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“A Diamond in the Rough”
Written by Libby Woolard
Hanshi José Antonio Velez, Sr
Founder of the Ju Kido Kai Ryu
“The fact is that, grappling is part of a bigger picture that comes from Traditional Jujitsu as does Akijitsu, Akido, Judo, and Karate-do.”
One morning in March when a burst of sunlight changed snow flurries into diamonds, *I caught up with Hanshi José Antonio Vélez, Sr. Soke and Founder of the Ju Kido Kai Ryu System of Modern Vee Jitsu Ju Jitsu, Arnis and Karate-Do. He was checking into a few matters at the Ron Anderson Center in Powder Springs, GA, the new home of his latest dojo undertaking where he is working with novices, grapplers, Taekwondo and Goju stylists, youths, adults, and retirees! What follows is his response to a battery of great eclectic questions Hanshi Eddie Morales, Martial Force Online Magazine, emailed to Hanshi Velez several weeks earlier.
José Antonio Vélez, Sr. was “born and raised” in Brooklyn, NY, a “Bed-Stuy, Do or Die” native from the south side section of Williamsburg. This humble beginning aligned the pre-teen Vélez with a celestial lineage from among the New York Martial Arts “Pioneers.” During the chaos of the 60s and 70s when racial unrest gave rise to a hot bed of teaching and training; Edward Pough founder of the EP Systems, Calvin Meyers, and Robert J. Cooper instructed Vélez at the Tompkins Housing Project Community Center.
A life long dedication to Martial Arts training has given Hanshi Vélez purpose and direction, while challenging and cultivating a driven personality to succeed, excel, and push his body and spirit harder and further every day. A knowing smile draws Hanshi back as he recalls routine Martial Arts classes “back in the day” of hard knocks when students engaged in six and seven hours of intense training seven days a week. They pounded makiwara boards to toughen up skin, bone, and muscle. Training up and down the wooded ravine on the east side of Prospect Park, they hit and kicked the trees. Moreover, Professor Vee made them go out to the street to do roll outs over parked cars, and train on the beaches and through inclement weather conditions. In addition to that, Vélez personally conditioned himself with night training maneuvers.
Hanshi Velez’s influences in Martial Arts gravitated toward his heroes, contemporaries, and mentors. He absorbed and applied the teachings of many grand Masters like Gogen Yamaguchi the father of the Japanese style of Goju, Masutatsu Oyama founder of Kyokushinkai, the forefathers of the Japanese art themselves, and of course Morihei Ueshiba O Sensei father of Aikido.
Furthermore, the person who defines the term “good cop” Frank Serpico, inspired the adolescent Velez to take pride in the integrity of a good work ethic. “Detective Serpico was a person in law enforcement who made a difference. Velez stated, ”I learned the value of just going out there and putting in an honest day’s work. I was challenged to stand in opposition against corruption, not to accept any graft, and to refuse greed.” He was ostracized in a corrupt system starting from the higher ups all the way down to the foot soldiers. As the result of his impact on me, I view things totally different from many people because I see that we live in a corrupt society expressed in all facets of government.” For Vélez, there is no getting away from this. “I have chosen to work within the system to bring about change. I just remind anybody that works with me to do things according to the law because I don’t want to fall behind the other side of the bars! Unfortunately, the system is so corrupt that even when you do your job the right way you still fall prey and victim to unscrupulous, deceitful, underhanded tactics, because government basically has all the resources to eliminate you. If they want to take care of you or they want to take you out of the picture, they could do it. The system is too corrupt. It’s just really bad. So, what do you do? You just work, cross your T’s and dot you’re I’s, document everything you do, then go home at the end of the day with a clear conscience.”
“As iron sharpens iron,” fellow Grand Masters from various styles who have influenced Hanshi through the decades include: Alan Goldberg, Bill Wallace, Aaron Banks, Rico Guy, Billy Davis, Jonathan Stewart, Archie Rullan, Wildcat Molina, Wilfredo Roldan, Pete Siringano Sr., William Oliver, Peter Urban, Papasan Canty, Jim Powers, Pete Tecali, Danny Paulo, William Louie, Wai Hong, Louis Neglia, Gary Alexander, Wally Jay, Tak Wah Eng, Louis Oscar, Ron Van Clief, Donnie Carolei, both Michael DePasquale Sr. and Jr., and Doug Pierre.
