still frightening plus being a butt thruster in the kokutsu dachi, Master Longo was always ready to remind me to fix the mistake. Those of you from Hombu will remember how. I felt that I was not improving and yet still Master Longo patiently worked with me, even when I accidentally punched him in the mouth while working on a technique. I almost quit that night!

     Later I began to finally learn some katas and a few basics. “Take care of the little things and they will take care of you.” Master Longo was becoming a mentor as well as my instructor.

     More katas with lots of bunkai and little by little Master Longo also became a friend. I not only learned from him in class, but after class too. Many of us would stay after classes to continue practice and talk. Master Longo was always there with good advice whether it was for karate or a personal problem.

     After I became a black belt sometime Master Longo would call me Artie in class. He would always apologize. I don’t think he knew that I took that as a compliment not as a slight. I was proud to have Master Longo as a friend.

     Eventually many of us at Hombu adopted Master Longo as a surrogate father. To our amusement, he began to describe himself as “a kindly grandfather type.” As it turned out, he was right as usual. I got to see even another side to Master Longo. He always spoke highly of his grandchildren. He really enjoyed their company.

     As the years went on so did my life. With many changes I wandered away from Karate, but never from the friends I made. I heard that Master Longo was sick. I was sure that he would beat it.

     Later Master Longo invited me to go shooting with him. As always, he was able to fix my mistakes and got me back on target (literally). Here I was a police officer, yet my karate instructor showed me that I was making mistakes and how to fix them. I think it was about two weeks later that I heard Master Longo wasn’t doing well. I was shocked. It just wasn’t supposed to happen, not to him. He was bigger than life!

     To this day I can still hear him giving my advice and talking to me. It’s as if he is still here helping me to continue on. I know we all still dearly miss him, but I think his spirit is alive in all of us. His knowledge, kindness and sense of humor have become a part of us all.

Art Powers