Reminiscences on

                        Grand Master

                                         Don Nagle

        We were all aware of the presence of Grand Master Donald H. Nagle amongst us, the Living Legend of Karate, as the magazines called him and the most talented and coldly efficient fighter that America has ever produced. Even those who did not care for Sensei, had to admit this obvious fact, he was the best. Some of them were in attendance when Sensei was declared Isshin-ryu's Grand Master and 10^th Dan and on that evening, were members of the celebration of Sensei’s elevation by the highest ranking Dan’s in the United States .

        My Sensei himself appeared, at times, to be two different people  --  The teacher and the private person. The teacher was strict, tough and an obvious leader. In the United States Marine Corps he was a Corporal and was right in line with the finest traditions of the Corps,  the type of leader who could take over a platoon or company, if all of the Staff NCOs and Officers were out of action. In Karate, his leadership was evident in his eyes, as I first met him on the deck at Camp Lejeune . He didn’t ask for your respect, you simply gave it.

        Then he would demonstrate  why you followed his orders. He knew who he was and what he could do, he was born to leadership. That confidence is the reason why he never seemed to lose his temper or control. If he had been interested in acquiring the trappings of power, he could have been the absolute leader of Isshin-ryu, world-wide. That was not to be, for he was true to himself and did not believe that what he did so naturally should make him rich, powerful or famous. He never sought the spot light, but the magazines found him and powerful people courted him, while fame gathered at his feet, like leaves blown in the wind.

        In the end, he was still the cocky eighteen year old kid who taught me karate forty four years ago.

        The private person was often withdrawn and aloof, with all but an inner circle of family and friends. This was, from my point of view, an Irish personality trait. We want people to like us, but don’t wish to take the chance of being rebuffed. As a result, we often do things for people that we would prefer not to do. Sensei himself often said he was not perfect, indeed, unfortunately none of us are perfect. Sensei often allowed people to do things or claim rewards, which he simply would not have offered if he had not been told by others that it was good for Isshin-ryu. Yes, politics does rear it’s ugly head in karate. Promotions, promises that were pressured from him, all of these favors stole a part of his inner self. Many of his students for decades, wanted Sensei to build and lead an organization that would be universal and commercially viable. For that same period of time, I tried to tell them that Sensei had no wish to be a business man or spokesperson for such a group. He was a policeman and a karate genius, who wished to be in the street getting the bad guy and doing his katas and kumite on the deck with us. He was a teacher and he was unique. He was a treasure and people often did not realize what stood before them or what he represented, for men are limited in their imagination and often limited by their jealously over what is so natural in the gifted.

        This past week, I had a conversation with Don Nash, in which we discussed Sensei and although I have had discussions about Sensei many times and with many people, this time, as we spoke and evoked images of him on the deck,  I felt that I truly knew what he was and felt his greatness for the first time. He was the master of all people once he stepped upon that deck. An expression that the young people use suddenly occurred to me and I told Don Nash, that “Sensei Nagle really got it”. Understand this : You and I take Isshin-ryu, or we study Isshin-ryu, or we practice Isshin-ryu, or we teach Isshin-ryu, but Sensei Nagle  “Got It”. He innately understood Isshin-ryu and allowed his body, soul and spirit to become Isshin-ryu. He became Isshin-ryu. He was Isshin-ryu's Very Essence and Tatsuo Shimabuku understood this prodigy. On Okinawa, as a white belt Sensei became Soke’s staff, his figurative and literal Bo, the symbol to Soke’s enemies and detractors, that Isshin-ryu would become transcendent over all that came before.

        This was Grand Master Nagle and all of the highly publicized teachers and performers, who gained fame and riches, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris or any of the fighters who have come and gone over more than the four decades since Sensei set foot on the soil of Okinawa, could not touch him for true genius and supernatural instinct, within his realm. When he was on the deck, his actions were pure, instinctive response. No one who trains and attempts to understand what is taking place, could understand or overcome Sensei on the deck. He was energy, an act taken without thought, the Grand Master of Isshin-ryu Karate.

        I wanted to be a student in his first dojo and became an apostle, he made me a teacher in my own right and became my friend for the rest of our lives. I wanted to become a brown belt under him, since that was the rank of the two people who befriended me when I entered the dojo, Rick Niemira and Jim Chapman, instead, he made me his successor. I wanted a teacher and got a brother. His influence in my life is immeasurable.

        I lived in a different state, with business and family responsibilities of my own after the Marine Corps, so I was unable to be with him constantly, although he was the only Sensei I had for forty two years. But I brought my troops over to his dojo as often as I could and was proud as hell when he praised my fighters. I spent all of my tournament time with him and went to tournaments with him, all over the country. This is what made me happy. When our friends Niemira, Chapman, Bove and Bohan passed away, we grew closer, for suddenly it was just the two of us and Ernie Cates. He felt it and I felt it. When I went to a tournament and spotted him, that odd smile of his made me feel like the young Marine Lieutenant who appeared on his deck in 1958. Being with him at these events was always a great day for me, sharing the old days and the old fights with him. I have never asked Sensei for anything but his knowledge and time, but he gave me his friendship, his trust and high honors. Those who asked for rank and power missed the best part of this complicated and open hearted genius.

        He gave me lumps and pain over those four decades, but I came away with a new life and a best friend to cherish. It pains me that he is gone and sometimes I cannot believe that I am unable to phone him and can’t be on the deck with him again. He lived long enough for me to watch him on the deck showing my grandson how it was done.

        For those who took advantage of my Sensei’s good nature I have contempt and pity, pity that they didn’t learn anything from him or feel his arm around their shoulder because they or their students fought well. That is what won his heart, not deceit or self aggrandizement. It would have been the first lesson they learned if they had been paying attention.

        Finally and simply put, he was the best at what he did and there will never be anyone quite like my Sensei again. He was special among men. His memory will always be bright within us and his legend will live forever, for we must will it so! We must bring Isshin-ryu to it’s full glory throughout the martial Arts world, or we will have failed Sensei. We must bring about a renaissance, by returning to his traditional ideals, or we will have failed Sensei. And when any of us mention Isshin-ryu to our students, mention Sensei Nagle, since he is Isshin-ryu at it’s best and he is Isshin-ryu's history in America . He might be on your deck, watching you, don’t put it past him and don’t disappoint him!

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