent in his soul and no one could do kata with his focus and intensity and certainly no one was his match in Kumite. I began to study under him in 1958, as one of only three Officers on the deck, but the other two were studying Judo, under Ernie Cates (Five times the Marine Corps Champion). I was six feet tall and weighed just one hundred and fifty pounds due to my duties as a Platoon Commander and the murderous sessions on Sensei’s deck. Since we were essentially of the same build, with sensei two inches shorter and only one hundred and thirty two pounds, I did everything I could to emulate the manner in which he moved, did kata and the manner in which he fought. It was a hopeless goal, since there was only one Don Nagle on earth whose soul carried within him the essence of Isshin-ryu.
During the sixties, Tatsuo Shimabuku Soke visited America and went to the dojo's
of Sensei's Nagle, Long and Armstrong, elevating all three to Hachi-Dan (Eighth
Degree Black Belt) in order to cover the three sections of our
nation,
as he saw it, Northeast, South, and Northwest, wisely knowing that with
Isshin-ryu in those positions it would proliferate throughout the nation and
spill over, into Canada and South America as well. He was absolutely correct in
his assumptions. He may have been a plain farmer, but as Soke of Isshin-ryu he
was wise and shrewd in business. During the time that he was at Sensei Nagle’s
dojo, I attended every night and managed to attain the interpreter for that
week, Appon Shimizu, who came to love the Soke. He was a buddy of Hiroshi
Takahashi (now a top executive in Mitsubishi) the Judo teacher at American Dojo
in Queens, New York, where I taught Isshin-ryu. We had three dojo's full of
students like Barry Steinberg, Bob Baker, Dennis Bootle and Malachi Lee, as well
as Nick Adler, Paul Sposato and Bill Cameron all great fighters, with Malachi
winning Gary Alexander’s World Championship. These are the students that I was
able to bring to Sensei Nagle’s dojo's on Saturdays to kumite with Sensei’s
students. Oddly, we always won all of the matches but one, the one between
Master Nagle, and myself since I always asked him to kumite with me. I always
left with bruises all over my body. I was quite fast, fast enough to play sticky
hands with Bruce Lee, but unfortunately, not as fast as Sensei.
Over the decades he was probably the most prolific maker of great Sensei's, such as Gary Alexander, Ralph Chirico and a myriad of others, including myself. We in turn, brought up the next generation of Sensei's, all of which had to get the nod from Sensei. I was honored to have both Shimabuku Soke and Master Don Nagle to arrive at my Ridgewood, N.Y. dojo on a Friday night, to watch me teach my Isshin-ryu. My students and me were commended by both Sensei and the Soke. What a night that was for our dojo.
After many years in his company at tournaments around the country and at his schools, he became my best friend, although I never addressed him as other than Sensei, despite the fact that others who followed me called him by his first name, since it never seemed right in my mind. I was among the first of his students at Jacksonville, N.C. outside Camp Lejeune, USMC Base, along with Jim Chapman and Rick Niemira who became my best friend in the dojo and died far too young. I was at his home the week before he passed away. Then Don Bohan, my buddy passed on, until I was the last of the first dojo left.
That is why I often write about Sensei Nagle, because young Isshin-ryu karate-ka must know about the best fighter in America, who was born to teach Isshin-ryu. I miss him terribly and I remember the night in Tennessee when the entire group of over a hundred Black Belts proclaimed him Grand Master of Isshin-ryu karate in America, since Shimabuku had passed on by that time. I still miss him bitterly, as my Sensei and best friend, when I became his only confidant that he truly trusted with his inner thoughts. Master Ralph Passero and me became his guardians and now faithful Ralph is my guardian, worrying about my health and making sure that I don’t overdo things. However, I workout every day and despite the operation and three month coma I feel fit and can take care of myself on the deck. That is the way Sensei would want it, me still on the deck doing what he taught me. I intend to do a demo of Ippon Kumite with my top fighter Frank Klos, Ku-Dan at our annual tournament on September 30, 2006. I now my Sensei would be proud. He is always with me!
If Sensei Nagle had fulfilled his entire tour on Okinawa, as most do, without learning Isshin-ryu, try to understand the void that would be felt in the present. Think of the Sensei's he created, who then taught tens of thousands of karate-ka in Isshin-ryu would never have existed. Many of them would become Sensei's who run annual tournaments, such as Master Ralph Passero and they would not exist. Sensei Nagle had to become a bright star in the firmament of Isshin-ryu “The Art of self-defense.