Many of the dates in the following article are approximate. It is designed to give a capsule review of Professor Lansdale's training and the development of SHEN CHUAN.

SELF-DEFENSE, MARTIAL ARTS, MAVERICK KENPO, SHEN CHUAN AND BEYOND

Joe Lansdale first became interested in self-defense at an early age. As a child he watched boxing on television with his father every week.

Ads in the back of comic books, offering to teach unbeatable systems like KETSUGO, fired his interests. He couldn't afford to order these systems, which turned out to be a good thing, but he thought about them.

He read about judo, karate, and jujitsu in comic books, and some comic books, like BLACK CAT MAGAZINE, offered a section in the back that taught Judo tips (BLACK CAT'S JUDO TIPS). He studied these, practiced them on friends, and let them practice them in return. After being bounced on the ground a few times, no one else was interested in continuing practice of these handful of techniques, so the young Lansdale was on his own. He tried to find books on the subjects, but only one was available. It was a book on body building and health, and in the back, was a brief section that showed very simple self-defense techniques from boxing and wrestling, and possibly Judo.

He began his true study of self-defense under his father when he was twelve, in the Fall of 1963. His father had been a tank town wrestler and boxer who competed at fairs for money. He grew up in a tough time and in tough places. He taught his son boxing techniques, wrestling takedowns and holds, and basic arm locks and many leg locks.

At fourteen or fifteen, Lansdale began studying more traditional martial arts, then maverick versions of several arts, and now, 39 years later he is still practicing and evolving.

We who practice the art of SHEN CHUAN thought the following might be of historical importance, and would like to encourage former students to make a point of studying directly with Professor Lansdale, SHEN CHUAN'S Founder. We would like to emphasize the necessity of Black Belt meetings. It is necessary for us all to stay on the same page with the changes that have evolved over the years, and will continue to evolve as Professor Lansdale and his students investigate and explore the martial arts and the ever evolving methods of SHEN CHUAN, MARTIAL SCIENCE.