(gentle music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Working Capital" is provided by the Friends of KTWU, and Go Topeka.

(bright music) - Today on "Working Capital," we have the honor of being in the Dojo of Shihan Stephen Twemlow of the School of Martial and Meditative Arts here in Topeka, Kansas, welcome to "Working Capital."

- Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

- So let's get started here.

This school has been in Topeka for quite a while now.

- Since 1983 is when we started.

- But I'm guessing the journey probably started before that.

Is that just when you shared this, or give me the background.

How did you guys get involved in Hawaiian Kempo karate?

- Well, my father, when he was younger, he got into judo and karate, and then he took me to see a Bruce Lee movie "Fists of Fury" when I was 12.

And that kind of got me very interested in it.

And then I met a guy named Dr. Mark Penn, and he introduced me to Hawaiian Kempo in about like 1979.

And our family got into it, we're a martial arts family, and we've been doing it ever since.

- What kind of bonds can you get from this as a family?

A lot of people do do it individually, but when you have a family involved, how does that strengthen your bonds?

- It really brought us closer because there was a lot of practicing.

We really got into the meditative part of the martial arts, so we did a lot of meditation as a family, workshops, retreats.

And the martial part of it, we trained, my brother was a karate champion.

We did lots of tournaments, so we kind of bonded in that and we just kind of got into that martial spirit.

We got into the zen philosophy of the martial arts and really tried to gear the school kind of towards that.

- What was the spark that your family decided it's time to share this and we need to open a dojo?

- We just, we were practicing, and we actually had some friends that kind of wanted to do it.

So we started in our garage, and then it got to where we had a lot of people, so we kind of branched out to a smaller place.

We rented a basement in the old Litwin building on Sixth Street.

And then we got bigger and bigger, and then we moved over to where the Dunkin' Donuts is right now on 21st.

And then we moved to here.

And we've been here for about 15, 16 years.

- That's fantastic.

And I met someone on the way in here.

I mean, you have students that have been here for 30 years plus with you for the journey, which I think is pretty amazing.

So your family has actually, seems like it's become a larger family.

Is that kind of the way most dojos work?

- I think the ones oriented towards what we are and not just giving out rank and giving black belts, I mean, they have a time and a place for that.

But it takes a long time to get a black belt here.

And so you kind of get a bond with the students and the teachers.

I've had students with me that started when they were five years old, and they're now in their 40s and have families.

And so I've got this bond with a lot of my students for decades.

And one thing I'm very, very proud of is seven of my black belts came up in high school and then they got their black belts, when they went to college, they became doctors.

So that is probably one of the things I'm most proud of, that some of them, they said it gave them the courage, they knew they could do it after getting their black belt.

So that is one thing I'm extremely proud of.

- They've learned a lot of focus?

- Yes, and confidence.

Confidence is probably one of the biggest things, especially in young adults, is to get that self-esteem, that confidence.

And if you can get that at a young age, that multiplies as they get older.

- You can walk a little straighter.

You can, like you say, be more confident in yourself.

It's not necessarily to go out and get in fights.

This is more about bettering yourself, right?

It's kind of a journey against yourself, is that more?

- Yes, and I've trained a lot of world champions, US champions, I've trained a lot of people in the actual fighting arts.

But typically as you get better, as you train more in the martial arts, you use it less and less.

And what I typically found is people that are really trained are very humble, very mellow.

They'll be the last people to start.

And it's very good for kids that have anger problems.

It may seem like it's not to teach your angry kid martial arts, but I've done this enough time, many decades that I can see that it actually does have a positive influence if they stick with it.

- I can definitely see that from a personal experience, when I was little, it wasn't necessarily anger, but very hyperactive.

So I did get to take part in Taekwondo for three years.

So I do know it taught me to focus and having to kind of channel that energy, but then it could all release at a certain moment.

So it taught me a lot.

So seeing you with some of the younger generation in here just earlier, I can tell you are a great teacher for all ages.

So how does it differ teaching a small child from someone say my age, mid 40s walking in brand new?

- Oh, it's wonderful actually to see, especially when I have a child that comes in that is just off the wall, and over time we can get them to relax and just calm down.

And then we get the positive reinforcement from mom and dads at home.

