Friends during their days at Lake Orion High School, Lakeville resident Dave Spearing and Shelby Township resident Jeffery Mason never dreamed that 20 years later they would both be sixth-level black belts in the Japanese system of Koei-Kan Karate-Do.
Spearing, who graduated from LOHS in 1974, started studying martial arts when he was 14 years old and now runs his own school out of The Gym in Lake Orion.
‘Dave was almost a black belt when I started,? said Mason. ‘He taught me my front kick, which is the first one you learn.?
Mason, who graduated from LOHS in 1973, initially set his sights on wrestling, and said he was inspired by Dr. Ron Tripp.
‘Dave and I knew each other since junior high school, when we played baseball against each other. We played football together at Lake Orion High School,? Mason said. ‘I wrestled in college. I was 22 years old when I started studying martial arts.?
Mason also runs his own school, in Utica. Spearing was promoted to sixth-level black belt about three years ago, and Mason just earned the honor himself in September.
‘We’ve had a long road and made it where few have,? said Spearing.
Mason said eight people outside of Japan have made it to sixth-level black belt in the system of Koei-Kan.
‘It’s a very rare grade in this art,? said Mason. ‘Making it to fifth is hard enough…making it to the sixth level, for me, was 27 years. I was promoted to the fifth level in 1995.?
Mason has owned his own school since 1986, and his daughter Amanda, 20, a student at Michigan State University, is a black belt. He also has two sons, ages 4 and 5, with wife Lisa.
‘Dave used to run Spearing Tool and Dye. He doesn’t do that anymore, but he used to have a school there,? Mason said.
Spearing said he was inspired to go into martial arts after taking a self-defense class at school.
‘I enjoyed that and I also enjoyed the Kung Fu (TV show),? he said. ‘I got interested in the meaning and history of it, so I started studying.?
Spearing and Mason trained at the same school, the Academy of Koei-Kan run by Jack Sabat, now the system’s director in California.
‘He was both of our instructors,? Mason said, explaining that the various degrees of black belts in Koei-Kan are ‘honorary.?
‘It has to do with your previous record,? he explained. ‘Whether or not you are promoted is based on how long you have spent in the art, and been active, and what you have done for the system itself and martial arts in general.
‘Your senior instructor decides when you are ready (to be promoted),? Mason said. ‘The person promoting you has to be two degrees below the level you are being promoted to…so only a fourth degree could promote someone to sixth degree.?
Both Spearing and Mason have had the opportunity to meet with Eizo Onishi, founder of the Koei-Kan system, which is an original style of karate that can be traced back to its origins in China, Okinawa and Japan.
The system was brought to the United States in 1954 by Edward Kaloudis, with the founder’s permission.
When a student in Koei-Kan is qualified and accepted for membership, the student is required to adhere to the honored traditions and principles, which emphasize total mind and body development.
Koei-Kan literally translates to ‘prosper with happiness,? and Mason said it involves much more than what the stereotypes of martial arts invoke.
‘It is to instill an insatiable desire to improve yourself,? he said. ‘The misconceptions are people think karate is solely for brutality…it can be brutal, but that’s not the only reason for it.?
Mason said often people in the upper ranks of martial arts are very peaceful people.
‘He may back down (in a fight) because he wants to, not because he has to,? he said. ‘People think karate will make you meaner…in fact it helps quell that in you.
‘In Japanese martial arts, through confidence and strength you learn you don’t have to fight,? Mason said.
Spearing and Mason are both four-time international grand champions, which they said is another rarity.
‘I don’t know anyone who has won four times besides us,? Mason said.
Besides his daughter, Mason’s brother Steve is also involved in Koei-Kan, and is head of the southern states. He is currently preparing for his fifth level black belt.
‘The training is brutal, but you work your way up to that,? Mason said. ‘We are a full contact school, but kids all start at their own level…You start at the bottom and work your way up.?
Spearing said a lot of people know of the Koei-Kan system because of the demonstrations they do.
‘Our style puts on one of the better demonstrations,? he said.
For example, Mason has done the bed of nails demonstration, where he lies on a bed of nails and has another board of nails placed on top of him, then hit with a hammer.
‘The first time you do it, it’s a rush,? he said.
‘Any demonstration requires a lot of mental fortitude. You’re not thinking of anything else,? Spearing said. ‘You just get this rush of adrenaline.?
Mason, who is Catholic and attended St. Joseph Elementary School in Lake Orion as a child, said another important aspect of Koei-Kan for people to know is that it can be used with any religion.
‘The physical component of it is just the vehicle,? he said. ‘That’s what we use to obtain the other aspects of it. Our goal at this point is to pass on as much knowledge as we can.?
Mason and Spearing are no longer competing in Koei-Kan.
‘Once you’ve competed for so long, your instructor will tell you to bow out and let the people below you have a chance,? Spearing explained.
‘You have to open the door for some other folks,? Mason agreed.
One of the more troubling aspects of martial arts, Mason said, is that anyone who wants to can open a school.
‘There’s no state regulations,? he said. ‘The bad thing is, they’re out there. Parents should always do a lot of research into the school and the system they are teaching before they enroll their child.?
‘A lot of parents put their kids in karate for discipline,? said Spearing.
As for obtaining a seventh level black belt, both Spearing and Mason said they aren’t thinking about it, because it’s too far in the future.
‘It’s something that would just happen in time,? Spearing said.
‘It will be along time, the minimum wait will be eight years,? Mason said.
For more information, visit www.koei-kan.com. Mason’s school can be reached at (586) 731-1040, and for more information on Spearing’s call at (248) 343-3553.