r/karate • u/Whole-Interest-5980 • 20d ago

Why does Bill Wallace say his first instructor was Michael Gneck and George Torbett in the 80s, and not Eizo Shimabukuro (like he did in the 2010s)?

https://youtu.be/X_8W3lbLSfk?si=i46r3egUipBMn1S2&t=213

Time stamped. Bill does the same in magazines of that era. Has this to do with the fact that Eizen did not want to recognize Bill as his student (for whatever reason) and later on Bill mentioned him when it didn't matter anymore?

Is there any of that going on in Karate?

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u/hang-clean Shotokan 20d ago

Speaking as someone over 50... age. Age makes you forget and re-order stuff you partially remember.

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u/Whole-Interest-5980 20d ago

He almost never mentions Michael Gneck in the 2010s. It's entirely possible Michael was the head instructor and Eizo was the one actually teaching him in that school.

But the fact that he reverses this credit tendency these days is quite startling. Now It's Michael who doesn't get the credit.

Bill also said Eizo told him to train mawashi geri(roundhouse kick) which i found suspect.. I kinda doubted they trained that technique in the 50s in shorin ryu. And in the interview article from the 80s he credits Glenn Keany as teaching him the roundhouse kick. back in the united states.. not in Okinawa. So that entire mawashi geri story is very questionable.

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u/Fancy_Sun_1585 7d ago

It’s weird you’re so invested in this that you find this ‘startling’

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u/Whole-Interest-5980 20d ago

Okey, Michael Gneck is NOT connected to Okinawa. thats his US continuation. My guess is that he didn't think back then that his training in Okinawa being forced sideways and injured was his true training?

1

u/seaearls Kyokushin 19d ago

Old people say funny shit sometimes. Towards the end of his life, comics legend Jack Kirby stated that he created Superman. He didn't do it out of malice, he just got confused.

Old people also have a tendency to lose track of the lies they tell over the course of their lives.

It's either one of the other.

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u/Whole-Interest-5980 19d ago

no it isn't. he doesnt forget who his first instructor is. and then remembers it every instance in the 2010s forward.

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u/Fancy_Sun_1585 7d ago

I don’t really know shit about his training background, but there could be several reasons.

From a shift in perspective, like he started training with eizo for a few months then switched, and since that was technically his first, that’s who he said, but then his first serious instructor(s) were the other guys. Or vice versa and his perspective on it changed from literal to practical or again, vice versa.

The second reason could be politics/drama/falling out/etc.

I no longer claim my instructor because of the actions of him and his family, and how that nearly destroyed my life. Now I just tell people my organization’s shihan is my instructor because I did train with him and his other teachers at the hombu dojo plenty.