So adults, you start, it happens about mid-teen, you start dealing with a little bit of ego, a little bit of pride.

So you have to know your student, know how far to push them.

But with the kids, they just look at me as funny old man.

And I work with them, and as long as you get them to trust you and that they know that you believe in them, you can really accomplish great things with children.

And I've taught them as young as three years old and had very good results.

- You spoke a little bit about, there's some other places where, I don't wanna say they churn through because they're still learning skills, but it's quicker, it's through all the belts, but it maybe it doesn't have the meditative side also.

Because as you spoke to, it's a little slower journey here, but tell me how the focus on the meditative side really helps with the full journey.

- Well, we have done a lot of meditative practice.

My father, Dr. Stewart Twemlow was heavily into that.

We did zen painting, haiku.

Elizabeth Nichols was one of our mentors.

She since passed away.

But we do Ikebana, I do that, which is flower arranging.

I do that with the kids in the class, and they really love that it gets them to focus.

And I teach them a lot of different breathing patterns.

The five wiggles, like toes, fingers, shoulders, jaw, tongue.

So it's a quick thing that they learn, and it really has a huge benefit.

Learning meditation is very easy to learn, it's difficult to do.

So we just keep reinforcing that.

We have a Qigong class on Tuesdays with Kyoshi Doug Petri.

And that's an energy kind of releasing, and we're gonna be starting back on yoga.

So it's kind of a mind body spirit thing.

You can't just focus on one of those.

You have to have it all.

And typically a lot of the martial arts schools focus on the physical side, which is what some people want, a lot of people.

But we try to get more of that.

And it takes a little longer to get a black belt, but it's more of a journey.

- It's more well-rounded for a worldview through the dojo almost.

- And I've incorporated the groundwork, Brazilian jiujitsu, and I focus a lot on self-defense.

So we really focus on a lot of that in this school.

- Well it's time for you to take a deep breath.

We're gonna take a deep breath, find ourselves, and stick around.

When we come back, we'll speak more with Shihan Twemlow.

You've been watching "Working Capital."

(upbeat music) To watch more episodes of "Working Capital" or any of your other favorite KTWU shows, type in www.watch.ktwu.org, or scan the QR code.

Welcome back.

Joining us now is Judy.

She is a fourth degree black belt, and somehow, I think Shihan Twemlow is doing something right because she has been here for over 30 years.

So coming from that student perspective, thinking back from when you started to where you're at now, tell me a little bit about that journey and what you've gotten from this space.

- Wow.

I mean, I was almost 40 when I started, so I had no idea really what I was getting into.

So I came in and watched a couple classes.

And there was just something about the classes and the people and how the instructor was teaching and his knowledge, I started going to class, and I mean it wasn't long, I was coming three to four times a week after work.

Working full time, coming there.

Probably the thing that really struck me as being different from any other dojo or martial arts class or place was the mental piece.

We did a lot of, we meditated before each class.

We meditated at the end.

We did a lot of things that related to learning how to control the mind, the body together.

And it's amazing how before this, you just don't know.

You don't know all the things, little muscles you can control that you see.

And again, it's not about the fighting part, it's more about what character, how you grow within yourself.

We have a code that we expect people to kind of go by.

It's up here, courage, benevolence, politeness, rectitude.

Those are things that we teach our students.

We talk about what does that mean so they don't just get up and do fighting.

The confidence that you can see, it's just amazing to have kids, particularly it's fun to watch young kids come in and the confidence and how quickly they can change, how quickly they can start controlling their body instead of it being all over as they pull their mind and their body here together.

So that's it.

And again, as an instructor, he's probably, I mean he can be tough, but he knows when to be tough.

He knows how to push you.

He knows how to let you have a little bit of room.

So I think that again plays a big piece in why stay here.

- And you said it was kind of the way you saw him interacting, but do you remember after your first few times here, did you feel more confident in yourself in your own skin?

- I felt like I could do it.

I felt like, you know, I didn't really know what I was doing yet, but I knew with his teaching and the instructors, the other Senseis or teachers that he had taught and how they teach that I would be able to get there if I wanted to.

And I just kept doing it - And starting at 40, I mean that's where I'm at.

