Aloha Friends,

Another beautiful day in paradise.

I was awoken early this morning by the ringing of my cell phone. It was Jamie Cushions, a loyal and trusted friend of GM Pat Burleson for many years. I had a short chat with Mr. B.
The call trigger some emotional memories of my special bond with GM Pat Burleson

Pat and I enjoy a rare, and special bond for over 57 years. It started in 1964 at the National Karate Championships in Arlington, Va. Pat was the defending champion. He was the first National Karate Champion in sport karate. This feat alone cemented his legacy as a Legend and Pioneer in American Sport Karate History.

As many of you may be familiar, whether you are an elite competitive athlete or a weekend warrior, the idea of a bond between fierce competitors initially, has turned into affection and respect. This rare bond between Pat and I rose from the ashes of a fierce, aggressive martial combat into one of love and respect.

In 1964 Mr. Burleson was the defending champion. Four men ended up in a round-robin elimination format to find the champion for that year. This was the first time a major karate event was nationally televised, and I have been reminded often of my role that caused all major sports networks to ban the viewing of karate for the next ten years. Ironically I was the person responsible for having sport karate nationally televised again ten years later.

In my first elimination match, I fought a marine from Ft. Le June, a Mr. Worthy, and nearly blinded him with a kick to his face. He later returned to fight with a gauze patch over his damaged eye.
My second match was against the defending champion, Mr. Pat Burleson. I was both blessed and lucky to have won my match with Pat. The other elimination fights were hard-fought matches but the damage in the minds of the viewing audience, as a spectator sport, had been done. We seem to have come full circle with the blood and mayhem featured weekly by the UFC, MMA, and at least 20 other mixed martial arts events.

it seems strange to me that for a rivalry to exist you need two combatants to consider the other your enemy, opponent, or rival. We were combatants for sure, but I never considered Pat or any other person I ever fought as my enemy, opponents, or rival. as a competitor, yes,?

I created a different mindset in the ring. I never viewed the person I was fighting as having a personality or identity. It was never about the person but more about the skill expressed in the activity, the sport, the game we were playing. The contest was our ability to express our skill set, talents, gifts, and abilities. I was only interested in winning and being my best. Heck, I don’t even remember the names of most of the people I fought. I probably would not have been so successful had I focused on what kind of person they were.

It is because of legends and pioneers like Gm Pat Burleson that those early years are called the Golden Age of Sport Karate.

Just saying, Mr. B.

Mike Stone