On my Friend, Tom Wilson

          I first met Tom Wilson when he began attending the WOMAF Instructor Training Seminars that have been held twice yearly since the early 1990’s.  I immediately liked him.  Mr. Wilson was always eager to get on the mat and work hard, without regard for who was what rank.  He was gentle with beginners, and more forceful and intense with those of more advanced rank.  He liked to grapple with the most advanced rank he could corner.

Mr. Wilson would seek me out like a guided missile, and much of the seminars we would be partnered up.   Until I got to know him well, I felt it was my job to throw him down repeatedly.  But Mr. Wilson would take the falls as they happened without batting an eye.  Then leap up and ask to be thrown again, so he could study how it happened.   There was no ego involvement, no resentment, no reluctance—only a joke or two between throws.  He would pantomime Groucho Marx with his invisible cigar.  “Well,” he’d whisper out of the side of his mouth, “That was certainly a drop in expectations!”  Or “I’m certainly falling for you,” he’d say, with a flick of invisible cigar ashes.

Mr. Wilson was so eager to learn Hapkido that he sponsored several seminars to bring Grandmaster Garrison to the Black Belt Academy.  In the spring of 1997, when Grandmaster Garrison could not go, Mr. Wilson invited me to come back to Pennsylvania and hold a seminar at the Black Belt Academy.  With Mr. Garrison’s approval and guidance, I flew to Philadelphia and taught a weekend seminar for Mr. Wilson and about 40 of his students.

Thanks to Mr. Wilson’s planning and leadership, it was a wonderful teaching experience.  His students were polite, respectful, and eager.  There were no ego problems or showoffs, and no one got injured.  Everybody participated to the level of their ability, and everyone helped those of lesser rank to understand the lesson.  Grandmaster Wilson acted as my uke much of the time, taking hard falls, or slapping his thigh as a sign of yielding instead of resisting and risking injury.  There was no “We do it this way,” or “No one can throw me!”  When Mr. Wilson was not working with me, he would circulate around the room, helping black belts and white belts alike, making sure everybody got their best opportunity to learn.  Everyone was genuinely concerned with just learning, and everyone I talked to told me they enjoyed the seminar. 

That trip and my time at the Black Belt Academy have served as an archetypical example of the best possible teaching experience outside of Pacific Rim.  The focused attention and respect I was shown was at the direction and guidance of Grandmaster Wilson, because that was how he ran things, that’s how he wanted his students to behave.  There is no better legacy than that: correct behavior, dedication, practice discipline, and respect.  The Black Belt Academy will not be the same without Grandmaster Wilson, but the seeds of excellence have been planted there.  I hope Mr. Wilson’s students continue his traditions as diligently as he would demand of them, and remember the wonderful example he has given them of his own practice as long as they can.

Tom Wilson was a warrior of the highest caliber, and I shall miss him.

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                                     Warrior Mind:

               Strategy and Philosophy from the Martial Arts

                                    By Dick Morgan

              To be published March, 2009, from Authorhouse Publishing.

                                   Visit authorhouse.com / Warrior Mind