Bouncer chronicles- How to hire a bouncer

When I was running my nightclub in the 70s and 80s we often started our after work play around 3am.  My shift started at 6pm where we prepped the night and began to get busy at 9pm. If you came after 10 you probably waited in line at the door for at least a half an hour.

There were always two bouncers at the door.  I was the manager and third bouncer most nights and backed the guys up and took charge if things started to get heated there. We had last call about 1:30 am and had all drinks off the tables at 2.  The music was done and people started heading home or sometimes congregated at a local all night diner for some late/early breakfast.

The nightclub crew’s night then began.  We mixed drinks for ourselves and often times played cards or pool for a few hours before we headed home.  By this time it was 4 or 5 am and the only place open was the gas station across the street where we would fill up the car for the 30 minute drive back to Norwich.

Having stopped at the gas station many times we often would chat up the attendant who did not see many people stopping in at this late hour.  It was a local eighteen year old named Gary who was always asking questions about the bar and wanted to know all the details.  He was interested in the bar fights and were were happy to tell him all about them.

One night as we were gassing up there were a couple of bikers hassling him at one of the pumps.  These were big biker guys with the hard look you would expect.  I heard that they had gotten gas and ridden off a few nights before and never paid.  They were back for more and thought they might intimidate this teenager and take advantage with their local toughguy big rep.

My brother and I started to walk towards them to offer Gary some backup, but, before we knew what happened he waded into them.  Gary who was an all state wrestler pounded them, tossed them and sent the home with a verbal spanking to never come back.  This all happened in a minute and there was never a need for any help.

After the bikers left Gary came over to us.  I only had two questions.  One, are you ok, and two do you want a job as a bouncer where you can get paid to fight and meet girls too?

I have been friends with Gary for over fourty years.  After high school he joined the marines and while stationed in Okinawa went in to become an accomplished back belt and judo competitor.  I even taught him some karate for a few years.

I think I will have to get more bouncer stories from him as we reminisce over the old days.

Special "K"

                             Special K

Karissa Choquette came into her first introductory class with a port in her chest for her chemotherapy treatment.  Her Mom only asked that partners take care not to damage it during training because it had to stay in during her chemo treatments for her cancer.

Karissa trained alongside all the teens and adults in each class with no worries about whatever special needs she might need or be entitled to because of her condition.

Her training was always enthusiastic and the smile on her face was always there.  For a long time, no one even knew of her medical condition and we always treated her just like all the other students.

As her training progressed she really connected with many of the students instructors and teens in the school.  It was a pleasure to see how great she did.  Karissa was able to go through the rigorous Black Belt training and achieved first dan in Tang Soo Do.  The support the entire school showed was outstanding

Thanks for letting us teach you Special K!

Master B

Grandmaster Nick Cerio

 Back in the 80’s we ventured out on the tournament trail across New England in the pursuit of higher levels of karate competition.  The karate king of Rhode Island, Grandmaster Nick Cerio, had the largest contingent of students and ran the biggest tournaments.  Being a student of Mr. Cheezic opened a lot of doors for us so GM Cerio welcomed us with open arms.

Over the years we spent a lot of time together and got very friendly.  One of my fondest memories is having a dinner that lasted late into the night with Mr. Cheezic, Nick Cerio and Chuck Merriman.  Oh the stories that they told.  What rich history.

Our Black Belt Hero.

This video may be disturbing and contains violence 

Tom Castonguay and his mom Chris began karate back in the 80's.  Tom was about ten.  His Mom watched in the back intently until one day one of the Black Belts asked if she wanted to join.   They have both achieved the rank of 2nd dan.

Tom, or TC as I call him was a quiet boy who always showed up and dedicated himself to martial arts.  After getting his Black Belt he and his mother, both became instructors in the school.  Once Tom became a young adult and graduated from high school, he decided to follow his passion for the military and joined the army where he excelled.  He aways mentioned how our karate school's demand for excellence and hard training prepared him for life as a military man.  He went on to serve for several years and was involved in the gulf war.

After leaving the military he followed his next dream of becoming a sheriff in Austin, Texas where he married a lovely woman and is the father of two girls.  He is a seasoned police officer and I have stayed in touch with him over the years.  Recently when I was touching base with Tom, I asked how things were going and he said he has a tough year.  I thought he was referencing the pandemic until he sent me this clip.

