When I found out that I was going to Nacogdoches, Texas, I thought, "Where the heck is that!?" I got a map and looked. Then I thought, "It's in the middle of nowhere!!! I'll have to go to Houston or Dallas ... hours away from Nacogdoches ... to train!" I went out on the internet and started hunting. All I could find was Tae Kwon Do in Nacogdoches. I would have settled on working out with a Tae Kwon Do group ... but I was really looking for something that I wasn't familiar with, or something like Kali and Silat that is my core.

Finally, in desperation, I wrote on a discussion group, "Does anyone know of any martial arts groups they would recommend within an hour of Nacogdoches?" One person responded, "I live in Houston. I don't know this guy, but my instructor does and he thinks pretty highly of him. His name is Joe Lansdale." He gave me the URL for Lansdale's Self-Defense.

I went to the site and looked around. My initial thought was, "OK ... they make a lot of claims and have a lot of wall paper [certifications and ranks in various arts]. They claim to focus on realistic fighting and self-defense. Riiiight ... like I haven't heard that before." What I expected, as has been the case so many times before, was to get to the school and see a basic kickboxing class ... get a good workout ... and leave.

I got in touch with Professor Lansdale and he said, "Sure! Come on down. We always like visitors. We'll have a good time!"

I got to town on Sunday and drove by the school just to make sure I could find it on Monday night. What I saw was a pretty nondescript building tucked away a little back from the road. If I hadn't been looking for it I'd have probably missed it. I thought, "Huh ... they're obviously not too hung up on commercialization ... maybe they are serious martial artists."

Monday I went to work. I didn't really think about Lansdale's that day. I was busy and I still wasn't expecting much from the classes that night. That night, I went to the dojo. I walked in and was introduced to various people. Professor was, of course, very kind and personable. I went to the Combat Hapkido class and was alone with Sensei Ronnie. We went through a lot of the Combat Hapkido material. It was interesting tangent from what I already knew and Ronnie was good ... but it wasn't really anything new to me.

Then I went through the Aikibujutsu class led by Shihan Coy. Coy seemed a little distant to me that whole night. I didn't give it much thought. I later realized that he was adopting the attitude of, "OK ... I've heard what you claim, now let's see what you've got." Which is perfectly understandable and something I also do when people come into the school where I'm training/teaching.

Anyway ... Aiki is interesting, Shihan was very good, and I had fun in the class ... but it's not really up my alley. But since I had enjoyed myself and everyone seemed pretty cool, I decided to go back on Tuesday night.

Tuesday, I went to the Stickboxing class taught by Shihan Eugene. This was right up my alley. I spent most of the class teaching Siniwalli (double stick) patterns to Sensei Ryan (who was assisting Shihan Eugene at that point ... and who had an amazing facility for picking up and retaining physical information) ... Shihan Eugene wanted to learn some more Siniwalli patterns and I have a lot of them. Then we went to the Shen Chuan class with Professor Lansdale.

Now ... let me preface this next bit. I've done a fair bit of traveling. I've been all over the United States and spent a little time in Europe. Everywhere I've went, I've met and trained with other martial artists. I think I've seen the whole gamut of martial artists. I've worked with raw beginners. I've worked with bad instructors who thought they were gods. I've worked with good instructors who thought they were gods. I've worked with good instructors who were very humble and down to earth. I've met and trained with some of the top martial artists (in their respective arts) in the world. On top of that, I've had several very good instructors and Guru Ken Pannell, my primary instructor, is very good ... both as a martial artist and an instructor. In short, I've been spoiled. I don't impress easily.

Professor Lansdale impressed me. He's an incredible martial artist and a good teacher. He's very humble and down to earth. He's very nice and personable and funny. In short, he's a great guy all the way around both in and out of the martial arts.

During the Shen Chuan class, the Professor paired me up with Shihan Coy and we really got to feel each other out. We quickly became very comfortable with each other and, after class, we stepped in the back room and did some one-on-one work that was a lot of fun. That Tuesday night, I had a great time. I felt every bit "at home" as I did training up in Ohio with Guru Ken.

After class, I was talking with Professor Lansdale, Shihan Coy, and Shihan Eugene. Eugene asked me if I would teach his Stickboxing class on Thursday night because his knee was acting up and he didn't know if he'd be walking on Thursday. I was honored, of course ... but also shocked. I'd just met Eugene and he really hadn't seen a lot of my stick work. But, apparently, he'd seen enough.