So if I come, what I'm looking at then, how does this help me as I grow older, how is this gonna help me keep moving and remain a more healthy, vibrant person?

Is that benefit here?

- Definitely.

I mean that's a piece of it, yes.

I mean, I guess, well yeah, it's just intertwined in that, and again, it's what you do and how much you commit to it.

But yeah, I was almost 40.

I never thought I could, it was like ridiculous to me to start at 40, but it worked.

- And of course our viewers out there hearing not just the the martial side, but the meditative side, a lot of them were probably thinking of "Karate Kid," stuff from pop culture.

I'm actually curious from the early '80s, from the first "Karate Kid" through maybe that resurgence, do you see more of an influx during those times because people, they're more engaged with that again, or does that have any benefit on your dojo and bringing new people in?

- When the "Karate Kid" movies came out, we did get people that would come in, and a lot of them would realize that it was a little more than just waxing a car and painting a fence.

- So that was sort of the semi negative.

But the positive was great.

When you have movies like that, it gets people interested.

It gets the parents thinking, all right, and he showed a lot in that, Mr. Miyagi showed a lot of the mental side.

It's not all physical.

because they had the really bad karate school there.

- They're there to kick butt.

- So it's very good they made the movie, they made it a very good contrast so you can kind of see the difference.

And we tried to incorporate a lot of that in here, and like I said, we're still really focused on self-defense, but if your mind is not ready, you're just gonna freeze.

So you have to condition your mind to be able to react.

So any self-defense move you learn, if your mind is not ready, you'll just freeze.

Because once you go into primitive, it'll all go out the window.

So we really try to do a lot of pressure testing.

Instead of just getting the belt, you're gonna really earn it.

And it sometimes can get pretty intense, but I'm doing it more as as self-protection, mental, physical, and spiritual.

- Are all classes catered towards that journey through belts or do you ever have classes that are say just a taste of self-defense without getting them worrying about, well I'm gonna have to go through this 10, 12 year journey.

Do you have anything to kind of wet the whistle?

- [Stephen] We offer Pentjak Silat with my teacher, Mahaguru Shane Murray.

And it is strictly self-defense, basically 22 inches and closer to somebody.

So it's geared towards 100% that, and there's no kicking, there's no long forms, and it's just a very self-defense based- - Escape, pressure points.

- And just take down.

And so we do offer that.

So that is a very hardcore level of self-defense.

Hawaiian Kempo also fits right along with it.

There's a lot of similarities between the two.

But yeah, they wanted just to go strictly for self-defense, businessman, someone that sees clients every day, this would be perfect for them.

- What are some of the little differences say between Hawaiian Kempo, karate, Taekwondo?

Where do they kind of branch from each other?

What's the focus?

- Karate is way of the fist, Hawaiian Kempo, we do a lot of self-defense.

We are based on self-defense.

We are based on the circle and double circle.

So a lot of our movements have that.

The Okinawan type karate have linear movements.

So it's more of a straight line attack.

We do 50/50 maybe hands and feet with kicking techniques.

Taekwondo, you may get a more of a 70, 80, 90%.

Akido you'll hear a lot of, that's more of wrist locks, throws.

And you have judo, which are the throws.

- Using momentum.

- Then you have the MMA, there's a lot of that going around.

- Just a big mix.

- Yeah, that's just a mix of everything.

And they throw you in a cage and you go at it.

But yeah, there's subtle differences.

They all are there to teach if you have the correct teacher to teach discipline, confidence, living in the moment.

So if you have a good teacher, you'll get that and it will just enhance everything about your studies from practice.

- That's awesome.

Well it's time for another short break.

When we get back, we'll learn how you may be able to get involved, and we might learn a few little self-defense techniques ourselves.

So you've been watching "Working Capital."

(bright music) - And we're back.

And now we're gonna see a few of the learned techniques put to use.

So we have Wyatt and Maddie joining us with Shihan Twemlow.

So take it away, guys, if Shihan would like to just explain what we're seeing here.

- All right, we have self-defense sets for every belt level.

And the first one we address is a front attack.

So if someone comes with a choke, a grab, or a push.

So we kind of address that as the first thing.

