GUARDIAN KARATE ASSOCIATION

George Iberl is, to me, one of the most misunderstood men I know and one of the few men who really paid with their life's work to advance Isshinryu.  He is one who should have been on Angi Uezu's board of Isshinryu from the very beginning as he, has had, for over thirty years, sponsored Master Uezu's attendance at a yearly tournament.  Had he not done this, while others have not, and there are many that would have never met the Master.

He, during the early seventies, at my request, traveled to Tennessee to teach the last four kata to those who had forgotten them over the years.  He has never seen any thank you or acknowledgement of that trip and definitely never any payment.

George got involved in a verbal contest with rival Dojos in the very beginning.  He did something I would have never done.  He, at my suggestion, attended a meeting where all his rivals sat and watched videos of mine, of Shimabukuro Sensei.  George then did exactly the same kata, the same exact way.  George did, sometime after that, alter the kata, to please Uezu Sensei I think, but that is in itself no big deal.

I believe it was in 1963 when George started training with me.  He had met Ralph Lindquist at a religious meeting and no one could ignore Ralph when Ralph sold Isshinryu.  George had a big plus in his favor when he started.  He was as skinny as a rail, and had played soccer in Germany.  He had very powerful legs.  To this day George and I remain good friends.

Harry G. Smith