Yet, within all of the people who have touched his life, Supreme Grand Master Professor Visitacion holds Hanshi’s highest admiration and respect. He explained how the founder of the Vee Jitsu Ryu-Vee Jitsu Te-Vee Arnis Jitsu Systems, Florendo M. Visitacion, riveted his attention and allegiance through the graceful deployment of the art. Vélez was consumed by the masterful, effective skills of practical self-defense applications. Professor Vee calmly, yet vehemently, taught empty-handed, armed and unarmed techniques while he maintained a very humble disposition and cat like vigilance. On the 8th of October 1995, Professor Vee awarded the prestigious rank of Ju-Dan / Tenth Degree Black Belt, under the Vee Jitsu System, to Professor Vélez. In addition to this rare accomplishment, Professor Vee bestowed upon Professor Vélez the exclusive right and honor to create his own interpretation of the Vee Jitsu System.
Hanshi then spoke about the recent interest in the grappling arts, the following are his words, “The Gracie’s and the Machado brothers have marketed their system very well. I have the utmost respect for the diligent creative work of Helio Gracie and his family. However, when the public hears the term Jujitsu, people automatically reference the Machados or the Gracie’s exclusively, but this is a misconception fueled by misinformation. Traditional Jujitsu is the ‘Mother Art,’ which involves this piece of the pie, i.e. ground grappling. Yet, it disturbs me the way the name is marketed as such, “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.” In fact, there is no such thing as Brazilian Jujitsu. Absolutely not! The fact is that, grappling is part of a bigger picture that comes from Traditional Jujitsu as does Akijitsu, Akido, Judo, and Karate-do.”
The system Hanshi Vélez currently teaches is Ju Kido Kai Ryu Modern Vee Jitsu Ju Jitsu, Arnis, and Karate-Do, a rigorous curriculum translated as “Ten Spirit Way.” Derived from many different disciplines from which he has taken the best and combined them into one methodology that involves combat realistic execution. He explains that, “Sitting back, thinking about this the way Bruce Lee created his own system Jeet Kune-Do, and when you start reading and looking beyond what you’re studying and teaching, you will see it’s all the same! It teaches the same methodology, the same spirit, the same core. It’s just that, different Ryuhas concentrate on all the basic fundamentals but do not emphasize the traditional core of what Traditional Jujitsu truly represents. The core of what I teach is combat related providing a realistic perspective in self-defense applications.”
He is improving the system as society changes. Hastily he adds, “My focus is to make the response as quickly as possible… 1 2 3 applications. You don’t want to waist time, you want to go in and out within seven seconds if not less… not an excess of seven seconds because you’re going to get into a fight and I don’t want to get into a fight.”
“Being a student… always being a student, first,” is the way Hanshi defines his greatest accomplishment in the Martial Arts. “I’m still a student and I’m still learning. That concept and the discipline that one develops is vital. A lot of people don’t seem to understand this. To see Martial Arts being monopolized by those who profess to be teachers when in fact they are not is Velez’ greatest disappointment. He says, “False representation destroys moral. Some people I looked up to were in fact not what they claimed to be.”
Hanshi Vélez served for thirty years within the New York City government. A whole career built around law enforcement “I started with the police department as a police cadet in 1973… worked my way up in the ranks… went to various agencies. Then, I got into a situation where I started focusing on internal affairs, a nightmare of my life, which set me back in my endeavor to pursue growth within the rank and file of my employment. Nevertheless, my success is that I always got the bad guys, did a good job, and never lost a case! Between doing all types of surveillances, testifying, and acquiring evidence to substantiate the findings to my testimonies before grand juries or tribunals, I’ve been very successful. This accomplishment has been met with a lot of opposition.”
