Gary Alexander belongs to that select group of respected martial arts masters who seem to have been around forever. He was winning tournaments on the East Coast long before many of Black Belt's readers were even born. After he stopped competing, he was still leaving his mark on the martial arts community by teaching karate the way he thought it should be taught. Never one to pull his punches, Alexander lets loose below with a no-holds-barred critique of the martial arts in America. You can be sure that thousands of other practitioners think the same way he does; they just don't haven't spoken up yet. -Editor

Black Belt: You are well-known for having made a controversial statement: "The martial arts weren't popular until they were made easy." Please explain.
Gary Alexander: Many of the guys who laid the groundwork in this country for the martial arts were ex-military people like myself. We practiced a certain type of martial arts at a certain level, and now we see the arts diminishing. They're turning into anything but martial arts. There are too many "friends" out there selling things like phony rank and workouts that are nothing more than aerobics sessions. This is fine for fitness, but you shouldn't slap a black belt on people who do it. If you're going to do martial arts, there has to be impact and conditioning. The word that used to be associated with black belt was "coveted" because not too many people could earn one.

BB: You seem very passionate about this.
Alexander: It does bother me quite a bit. For example, how many judo schools do you see out there? How many phony judo black belts? Very few, because you can't pretend to be good at judo. Or boxing. But karate has a certain mystique that allows a lot of wannabe practitioners to say things like, "We can't do this technique because it's too deadly." I don't fall for this or for statements like, "The instructor is such a grandmaster that he can't get out on the mat and divulge all his secret deadly techniques." What you really have is a bunch of snake oil salesmen.

BB: What makes you think that the martial arts are watered down from what they were 30 years ago?
Alexander: We don't have as many fighters today as we had then. As far as fighting is concerned, I don't care if you call them "ultimate fighters" or grapplers or boxers or martial artists; I admire anyone who is willing to go in there and do it. I don't mean to say that everyone should go out and fight on the street or in the ring, but I have to admire anyone who becomes tough by training tough.

BB: To what do you attribute the decline of the martial arts in America?
Alexander: Well, in particular there is [one Asian nation] from which instructors have come here and practically destroyed the martial arts.

BB: The people responsible for ruining the martial arts came from just one country?
Alexander: Yes. Instructors from other nations came and managed to maintain their integrity. They didn't try to exploit the "uneducated Americans" by making them think they were learning viable martial arts skills. And they didn't create an environment in which mothers and fathers want their 6-year-old prodigy running around with a black belt.

BB: And all this has happened because of the actions of instructors from one country?
Alexander: Yes. They came here and sold more phony rank than anybody else, and now their American counterparts, of course, have picked up on this. Now it has snowballed. It they went back to their country and taught like this, they'd be hanged.

BB: Has it always been this way?
Alexander: Back in the early days, a bunch of martial artists came here and maintained the standards of their art. They weren't here just to make money; they were here to train good martial artists. There was no prostitution of the arts. And the first instructors from the [problem nation] that came in were respectable men with a military background. They were tough and had integrity. Then the second- and third-generation guys-the so-called grandmasters showed up and acted like they were gods. They didn't fight any Americans because it might blow their image. Now the Americans have picked up on it, and many are exploiting the martial arts the same way.

BB: Has this affected the teaching of other martial arts in the United States?
Alexander: All the martial arts are affected now. There's always the crowd out there looking for a fast buck. A lot of these instructors slap a black belt on a student and the student is never really tested thoroughly. The student never has to prove that he's worthy of wearing a black belt. The phony black belt has been marketed so well that the general public doesn't know what's right anymore.

BB: Has this led to the martial arts becoming easier across the board?
Alexander: At some schools, there has been no impact. But at many, they don't hit the heavy bag because it's a risk. They don't spar because sparring is a risk. It spooks people, and the instructor loses money. If there is no such thing as no-contact boxing, no-contact wrestling or no-contact judo, why should there be no-contact karate? If you want to be a martial artist, then measure up. And if you can't do that, take your belt off.

BB: Do you think that modern martial artists lack the discipline of their predecessors?
Alexander: Definitely. Many students don't even know what discipline is. If you try to discipline them, they walk out the door. These days there are very few people worthy of wearing a black belt, period. People come into my school, and they have spent maybe four or five years in some other school, but they can't even fight. They think they're learning something there, but when the chips are down they're surprised to find out exactly what they don't know.