This video is actual body cam video of him responding to a distress call involving a woman and child.  He was wounded in this shootout so be prepared.  In the future we plan to host him in a seminar on how our martial arts program prepared him for life.  After a long discussion my favorite comment from him was "your martial arts program takes sheep and makes them sheep dogs".   Think about it, this is a powerful statement.  

I plan to do another post dissecting this video and how we can learn from it.  I look forward to the presentation of this Black Belt hero!

Master B
 

Grandmaster Ed Parker

Grandmaster Ed Parker, founder of American Kempo was a legend in the martial arts world.

This is my day with the Grandmaster.

Several years ago I attended a KRANE tournament hosted by Tony Cogliandro up in the Boston area.  Tony had been training with Ed Parker for a few years and hosted him as a special guest.  Parker was to be a judge in my black belt rings that day.  As usual at that time I had a pretty good day and was able to chat with him after the event.  As you might think he was heavily in demand.  We took this photo and we went our separate ways.

Over the course of the year Master Parker traveled all over the world teaching and meeting thousands of new people.  It was again time for Tony’s event and I was looking forward to attending. As soon as I entered the gym I turned to see Master Parker was again in attendance.  He walked over to me, shook my hand and said “Hi Mike, competing again this year?”

I was floored.  With all the people he knows and meets every year he remembers my name!  I was stunned and honored with that moment.  It was then I decided to attend his long running and prestigious event in Long Beach, California.

The internationals had been a who’s who event over the decades even having a famous Bruce Lee demo there a few years before.  The afternoon before I went to sign up with one of his daughters.  In New England a tournament was about 40.00 with extra events being about 10.00 additional per event.  The internationals were 80.00 per event, two events 160.00, wow!  When I mentioned our sliding scale to the Parker daughter she just laughed, she said you are not in Connecticut anymore!

I wanted to pay my respects to Master Parker (in Cali they called him Mr. Parker).  I was escorted into a private back room where he sat on a throne like chair taking audiences.  Very regal indeed.

I did take first place in weapons there and met Professor Toro Tanaka who was standing at the edge of my ring when I was competing.  Only about 3,000 competitors that day.

A memorable day with the Grandmaster.

Have some fun

 

Several years ago a local nursing home was creating an ad campaign to show the vitality of their patrons. They chose our school to do some fun shots that ended up in several of their ads  This was one of many great photos.  The lady “breaking” the board was a hot ticket.   She asked if I would take her on a date and I told her I was married. 

She replied “I don’t care”!

Bouncer Chronicles - 5- Listen to the jungle sounds

Listen to the jungle sounds.

It was three months since we opened Michael's Place.  We had gotten the kinks out and the nightclub was really cooking.  We were off to a great start.  Anyone who did not arrive before 9 pm usually had to wait in line to get in, we were that kind of busy.

Being a new club we had the drinks flowing, the music blasting  and the crowd was revved up.  Week after week we had picked up steam and business did not seem like it could not get any better.  The dress code was keeping the clientele civilized and we met so many nice people.  And just then my college roommate who was also bartending jinxed us.

"You know we have been open for three months and we have not had even one fight yet"

 And then it just exploded.  Across the room a crowd of patrons had come together in a close group.  With the darkly lit atmosphere and the loud music we had not seen the conditions change.  The crowd in that area appeared to sway back and forth kind of like a school of fish darting back and forth.  We then noticed the animated movement, then the fists started flying.

By the time we had made our way over it was a full out brawl.  Five or more people were exchanging blows and people had stepped back from the melee.  We started ripping people apart and throwing them to the ground.  As soon as we did that the action stopped.  That was our baptism into bouncing at the new bar.  This was always followed by an after action meeting on how we could have done it better.

The key takeaway.  Keep scanning your environment for a change in the rhythm.  Just like in the jungle, when it gets quiet a predator is near.

Stay safe!

Mike Bogdanski

My Olympics

 No I never went to the olympics! 

 

Watching the Olympics this summer made me reminisce on my international competition days.  In the early 90’s we traveled to Tatabanya, Hungary to compete with teams from several countries.  I was lucky enough to win several medals and world cups that day.

The best part was not just the tournament, but the sightseeing of Budapest and Vienna.  The very best part was meeting new friends from Australia and our long friendship and travel there. I competed in several events with Australian team member

Robby Jameson.  On our departure he said to me-come to Australia and we will show you a good time!