User:Robert Reish

Robert Reish is an American born martial artist instructor living in Hawaii.

As a kid, he maintained a keen interest in judo, jujitsu, and karate through reference material such as books, periodicals, television and youth programs. However, it wasn't until 1964 that Bob joined the senior judo & jujitsu class of the Westchester YMCA, in Los Angeles, California.

Bob Reish's formal training began through the introduction of a friend to nidan and sensei Hal Gary. Hal had trained in savate (French foot fighting), learned Israeli commando techniques while in Israel, and studied jujitsu at the Hollywood YMCA, under Jim Muscleman. Bob found the Westchester class to be an incredibly abundant "melting pot" of martial artists with diverse martial arts background including karate, aikido, kendo, savate, escrima, and taekwando, to name a few.

In this rich martial arts environment, Bob was voracious to absorb as much as he could. Fortunately, and possibly due to their similar heights, Manny Kontos, a brown belt and sensei Hal Gary's number one student, almost exclusively selected Bob as a training partner. As a result, Bob's judo and jujitsu training progressed intensely and rapidly.

Bob often invested more than five hours a day, six days a week in martial arts training, while simultaneously keeping up with the pressures of a full time student in middle and high school, respectively. Bob invested not only hours in training, but also in accepting the duties and responsibility associated by providing leadership counseling to young adults while at the Westchester YMCA. Intermittently, there were extended periods of time when his judo/jujitsu senseis, Hal Gary and Manny Kontos, were called out of town. Whenever this occurred, Bob, as a green belt, stepped forward and conducted class workouts keeping the class together.

Concurrently with leading and studying judo and jujitsu at the Westchester YMCA, Bob spent time training in other forms of martial arts. These included shotokan karate. Bob additionally studied kempo karate under Tigi Mataali. Tigi had learned karate in 1959, in Hawaii, under William Chow.

Then, toward the late 1960's, during his college years, Bob studied judo under Nidan Bill White. He also traveled to northern California training at various dojos. He participated in classes offered by Professor Bud Estes, Bud Fuller, Bert Aspinall, Tom Ball, Jane Dean, Walter Todd, and Lamar Fisher.

In 1973, Bob Reish joined the military, and spent the next eleven years in the United States Air Force. Through the Air Force, and as a member of the California Provisional Security Riot Squadron, Bob was trained in riot tactics. He was also accepted into the USAF pilot training program, during which Bob taught jujitsu to Air Force members on base at Laughlin AFB. At that time, he became good friends with Sergeant Manuel Arcos, a kajukenbo nidan who taught at the base karate club. Bob and Manuel exchanged martial arts concepts and techniques, and the two gave demonstrations for the community. Regarding flight school, Bob remembers "being one with my air breathing machine, flying upside down over the top during a 7-g maneuver, and then lighting the afterburners, thrusting me supersonic... What a rush!" When Bob graduated from pilot training, he received the Outstanding Flying and Distinguished Graduate award. He then proceeded to survival training at Fairchild Air Force Base, followed by water survival training at Homestead Air Force Base. During his Air Force travels, Bob also trained and exchanged ideas with the head instructor of Special Forces, Micheal D. Echanis, a disciple of Hwarangdo, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Bob has directed youth programs at several YMCAs and for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks. This included teaching leadership, physical education, and martial arts classes. In addition, he was a senior lifeguard for Los Angeles, where he lifeguarded and taught swimming, lifesaving, and skin diving. Bob also annually taught new and returning lifeguard recurrent training classes for the City of Los Angeles.

Bob Reish took aikido under Ron Kobyashi in the 1960's, and in the late 1970's teamed up once more with Manny Kontos to train in aikido (Ki Society) under Clarence Chin in Torrance, California. Then, in the early 1980's, Bob began to study under Dan Inosanto, in Marina del Rey and then Playa del Rey, California. Dan's courses included training in jun fan gung fu, kali, silat, and muay thai kick boxing. Bob was also able to train several times with Cacoy Connette (doce pares), Leo Giron (bahala na), Leo Gaje (pekiti tirsia), Paul de Thouars (bukti negara), Ajarn Chai Sirisute (muay thai), and Herman Suwanda (mande muda & Hari Mau). Bob met and became friends with Philip Gelinas, a Canadian who won the United States stick fighting championship. Philip trained Bob in the pekiti tirsia kali system during the years that Bob flew to Montreal, Canada, as a pilot for American Airlines. In addition, Edgar Silute took Bob through a good portion of the lameco escrima system including lameco's esoteric training. Around this same time, Bob began exchanging ideas with Fred Neumann, who was one of Seiyu Oyata's close "inner circle" of 5 ryuku kempo black belts. Parallel with higher esoteric principles learned in jujitsu, Bob was introduced to American Indian spirituality, specifically Apache & Comanche spirituality, through a good friend and guide Richard Alaniz. Bob and Richard exchanged and explored higher level mysteries common to the American Indian medicine men and jujitsu masters. Later, in Bob's training, it was discovered that the South Pacific Polynesians shared similar spiritual concepts proving the adage that a thread of commonality runs through all things.

In the 1990's, Bob continued his research into various martial art systems. He conducted seminars and camps around the country and currently is fortunate to work with Hawaiian O'lohe lua warriors. He feels humbled by several who were willing to share their concepts, cultures and techniques and thereby further his search for the truth.

Notable Students

· Mike Manoogian

· Roman Liccini

· Charles "Sonny" Kaulukukui

· Holly Lee Bolick

· Cornelius Kahale Uncino