young to leave us. We who loved him were selfish enough not to want him to go. Those of us who knew him have missed him dearly; we have shed many tears in his passing, however those of you who never met him or never got to know him directly will miss him the most.

You will miss him more, because those of us who did know him had the opportunity to learn from his unique style of instruction and to benefit from the personnel touch he provided when he corrected a kata or tweaked a technique.

You will miss him because you will never have the honor of being at the receiving end of a well-placed seikan or mawashi geri. You will never have the opportunity to watch him, in person teaching, whether it was in Hombu, at a seminar or in a black belt class and learn from him while he taught and as we watched him teach.

We were privileged to get to know the man, the person inside the gi. We learned to appreciate him for more then his indomitable martial arts skills, we got to know the person he was, we learned about his philosophies, beliefs, his likes and dislikes. He shared with us first hand stories about his wife and daughters, his grandchildren, his work, hobbies and so much more. We spoke to him like a father and he counseled us like sons and daughters, always encouraging us to move forward to be better then we thought we could be. He taught us how to, and I quote “Take care of the little things and the little things will take care of you”. A statement that for all of us who knew him became carved in our hearts and minds and ultimately for all of you, carved in stone forever... 

When I think in terms of Master Longo these two years seems to have passed in the blink of an eye and taken an eternity to pass all at the same time. Let me share with you some of my memories, thoughts and reflections of Mr. Longo.

My first memory of Mr. Longo goes like this; I started Kokondo karate during a session that was being offered through the South Windsor, Connecticut recreation department 18 years ago. The first class in that session was taught by Mr. Arel the second by Miss Nukus (both memorable in their own right) however the third class is where I first met Master Longo. I did not know who he was or even that he existed. Not surprisingly however his reputation preceded him into the class, he had evidentially taught an occasional class to this group before. I say that because there was a different kind of buzz, about the fact he would be teaching class that night. Being new I asked, what was going on, what was this all about. I received comments like; Mr. Longo is very tough on the class or, he works the class really hard or, he acts and sounds like a drill sergeant. One woman even said that she was a little scared of him because he was so tough.

Well, I have to tell you, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as I found out that night and countless times since he was all of those things and much, much more. I had prior martial arts training before joining this class so being in a dojo was not a new experience for me. However being in a dojo with Mr. Longo was, I immediately recognized that Mr. Longo was an excellent martial artist and a great instructor. He had the ability to get you excited about a technique or a kata, then he would fine tune and refine it until you not only did it well, but you had the confidence you could use what you were taught. I learned quickly that like Mr. Arel this man had a tremendous amount of knowledge to share and wanted to teach it to you. He taught me much during that first class.

A year later I started to attend classes at Hombu in Newington, Connecticut. Mr. Arel taught those classes with Mr. Longo assisting him. Mr. Arel would teach a technique and invariably there would be a question or concern from the students. Often times Mr. Arel would ask Mr. Longo to answer the question or address the students concern. You would then hear a short answer usually with an engineering slant followed by an explosive display of how the technique should be done or what could be tweaked to make it perform better. As an engineer, Master Longo recognized and understood Shihan Arel’s incomparable insights into the mechanical dynamics of the Martial Arts. Shihan Arel inspired Mr. Longo to study and ultimately to absorb that information to an unprecedented degree. It was this insight, information and understanding he strove to pass on to his students. It never ceased to amaze me the depth and breath of what he knew or understood about the underlying principles on which Kokondo is based.

I was lucky enough to have many conversations with Mr. Longo. We discussed everything from politics to personnel family issues. He was a very private person, I would often asked him about himself, like when we would discuss his presence in the dojo or at a seminar he never truly understood why students were in awe of his martial arts abilities, while anyone who knew him certainly did. When we were having these discussions he would often refer to himself as “A Kindly Old Grandfather” (click to view Caricature) which we all knew was a far cry from the Drill Instructor persona he could adopt with ease at the drop of a hat whether in Hombu, Yudanshakai or at a National events. He truly was an endearing man, as long as you weren’t on the receiving end of a well-placed seikan. He could unleash awesome power when he wanted too. I remember many years ago, the very first time I saw Mr. Longo perform a board break. We were at the Rye Street fair doing a demonstration, several Kokondo-ka had done board breaking to loud kiais, when Mr. Arel turns to Mr. Longo and asked him to break some boards. Mr. Longo selected 6 12” by 12” boards from a pile on the side and carefully stacked them onto the two cinder blocks resting on the ground. He dropped down to one knee, glanced at Mr. Arel and with a well-placed shuto proceeded to smash the boards like they were toothpicks. No big showy windup, no kiai just one fluid motion into the break. Then he calmly stood up bowed to the crowd and picked up the pile of kindling he had just created.

During class Mr. Longo would demonstrate the quiet traditional method of teaching a technique, only to be followed minutes later with the explosive command “Hagime” to begin a kata. Then after doing 20 minutes of full speed kata, Mr. Longo would stop the class in Ko Kutsu Dachi and spent the next 5 minutes (it seemed like an eternity) going around making corrections while we stayed in stance. Invariably you would start to hear groans or see kokondo-ka standing taller in stance, to which Master Longo would command, “suck it up and sit in it”. That is suck up the pain and fatigue lower the stance were it belongs and concentrate on the technique in question. He would follow that with explanations like, this is martial arts, you are learning self defense what are you going to do when you get tired in a fight, give up, if you do you lose the fight, suck it up.

