ACADEMY of KEMPO JU JITSU and ASSOCIATION
TENSHI GOJU KAI
Above, (TOP) Gogen "The Cat" Yamaguchi - Founder Goju Kai.
Left to right, Gogen Yamaguchi promotes Lou Angel to Sandan, thrird degree black belt at the Ueno Dojo in Tokyo Japan, September 1963 as could be seen at the All Goju Ryu Network. "September - Lou Angel [New York] receives the grade of 3rd Dan from Gogen Yamaguchi after extensive training at the Ueno Dojo in Tokyo Japan."
Hanshi Lou Angel is listed on the Goju Ryu Timeline, pay attention to the years 1961, 1963 and 1987.
About one week after Merv started training, an American, Lou Angel, arrived. Lou was a 2nd Dan from Peter Urban's dojo in New York, who had come to Japan to further his training. Yamaguchi Sensei found cheap accommodation for both Merv and Lou, close to the dojo. They were very fortunate to receive private lessons from Yamaguchi Sensei himself, for one hour each day, before classes started. They were also fortunate that one of the Shihans - Gon Yamamoto - took an interest in them and gave them private lessons three times a week after classes had finished. These lessons would vary in time from one to three hours, making some of their training days 10 hours long. When one considers that the most dedicated martial artist in Australia would only train 10 to 12 hours a week, one can see how Merv Oakley and Lou Angle crammed so much knowledge into their heads in a relatively short time. Although living in a Spartan fashion, their money was running out quickly.
Yamaguchi Sensei arranged for Lou to stay with one of the students and for Merv to stay with his eldest son, Nonremy, in his apartment in Oemuchi. This was a great help both financially and for Karate training. Nonremy was preparing to go to America to teach GoJu-Kai in San Francisco the next year and was keen to improve his English. So Merv taught Nonremy English, and he taught Merv Karate. Without all of this specialised training, the solid foundation of the art could not have been laid down so solidly for Merv to continue to build on for the rest of his life.
After months of hard training, the big day arrived - the American and the Australian were to go for their grading. Both were very nervous, Lou was so nervous that he drank a full three-litre bottle of sake and three bottles of beer the night before the grading. On the morning of the grading, Lou had one hell of a hangover and Merv failed to get any sleep at all. Some condition to go before Gogen Yamaguchi on such an important occasion - but somehow they both battled through it.
Then there was the most difficult part: since there were over a thousand people attending the grading, it was three weeks before the results were posted. Merv looked at the list to try to find his name, but everything was written in Japanese. But one of the other students pointed to Merv's name and told him that he was now a Black Belt. Then Lou Angel walked in and the students came to attention. The student with the highest grade in the dojo yelled "Angel Sempai!" and all of the students yelled "Os!" Yes, Lou had passed the grading and was now a 3rd Dan - a rare achievement for a non-Japanese person, back in 1963. Both Merv Oakley and Lou Angle left Japan.
