SHIHAN HONORED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
NEW
YORK, NEW YORK--Many
people would say that a martial-arts, national treasure has, for years, lived a
quiet and unassuming life in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Unlike many would-be grand masters, John Roseberry has humbly sought
answers on the floor of his dojo, and has trained and taught Asian martial arts
for the past fifty five years.
He has never sought fame, fortune and has consistently shunned the
limelight.
On
January 17th, John Roseberry was honored for his contributions to the
martial arts by the World Professional Martial Arts Organization headquartered
in New York City. Two years before,
Roseberry had been inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.
The honorary award was presented to Roseberry in the company of hundreds
of martial-arts teachers at a ceremony held in New York’s Madison Square
Garden.
Roseberry-Shihan
(title: Master of Teachers) has been training and teaching martial arts longer
than most of the self-appointed Grand Masters have been alive,” said Chairman
of the WPMA Aaron Banks. “He was
sweating on the dojo floor when most of today’s Grand Masters were having
their diapers changed.”
John
Roseberry, a career Marine, started training Judo in 1955, and started to train
Okinawan Karate in 1956. Prior to
training in the Asian martial arts, Roseberry was a Golden Gloves boxer and was
the All Armed Services heavyweight boxing champion.
Roseberry, stationed in Okinawa, began his martial journey in 1955, and
has continued to actively train and teach Asian martial arts for the next
fifty-five years.
As
a Marine, he was the All Marine Judo champion seven times, and captured the All
Services Judo title three times. In
1964 he was the heavyweight alternate for the U.S. Olympic Judo team.
Despite all of these competitive achievements, Roseberry says he most
cherishes his being the first and only non-Asian to win the Okinawan Judo
Championship.
Roseberry
trains, teaches, and holds advanced black belt rankings in a number of different
martial disciplines including: 10th Degree Black Belt in Okinawan
Goju Ryu Karate; 7th Degree Black Belt in Judo; 3rd Degree
Black Belt in Aikido, and a number of other senior ranks in Daitoryu, Kobudo,
and Iaido.
Being
in the military was key in Roseberry’s exposure to a wide array of martial
arts. He served in both the Korean
War and in Vietnam. He was a
hand-to-hand and unarmed combat instructor for the Marines and retired at the
rank of Gunnery Sergeant. In
addition to his teaching throughout North America, Roseberry has taught martial
arts in Okinawa, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Europe and Israel.
For
this legacy of training and teaching, Roseberry was honored at the gala event
held in Madison Square Garden. There,
he received commendation and a special achievement award for the thousands of
students who have been exposed to the martial arts because of his community
outreach and consistent teaching of traditional Asian martial arts.
The award was accepted by Leon Swain, Sensei of a Maryland-based dojo who
is a long-time student of Roseberry’s, and is Sensei of a dojo that belongs to
Roseberry’s Lincoln-based organization—the Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan Budo
Organization.
Shihan
(Roseberry) is like this best-kept secret living in the middle of the
country,” said Swain. “Here,
back East, once people hear about him and know what he’s done, everyone wants
to meet him, wants to train with him, and he has kind of turned into this
legend. He never toots his own
horn, and especially here back East, that is unusual.
Funny though how he has attained a sort of celebrity status despite he
has never promoted himself.”
According
to all of his senior students, Roseberry believes totally in the martial arts
and their ability to solve problems and fix lives.
According to his students, he often says, “All the answers are on the
floor,” that meaning the floor of the dojo where martial artists train.
His Lincoln dojo is the oldest and largest dojo in the Midwest.
The hundreds of students who train there include a rich diversity: from
CEO’s to laborers—cops to psychologists, at-risk teens and middle-age soccer
moms. All share in common their
training, and the dojo floor.
In
2008 the World Professional Martial Arts Organization, in another Madison Square
Gardens event, had inducted John Roseberry in their Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
True to form, Roseberry did not attend, and had a senior student accept
the award in his stead.
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Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan featured in the latest edition of Star City Sports