It was great; Mr. Longo would always relate the martial arts to the practical side of life, work you to the very edge of your endurance then bring you back, you always wanted more.

The dojo halls echoed with commands like: “Bend that front knee more.” “Make that stance longer, wider” “Lock in, Focus, Kime, Power.” “Smile, Smile Snarl” and “Take care of the little things and the little things will take care of you”. Sometimes he would say to the class, “Who remembers the Gillette razor blade commercials”. A very few of us old enough to remember would raise our hands and he would say “Just like Gillette blue blades, Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be sharp”. He would then explain to us how we could apply that axiom to improve are martial arts skills.

Mr. Longo loved Red Skelton and would frequently quote him in reference to various techniques. When describing the transitions from one technique to another, Mr. Longo would quote Red Skelton saying, “Who remembers Red Skelton? And what he used to say about Guzzlers Gin, Smooooth” you need to keep your techniques smooth. Mr. Longo would give detailed explanations of the mechanics of a technique, breaking them down and clarifying not only why but also how the technique worked.

When doing kata or demonstrating technique you could always hear the pop of Mr. Longo’s gi. Art Powers, Peter Dylag and I used to always kid him about how he got his gi’s to pop, we would tease that his wife must starch them or something. One day when we were teasing him we asked him, Where can we get a gi that popped like his? His wry response was, “Lots of practice.” Then he turned and walked away, leaving us to look at each other and nod. He did that a lot, and each time he did we learned something valuable.

Oh I almost forgot, I would like to share with you a story about Mr. Longo’s favorite saying “Take care of the little things and the little things will take care of you”.

Several of us, students in the Newington Hombu, would frequently hear Master Longo tell us the key to being a great martial artist was in the details, the little things. Master Longo could always be heard telling the class (particularly when we were having trouble with one technique or another) that we needed to "Take care of the little things and the little things will take care you". Now I can honestly say we heard that many, many, many times always striving to incorporate it into our techniques. Mr. Dylag and I would often say to Mr. Longo "you know that should be carved in stone", and he would just nod. One day Mr. Dylag walked into class with this rather large package wrapped up in a box and cloth. We all looked at him quizzically, waiting. Finally Master Longo asked, "what's in the box?" Mr. Dylag produced that very stone (click to view stone), Mr. Dylag had carved into the stone the immortal words quoted to us so many times "Take care of the little things and the little things will take care you.” That phrase was the theme of the 2001 seminar where that very stone was on display for all to see.

I have much, much more to tell you, the more I write the more that comes to mind that I would like to share, but let me close by telling you how Master Longo was the driving force behind starting a dojo. During the last several years Mr. Arel was extremely busy with the Jushin book, other projects and classes and as such relied heavily on Mr. Longo to take over and teach at Hombu Newington by himself.

In the last year that Master Longo taught at hombu, there were only a few students attending on a weekly basis, myself, Lynn Comeau and Tamara Samuals, and on occasion Peter or Tracy Dylag and Greg Howard. Mr. Longo started missing classes once every month or so at first then more frequently. If you knew Mr. Longo you knew this was strange behavior. I can remember nights when he would teach for the full class time plus when only one student (beside myself) would show up. He rarely canceled class simply because attendance or enrollment was down.

I was one of the select few people who knew early on that Master Longo had cancer. I spoke with him at least once a week sometimes more often. We spoke about how he was feeling, his family, his prognoses and as well as many other things. The conversation always came back to class in Newington, he would always tell me make sure I taught this or that, covered this kata or that technique. It was during this time, these conversations that he made me promise not to let the classes in Newington end, keep them alive and running (his words not mine). I promised him I would do everything I could to insure it. 

The week before he died he came into the dojo, something he had not done in several weeks. I asked how he was feeling and he indicated not to badly. I told him I was honored he was there but if he wasn't feeling well why did he come to class... He then paid me the highest compliment I have ever received, he said I wanted to finish teaching you Henka 3. He had started teaching it to me before he got sick, and told me he wanted to finish. So that night he taught me Henka 3, just one more example of the kind of generous devoted and dedicated man he was.

After Master Longo died, Shihan honored me by asked me to keep teaching at Hombu Newington. Unfortunately, shortly after that Mr. Arel informed me we were losing the lease on the dojo and we would not be able to continue teaching classes there. Thankfully in honor of Master Longo’s wish I was lucky enough to start a new dojo in Newington. There was only one task left, which was to figure out a way to honor Master Longo with the new dojo while making it successful and keep his memory alive.

I asked Mr. Arel’s permission to name the dojo after Master Robert Longo, and with his permission the dojo Kokondo Martial Arts MRL (MRL stands for Master Robert Longo) was born. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t think of Mr. Longo and Never a class passes that I don’t knowingly or unknowingly quote Mr. Longo in word, action or deed, as I teach a technique or work the class through kata. Mr. Longo, like all the techniques, all the katas and all of my experiences with him, are a part of me ingrained me, in my teaching style and in how I live my life. I speak to my classes about Mr. Longo all the time… I want them to know, to never forget, that their training is rooted in traditional martial arts instruction taught to Master Robert Longo by Shihan Paul Arel and from them through me to my students. 

Personally I miss him very much. Robert Longo’s untimely death has left all who knew him or knew of him feeling the personal loss of such a dynamic and powerful Kokondo-ka. Least we NEVER forget quoting Master Robert Longo, 9^th Dan Kokondo Karate…

"Take care of the little things and the little things will take care you.”

Jim Scanlon