Terry Dow
Six foot six, two hundred and forty pounds with a size thirteen shoe - that was my brother Mark. It is that size thirteen work boot that I remember crashing into my side when Mark would come home from his Karate class. That was 22 years ago and the inspiration for and beginning of my love for the martial arts.
In 1999 I traveled to Italy and competed in the
Martial Arts World Championships as a member of the
WAKO USA National Karate/Kickboxing Team.
I began my training at age 9 in Chinese Kempo Karate at a Dojo in Exeter, New Hampshire. I would go to class and then go home and watch Bruce Lee movies with my brother. Bruce Lee was the most amazing person on the planet in my eyes.
One month before my 16th birthday I tested for and earned my black belt. Shortly after that I began competing at local tournaments in the sparring competitions and when I turned 18 I began competing in the national competitions.
Although I still worshiped Bruce Lee, a new idol entered into my life
-- World Kickboxing Champion Bill "Superfoot" Wallace. I would watch video
tapes of Bill's fights and would emulate his kicks in the Dojo
and at my dorm room.
I picked up quite a few pointers from those tapes alone and
began to win tournaments using Bill's techniques.
When I was 20 I met Bill at a seminar he was conducting in Massachusetts.
After talking to me for a while, Bill invited me to Los Angeles for a month
of training with him. So at age 21 I boarded a plane and
traveled to LA to live with and train with him.
The first day of my training had to have been the most painful day of my life. I was confident in myself - I had won multiple tournaments in New England -- but when that first kick penetrated my side with more power than the size thirteen work boot, I knew I was in for a tough month.
I was right. Training with Bill meant hours of intense training every day, which consisted of stretching, conditioning and sparring with the world's best kickboxer. The full contact sparring was like nothing I had felt before and for the first few days left my body sore.
After I completed my training with Bill I returned to New Hampshire to compete in many tournaments and a few full contact fights in the ring. During this time I trained with Don Rodriguez at his school in Rhode Island. I would travel to Rhode Island once a week to spar with fighters on the Paul Mitchell team and even with Black Belt Hall of Fame member Christine Bannon-Rodriguez.
In the last ten years I have worked hard to broaden my knowledge and skills by studying various other forms of Martial Arts. I am currently studying under Shihan Michael DePasquale Jr. in his Yoshitsune and combat systems, Hanshi Bruce Juchnik in his Kosho Shorei Ryu system, and Bernard Langan in his internal arts and Silat.
In addition I have worked closely with undefeated World Champion Full
Contact Knife and Stick Fighter Felix Valencia, with Catch Wrestler
Tony Cecchine as well as with Master Eric Lee to incorporate some of
their concepts into my system.