On Wednesday night, I came back in for the Aikibujutsu class ... still not my cup of tea ... but I was more than happy to come in and spend more time with Shihan Coy and the rest of the crew at the school. Thursday night, I taught the Stickboxing class and Sensei Ryan assisted me. It was a good class. Professor Lansdale watched part of it and, later, complimented me on my teaching. Then we had another great Shen Chuan class.

After class, Professor and I sat down and talked. He gave me one of his novels, "Two Bear Mambo" and signed it. I hadn't realized he was an author until that point. And, coincidence on coincidence, I was (and still am) an aspiring author.

In February of 2001, I moved down to Nacogdoches to teach some Kali and Silat, to train in Shen Chuan, and to build a rapport with Professor ... I had a martial arts mentor in Guru Ken ... I was looking for a writing mentor. And I found one in the Professor.

From the get-go, I was welcomed into the school with open arms and open minds. Everyone was happy to help me with the Shen Chuan ... and just as happy to sit back and learn Kali and Silat from me. Over the past year and a half I have come to consider the Lansdale crew (especially Professor Lansdale and Shihans Coy and Eugene) a part of my extended family.

Last night, as usual, I got up to demonstrate at the end of class. Suddenly, Professor started asking me for some pretty specific stuff. It wasn't until I sat back down that I had some inkling of what was transpiring. I saw Shihan Coy go into the office and come out with some papers. Then I heard Professor say to Coy, "We don't have any in that size ... don't worry about it. We'll take care of it later."

Then Professor called me up and awarded me with a 2nd Dan in Shen Chuan. Shihan Coy took his belt off and presented it to me. I gotta tell you, guys, if I hadn't been in front of a room full of people (including a couple of visitors from Wisconsin), I think I'd have shed some manly tears. I was blown away. It was (and is) a great honor.

In October, I'll be moving to Louisville, Kentucky and opening my own school. I'll be teaching Sikal, Shen Chuan, and (assuming I get permission from Uncle Bill) Kun Tao Silat de Thouars. I've written a book on martial arts that, with any luck, will be published by this time next year ... and, if when it does get published, I feel that the Professor's advice and encouragement was instrumental in bringing it to fruition.

Now ... to the actual point of all of this. This was an overview of my experiences with Professor Lansdale and his motley crew. All of this ... all the humility shown by these guys ... all the openness ... all the acceptance ... all of it is an incredibly rare thing to find in the martial arts world. Most schools, when I first visited, would have tried to prove to me how awesome they were and how much better their material was than mine. I would never have considered moving down and training with them if they had done that ... even if their material was the best thing I'd ever seen.

Most instructors would never consider turning their class over to a relative stranger (as Shihan Eugene did in '98) ... no matter how good that stranger was. Most people get too hung up in their own egos to do something like that.

Most of the people reading this newsletter are Lansdale students. You guys need to pay attention to what I've written here. You've got something special in the Professor and his crew ... don't take them for granted. The material they teach is excellent ... but there are a lot of people teaching excellent material in the world. I'm not talking about what is taught at Lansdale's. I'm talking about what is felt. These guys love what they do and are serious about it. They're sincere enough about their training to seek and accept good material ... regardless of its source. At the same time, they're confident enough in their own skill and material that they don't get hung up on who's better than whom or what art is better ... they know what they've got is good ... but they also know there's other good material out there they can learn from.

If you (Lansdale students) haven't realized this yet ... then reread this article. If you have realized it, then hang the article on the wall as a reminder about how good you've got it.

As for the future, I brought Guru Ken down in April and he and the Professor taught a great workshop together. Guru Ken and Professor Lansdale are working to develop a "cross training" curriculum so people in both schools can benefit from what the other offers. When I move to Kentucky, I'll do my best to spread both Shen Chuan and the sense of community that I have found here in Texas.

I really think that the past few years have just been a prelude for great things that are going to come out of the combined communities of Sikal and Shen Chuan. I am honored and humbled to be the pivotal player in that development and I will do my level best to uphold the obligations and responsibilities that that position carries with it.

Thank you, Professor and crew, for being the people you are.

Sincerely, Guru/Sensei Mike Casto