From a realistic point of view, Hanshi Vélez does not plan too far into the future. “I don’t know if I will be alive tomorrow… I have had a heart attack. We all go through stresses every day. I hope to be continuing my teaching ten years from now. I hope to have a greater and larger following. I hope to see my children grow, flourish, and to be better than me… which is what Professor Vee always told me. He said your are to be accomplished and to continue your training… evolve… blossom, and be better than me. It is exactly what I want my students to understand. Life is a challenge and does not come easy. Nothing comes easy.” Without a doubt.
Hanshi wants his own place or an acre property where he can have indoor and outdoor training capabilities where he can have the freedom to as he states “maximize on the things I wants to do, It would be a dream come true.”
Hanshi is proud to have two of his sons as 5th degree black belts in his own system. From early childhood, Thomas Lee and Jose Jr., who were as young as three and five years old when they began their training with him. Always urging improvement, Hanshi Velez added, “They need to continue to train and develop the discipline it takes to live the way of the bushido warrior.”
“I love teaching, hosting seminars, and holding private classes.” Please contact Kyoshi Torey Overstreet at TNT Jujitsu, headquarters based in Houston, Texas. www.tntjujitsu.com. Kyoshi Overstreet is Hanshi Vélez’s Nidi-Shihan, highest-ranking senior student, who also studied in Japan under the tutelage of Tamura O Sensei.
Hanshi’s suggestions to parents whose children are developing an interest in the Martial Arts are to be very cautious and selective. Identify what school would be appropriate for your child and what the teacher has to offer. “Scrutinize the teacher. You want to make sure this person knows how to work with children… knows how to work with anybody whether it be developmentally or physically challenging. Most importantly, notice the quality of that individual and observe how they provide instruction.
In Hanshi’s words “My teacher always said there is a distinction between instructor and teacher… not everybody is a teacher.” Unfortunately, what you have today is a monopoly of people who are becoming Black Belts and once a student achieves that rank they consider it the end of their journey and feel that they are no longer required to fulfill an obligation to meet their rank requirements. This is what the problem is, everybody wants rank, and nobody wants to train, earn, and meet the core requirements. These are things I have mentioned earlier but bears repeating. Everybody has an attitude, because they think that once they become Black Belt… that’s it, they are qualified to teach. No. They are not qualified to teach alone and should be supervised. They must continue to train and develop self-discipline. Not everybody has this; there are too many ego problems. People have attitudes and their self-esteem is so low it poses problems and concerns. That’s why I encourage parents to choose wisely, be very discrete in the decision of selecting an instructor who is appropriately befitting the type of care for their children or loved ones. Teachers must have time and tenure. You are developing your foundation, which is broken into stages when you start as a white belt to Kyu/Ikkyu brown belt. My 45 plus years of vested training are proven and no doubt has been challenging… I’ve been very blessed and accomplished much… as I call it ‘Put up or shut up,’ and I put up. Even today with some of the debilitating conditions that I have I am still able to get on the floor and demonstrate. Looking at me, no one can tell if I have any medical problems. It’s a spiritual driven force that I have.”
He reiterates to parents to be very cautious, look at the instructor’s credentials and ask many questions including how many years have you been teaching and training. Find out who is the potential instructor’s teacher. Hanshi states, “There are a lot of fly by night people that claim to be something that they’re not, unfortunately, and if you choose to do this they could bring harms way to your kids.”
Hanshi Vélez is presently employed with the City of Atlanta as a Code Enforcement officer where he brings his high expectations of integrity to bare. In true Frank Serpico “Lamplighter” fashion he has initiated reform in policy and procedure.
Encouraged with the news that his fledgling program in the recreation center is expanding to include two additional days and a monthly women’s self-defense seminar, Hanshi José Antonio Velez, Sr. flashed a confident grin. At this stage of the game, there are no signs of this man tottering into retirement from life, work, or his beloved Martial Arts!
ABOUT THE WRITER:
Libby Woolard, is a Taekwondo stylist, a beginning student of Traditional Japanese Jujitsu, and a budding photojournalist who covers the grassroots tournament circuits, honors banquets, and Martial Arts seminars in Georgia.
We here at Martialforce.com Online Martial Arts Magazine would like thank Professor Jose Velez for this interview and Mrs. Libby Woolard for taking the time to write this article.
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