BB: So no matter what people say, being a black belt means you've got to know how to fight?
Alexander: Absolutely. If you're not there to learn how to defend yourself, then what are you there for? If you want exercise, that is fine. The martial arts are one of the best forms of exercise-if you do it right-because you have to concentrate on what you're doing. The punching and kicking and aerobics and cardio-they're all there. But what the money mongers have done is skim off the lifestyle benefits and sell black belts. You end up with nothing but aerobics practicing black belts. And when the time comes to use their "skills," they're going to be in deep trouble. My battle cry is "No impact, no karate." In other words, if you can't make contact with a striking arm or leg, what can you do? If you can't fight with a martial art, what can you do?

BB: Have martial arts teaching methods changed drastically in the past 30 years?
Alexander: Yes they have, but they shouldn't have. The word "martial" means military. My background is the Marine Corps, and for 40 years I've run my own boot camp in my dojo (training hall). In other dojo, you've got instructors conducting "50-percent workouts": Don't make students sweat, or you'll drive them out; don't condition them because you'll scare them away; don't discipline them, or they'll quit. Yet these are the very things that make a martial artist.

BB: But what about students who are not physically able to fight like a 20-year-old?
Alexander: I get people who can't spar because they have a bad back or this or that, or because they are older. And I don't expect them to be a gladiator, but I do expect them to learn-and be able to use-basic self-defense methods. They can learn to hit hard and run. There are many ways to teach physically disabled people how to defend themselves. But many instructors are now saying that karate is not about fighting. Give me a break!

BB: Is there any hope that the trend to make the martial arts easier will be reversed in the future?
Alexander: A lot of our old-timers are dying, and I don't think they can be replaced easily. I see everything coming into kind of a "tutti-frutti" mode. In other words, everybody is studying a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and we're seeing multi-faceted styles being created. There's nothing wrong with this, but I have always believed that if you are going to study the martial arts, you should stay with one particular discipline.

BB: Then is cross-training a bad thing?
Alexander: Not if it's done right. For example, I teach Isshin-ryu karate, but I also teach what I call "Isshin-ryu plus." I maintain the discipline of the Isshin-ryu system, which means sparring and self-defense. Then I add techniques from other arts. I have done a lot of fighting, so I know what is needed to get better. That's why I added a little bit of judo for leg sweeps and trips, a little bit of aikido for blocking and deflecting, and a little bit of shotokan and Goju-ryu karate. If something worked, I wanted to adopt it.

BB: Are modern martial artists less devoted than martial artists 30 years ago?
Alexander: Yes. Let's say in this country we have a million martial artists. I would say that 80 percent of those people are in it for an easy ride. Twenty percent are serious. It's like the military: You've got a select group-the Marine Corps, the SEALs and the Reconnaissance people-who train really hard. Why? Because they're the guys that go in and make it happen. A black belt should be of that caliber. If a person can't defend himself reasonably in accordance with what the martial arts should be, he shouldn't be wearing the belt.

BB: Do you believe that most modern martial artists are able to defend themselves adequately?
Alexander: No. That's why there's not much respect for martial artists anymore. People are seeing too many so-called black belts get their teeth knocked out. They see black belts who look weak. There's a saying that you can't tell a book by its cover, but I believe the cover has got to show something.

BB: Has this lowered the status of the martial arts in the public eye?
Alexander: Definitely. The martial arts have become more a form of entertainment and exercise than anything else. If I get someone on the mat who will listen and learn and train hard, God bless him. But with many people, even some of my own, if I turn the screws, they'll walk out the door. In the past, people were in the martial arts before there was any money in it. We wanted to build a better mousetrap. We got into it because we wanted to improve our strategy and skill. In those days, karate was very exotic. But now it is very much oversold.

BB: Has your teaching philosophy changed over the years?
Alexander: I don't think it's changed at all. I wish people had more gusto to stick with the old ways of training. I've always thought that the people who leave a tough martial arts school need the training more than the ones who stay. If they can't make it in the school, they Ire not going to make it on the street either. That's why I always tell my students, "I will make you as good as you'll let me.,, Training the right way is a beautiful thing. You'll feel great about yourself, and your whole lifestyle will benefit. And if you ever do have to defend yourself, you'll be able to.

About the interviewer: Rodney Ley is the assistant editor of Black Belt