Sadly absent, due to health concerns were Great Grandmasters Wally Jay and Clarence Lee. However, their presence was felt as Campbell shared stories of their greatness and just how much these American cultural treasures had given of themselves for the art they love so much. The board of Grandmasters, as well as the understanding audience, felt noticeable angst that they could not be there to be ceremoniously inducted on this most eventful night.



Hall of Fame president Master Mark Gerry had envisioned the perfect moment in time when these legendary martial arts icons on the rostrum would be present to share in the glory and bask in the honor that had been so meticulously planned for them. But that was not to be -- at least not in the physical sense.



Campbell, then emotionally caught in the moment, shared with everyone present that he wished that he could suspend time for a while and just share this special occasion for infinity.  Having said that, he praised these elderly warriors and wished we would have them around to honor and appreciate for eternity. This was a sobering tribute to just how much these American cultural treasures have given of themselves so that the world can enjoy the art they have lived a lifetime to perfect.



With these words, there were moments when some tears flowed from those in the audience who understood the importance of a tribute of this magnitude. Then, when Master of Ceremonies Sid Campbell confided that the collective experiential knowledge and skill of these great icons numbered over 750 years, it struck many as uncanny because from the looks of dismay and the low-key din that resonated through the banquet room it was obvious that they had never thought of it in that manner. 



Next, host Mark Gerry took to the podium to preside over a formal "Rites of Initiation" black belt ranking ceremony.  It was indeed an honor and a rare privilege to have his cadre of newly promoted dan level students formally presented with their black belt certifications before such a distinguished board of martial arts legends. Their elation was obvious as these great masters looked down approvingly as master Gerry ceremoniously presented their belts and conducted his formal bestowment ritual. Also participating in the award ceremony was Grandmaster Charles Gaylord, who personally presented the black belt ranks for those that had earned the right to hold a credentialed degree in the "Gaylord Method" of Kajukenbo.


The Official "Rites of Induction" Ceremony begins

The moment that everyone in attendance waited so anxiously for had finally arrived. The venue called for formal Hall of Fame Inductee awards and honors to be impressively bestowed in the order that these great martial arts legends had been featured in the souvenir program. Naturally, the Great Grandmasters inductions would be first, followed by the Grandmasters.


As per the ceremony protocol, Master Mark Gerry, president of the World Masters Martial Arts Association Hall of Fame, would make the official enshrinements. Sid Campbell would precede each induction with a brief, but impressive biographical sketch of their resplendent martial arts career.



Then Campbell announced that the very first martial artist to be enshrined was none other that American judo pioneer and Small Circle Jujitsu founder, Wally Jay. But before commencing the "Rites of Induction" exercise, he informed the anticipatory audience that Great Grandmaster Wally Jay was unable to attend the formal presentation because of his guarded medical condition. Wally had sent word that it was unfortunate that he was unable to attend because he wanted so much to be at this historic gathering.


Solemnly, Campbell then highlighted Wally Jay's many martial arts accomplishments. The audience listened attentively as Campbell shared that Great Grandmaster Wally Jay had received the Certificate of Mastery in Kodenkan Jujitsu on February 22,1948 from the great Hawaiian martial artist Professor Okazaki. Campbell noted that that was almost 60 years ago. His Judo teacher was none other than the Hawaiian Champion, Ken Kawachi, who gave him the key to the Small Circle Jujitsu techniques. He had also studied under Island martial arts legends as Paul Kaelemakule and Juan Gomes.


Since that early beginning, Wally Jay had gone on to be twice inducted in the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame, earned an Honorary Doctorate by the College of Martial Arts, and honored with the Northern California Judo Coach of the Year Award. He had also received many awards in the past decades that includes "Outstanding Judo Coach," "Northern California Judo Coach of the Year," Black Belt Magazine's "Instructor of Jujitsu" and "Man of the Year" ... and featured on the covers of top-rated martial arts magazines.