The first couple sets deal with someone grabbing you from the front and behind.

So this is a very basic set, very easy to learn, but it's a very good way to get out of a front choke.

So we're gonna go through it really slow.

Sensei Wyatt is gonna choke Maddie, Metal Maddie.

And so we've got the choke, one hand's gonna go down, one hand's gonna go up, she's gonna do two chops, a very strong push.

And then she will leave the situation.

We also have this designed, we teach that, we also design it if the choke's coming, you've got this move so that we get a little more of the intensity as you come up.

So then you've got the chop chop.

So now they're gonna do it pretty motivated, and Maddie's gonna get out of it and leave.

Thanks a lot, bow at each other.

- [Host] Happens pretty quick.

So I mean, over time, just the repetitive nature, I mean that's where you really build these skills up.

- It takes.

- Reflexes?

- Yeah, there's this thing about a thousand, 5,000, 10,000.

If you do the natural repetition, it takes about three or 400.

If you do it in a real time situation, it takes about 20 or 30.

So that's why when you see in an actual game, when these guys are doing that actual movement, you will get it a lot quicker.

So doing it, pressure testing it where you do it in real situations will enable you to really get that quicker rather than just going through the motions.

- Gotcha.

Would you like to introduce our next two students?

- All right, we have here Sensei Deja and instructor Tina.

So Tina's been with me for 30 years.

And Deja, my protege, has slammed through the martial arts.

So they're both really good martial artists.

They're gonna demonstrate, we focus on elbows.

So this is a basic set if someone throws like a windmill punch, so they're gonna face each other, and instructor Tina's gonna throw a windmill punch, and we have a block.

The elbow comes up underneath, we strike the clavicle or the neck, we do an abrupt push, and then we leave.

So that's the basic set.

So if we do that very quickly.

Now what can happen is if we get into the first scenario with the punch, and we get the block, just the block.

Now if the second punch comes in, that elbow now becomes a default position.

And then you will strike down on the other clavicle, push, and escape.

So we have a fail safe system if it's a single punch or a double.

So the elbow now becomes a default position instead of a strike.

All right, so one thing that I really stress, even though this is a karate school, I stress break falls.

This is probably one of the big things when students come back, I always ask them, what was one thing that really, really helped?

And break falls come up over and over.

So at a younger age, I teach them the break falls.

So doodle bug, you're gonna get on here, stand up, fall down, back break fall, and off.

Next person up, turn around, back break fall, back up.

- I'm gonna get part of it.

- You got it.

Go.

All right, now we're gonna do, if you fall forward, we're gonna do a roll into sitting position.

You ready, Liam?

Go go go.

And he comes right back up into the protect position.

Excellent.

Yes.

Oh, doodle bug.

And we'll let you guys go through it again.

You're in a rhythm now.

So this way they learn to fall and not be afraid where they don't have to put their hands down and get hurt.

- [Host] Because part of this class, you are gonna take falls, but you will get back up.

- Yes.

- Just like life.

- And they seem to like it, we build the things up so they have to jump higher and higher and fall.

- [Host] You learn to trust yourself a little bit with this.

- One last thing that we do at the end of every class, I want everyone to sit around the diamond.

Crisscross.

So at the end of each class, this is when I'd sometimes do Ikebana.

But we always do our relaxation.

So we crisscross.

We're gonna do the courage.

We wiggle our toes, fingers, shoulders, jaw, tongue.

Deep breath in.

And we're gonna shut our eyes for 10 seconds.

Sometimes we go longer, but we'll just do 10 for today.

And begin.

Deep breath, open your eyes.

Sitting position.

Now we have a thing.

If they can't beat me up, they have to do lots and lots of pushups, right?

And up.

- [Group] Back off!

- I know, I know what it is.

Candy.

- And thank you, Shihan Twemlow.

We appreciate you having us in your dojo on this "Working Capital."

So we hope you can find another way to recenter yourself, maybe find some new growth in yourself.

And a good way to do that is the martial and meditative arts.

So thanks for watching "Working Capital."

We'll see you next time.

- Thank you sir.

- Thank you.

- [Announcer] Funding for "Working Capital" is provided by the Friends of KTWU, and Go Topeka.

(bright music)