On July 16, 1999, after 56 years of service to the self-protection community, “the Keeper of the Lost Art”, Antonio Pereira, breathed his last and passed away. Master Pereira was my combat teacher for the past 18 years. Much of what I write and teach comes directly from things that he taught me, or paths that he began me down. The world lost one in every of its most talented and lively minds within the self-protection community.
I did have a likelihood to go to him on his deathbed. His wife told me that I used to be one in every of the few those that he requested because he didn’t want anyone to see him as an invalid. I admit it was hard for me seeing someone who I thought to be sensible and powerful brought down by time and sickness. Master Pereira asked me to easily to make certain that the accomplishments of the entire advanced practitioners of his art are known. He thanked me for accepting his discipline. He was extremely gracious and will not help but reflect on a few of his more popular statements, a few of which I even have tried to capture in this text.
“To ensure that a method to be effective, it must even be easy.” Having fought in World War II for five years within the jungle, he knew that in a self-protection situation you won’t have the option to perform complicated techniques. That is the cornerstone principle of Miyama Ryu. Lots of the trendy arts miss the purpose of simplicity and add in components unrelated to survival.
We will not be fighters, we’re defenders.” In case you really need to grasp how to not be the victim of a violent crime, this fact is essential. Master Pereira believed that your mindset and physical techniques should be just right for you no matter your size, physical conditioning, or strength. He taught the difference between sport martial arts and self-defence. He was an acknowledged expert at each and that’s the reason peers called him the ‘Keeper of the Lost Art’.
“What if? Will probably be answered in time.” As a teacher of the self-protection arts, the query of “what if” is continually popping up. It is generally in relation to a scenario. So for instance, if you happen to are teaching someone easy methods to avoid an attacker who’s coming at you with a knife, the coed may ask, what if he has a gun. Master Pereira all the time tried to give attention to what we were learning and doing on the time. His idea was that to avoid wasting your life you have to have the option to pay attention fully on what was occurring at once.
Master Pereira taught me many things. I’ll proceed to jot down, teach and expand on them. In 1998 he named me as one in every of the successors of his system with the mandate to spread it worldwide. I hope that I’m worthy of the duty to hold on his legacy as one in every of the modern-day “Keepers of the Lost Art.” Protect yourself.