Through his varied martial art experience, he developed his own system called Small Circle Jujitsu, which has been one of the great innovations of self-defense in modern times.



Campbell then interjected that Jay was a very close friend, mentor, and confidant to the late Bruce Lee, who had lived in the Bay Area during the early and mid-1960s.



Resuming, he conveyed that since those early times in American, Wally Jay, being a true ambassador, had taught and introduced his small circle jujitsu in 32 countries and was Team Captain who went to China in 1985. He demonstrated on Emperor's Day April 29th at the Dai Nippon Butokuden at Kyoto, Japan in 1992.  He has produced many national, state, and regional winners.


To accept the honor on behalf of Great Grandmaster Wally Jay was his long-time student Master James Hundon. Master Mark Gerry then presented Hundon the first Hall of Fame induction on Jay's behalf. The audience's applause was deafening as this ritualized induction process took place. History was made and the first official document of induction was formally bestowed.


Next, Campbell had the honor and pleasure of formally announcing the induction of Great Grandmaster Al Novak. Stating emphatically that Al Novak was one of the first Americans to train in the traditional Chinese fighting arts. He began training when doors were closed to outsiders that were not of Chinese ancestry. His Sifu, James Yimm Lee, was among the first American-Chinese to teach Al Novak the way of the Sil Lum style. This opened the doors to a myriad of martial arts disciplines.


His luminary martial arts career has spanned well over half a century with Great Grandmaster Al Novak training and sharing martial knowledge with virtually all of the top masters and Grandmasters in the United States. He was also one of the first Americans to open a commercial martial arts school in the United States. He did this with his Sifu and business partner James Yimm Lee.



Campbell then went on to elaborate that Great Grandmaster Novak holds the titles for many other original firsts in the field of American martial arts. Among them include being featured on the cover of some of the first English versions of martial arts books.  The first was James Lee's "MODERN KUNG-FU KARATE, Iron, Poison Hand" training manual. In part, it was James and Al's study of this rare technical art that inspired Bruce Lee to develop his techniques for short-distance penetration punching. He was also one of the first Americans to explore and master the art of "Iron Palm" training.


Great Grandmaster Al Novak has participated at more karate tournaments in the United States than any other martial artist in history. In the past 40 years he has served as head judge in kata and weapons at over 400 tournaments. Also, he served in the capacity as "Tournament Doc" at most of these martial arts competitive events.



Matter-of-factly, Campbell confided that Great Grandmaster Al Novak is the only individual that Bruce Lee would not spar with publicly. Because of his enormous power and lightning quick hand speed, anyone that crossed hands with Al in sparring was destined to get steamrolled before they could react or even block his awesome punching barrages.



He has seen the growth of martial arts expand from a very few close-knit kung-fu and karate groups to millions of practitioners over the past half century, one of the few men that can say that about the martial arts phenomena.



With those words said, Master Gerry again had the honor of presenting the second formal induction to a legendary American martial art cultural treasure and original pioneer.



As the applause subsided, Campbell, making note of the program before each witness to this ceremony, then eloquently expressed the honors, accomplishments and pioneering endeavors of another Bay Area martial arts legend.  This he did by saying that Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro's background, experience and contributions to the martial arts approach legendary proportions.

Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Great Grandmaster Castro's training began with the late Great Grandmaster William K. S. Chow, who brought him up into the black belt ranks.


In the early 1960s, he moved to the U.S. mainland settling in the San Francisco Bay Area where he began to teach and spread Shaolin Kenpo Karate, producing many top black belts who became masters in their own right.



In the intervening years, Great Grandmaster Castro also promoted numerous tournaments and demonstrations. He was among the first in the United States to produce large-scale karate tournaments that attracted thousands of fighters and spectators. His California Karate Championships, held in San Francisco for years, was the testing grounds for virtually every karate champion to ever compete on the karate circuit and all of the legendary fighters still talk of those days in the "Golden Era" of karate in the 1960s.
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