The loss of our DeCuerdas Patriarch

On October 3rd, 2019 the world lost an incredible martial artist who had much more of his knowledge and martial wisdom to share with the world. He was a martial artist from the old guard, a different breed of martial artist who made the development and propagation of his craft the focal point of his existence. Everything he did in life was connected to the arts, even how he walked into a room provided an opportunity to train and develop his skills, scanning the area for possible threats and assessing others in the room to determine if they were right or left handed, looking to see if they guarded one area of their body more than another, indicating a possible concealed carry. These are lessons passed on in conversation that would be shared with me over a meal or coffee and either at Denny’s or McDonalds, his two primary preferences for such conversations. Having spent nearly two decades with this man I never truly understood this level of commitment and dedication to the art, while I myself am passionate about the arts and practice daily, he committed nearly every minute and hour to his. In his world being a member of a martial arts pack or second best wouldn’t suffice, he thrived to be the very best and pushed his small circle of students to think and be the same. He would tell me in between low growls and when he wasn’t happy with my performance that he wasn’t looking to make mediocre martial artists, his goal was to create thinkers and exceptional martial artists. Mikie, don’t do it like that, why are you moving your foot like that, get out of the way if you don’t want to get hit, stop overthinking it, just do it; this is how he would push me to do more and improve. While I hated been lambasted this way and not pleasing him or not performing to his standard I would bask in the glory when in those rare moments he would say, yes Mikie like that, did you guys just see what Mikie just did, ah the sweet inoculation of his approval, something I still seek today even after his passing.  Like a caring father he only wanted what was best for his students and he tried feverishly to pass on his years of knowledge before his time would come to join the ranks of the other warrior eagles of yesteryear.

It was through this interaction of me looking for validation, and approval, and him driving me and other students to be more and do more for the art of DeCuerdas that created our unique and sometimes strained relationship. But through it all, my respect for his knowledge and my love for him grew.  He once told me that I was his “Gallo”, meaning his rooster, one who would fight for him and defend his honor and every turn; I nearly cried when he told me this while placing his hand on my shoulder. I always wanted him to know that I was there for him and I just tried to do what any loyal student would do when someone was attacking their teacher and or fathers honor, this was mostly done via my responses on the internet in my rebuttals to the keyboard critics. My wife would get very upset with me when she would ask why I was upset after coming downstairs from my home office flushed red with anger and I would tell her some phuck is talking shit about Art so I told him to come down to the school and lets solve this problem by the old ways. She would be furious with me and say you have a family; you could be talking to a lunatic, promise me you won’t do that anymore, unfortunately this is a promise I am not proud to admit that I have broken on several occasions when another keyboard warrior would throw out insults.    Over the last several years as I began playing a more active role in promoting the art of DeCuerdas by opening and running my own DeCuerdas school, our relationship was once again a rollercoaster ride and a push and pull between ideas of how we could best promote the art while continuing to honor his forefathers of John Eliab and Richard Tenio. I had different ideas of how we could best past down lessons and get students to appreciate our art, I would say we need to introduce to students to some basic FMA drills that are not necessarily DeCuerdas drills and then interject DeCuerdas into those drills so they can truly appreciate its shortcuts and effectiveness. He would call me up and say hey I saw what you posted on facebook, why are you doing that drill, that’s not DeCuerdas, to which I would respond, true no its not but is a good drill to teach timing and footwork, and it engages my younger students. Such conversation would frustrate the hell out of me, but I know now that he wasn’t really criticizing me per say, he just had a different approach and a more combative method to teaching the art, a method that would only interest a select few of fellow martial art masochists.   He would sometimes say, you’re wasting your time teaching some of those other drills that other people do, do you want to stay at your level, or do you want to grow. To which I would say I do want to grow and I want my students to grow with me, I just want my students to take a different route to get there and gain a deep understanding. For me, I wanted to take the academic lessons I had learned from my management and leadership programs and my education degree and apply those theories toward my school and students, hoping to enhance the delivery of each lesson and propagation of our art. This was usually the rub.

You see GM Art was old school, I say this not in a negative connotation, just pointing out a fact that his methods of instruction were based on a different frame of mind from someone from a different generation and life experiences. As mentioned only those who shared such experiences truly gravitated to these methods regardless of bruises and pain suffered during the metamorphosis of becoming a DeCuerdas man. Early on I gravitated to his method because I had endured a few scuffles which quickly highlighted an area of my life that needed significant improvement, and that area being self-defense and more like self-preservation. I couldn’t fight or defend myself for shit and was looking for help, that help came in the form of GM Art, a no nonsense hard hitting OG. You would have had to have had the experience of being punched in the mouth, taste the metallic flavor of your own blood and feel your throat tighten up out of anger and fear to truly appreciate his early teaching methodologies. Nowadays, most young adults and even some adults have never had such an experience, they come from a world where their only possible physical confrontation was through a television screen and fought through a remote control connected to an x-box. While they enjoy the arts, they put their training in the same category of playing basketball, tennis, and or any other sport that may not leave you for dead if you don’t counter or react appropriately to an oncoming attack.  Earlier this year, approximately five months before his passing, we once again had an argument over methodologies and points of opinion as we would on occasion, as well as another issue that I will not discuss. However, this time this argument prompted me to formally separate from him after two decades of being his student, a decision that was perhaps the most difficult decision I have ever made in my life, for those who are not martial artists you may not understand the toll this decision can play on one’s mental and emotional health, I just felt our relationship would be healthier and better served if this was done and we could both work to promote the art through or differing methodologies. After this separation, I began to work harder than ever on reviewing my notes (mental, written and videos/photos) and the many notes he had personally given me, putting together the “keys” as Art liked to call them, of our DeCuerdas system. I notified the core group of our clan of my decision and even told them exactly why I was doing this, not to gain favor but rather to remain transparent in my decision and because I consider a select few of them my brothers, brothers I will defend till my death. Regardless of this formal separation, GM Arts lesson made me into the martial artist I am today, how I view the arts and other system are scene through my DeCuerdas lens.

The confidence and strength I gained throughout my life are do impart to his mentorship and our interactions. I am and will forever be dedicated to DeCuerdas and will continue to propagate the art in his name and honor, a promise I made to him when I first opened my school, and my love for this man will never go away. Perhaps GM Art got what he wanted from me after all, a new level of dedication to the art, and a drive to push DeCuerdas further along. In a way, all my hard work in a way was to seek his approval, to say, see Art, DeCuerdas is getting its name out there, we are both serving the same mission, unfortunately that will never come to be. His recent death has left a void in my heart that cannot be filled. There are a handful of people that folks would want to see when they enter heavens gates alongside their parents to greet them, for me, Arturo would be one of those other people I would want to see and embrace once more. I can see it now, hey Mikie, before you walk through the gates make sure to be aware of your surroundings, remember 360-degree peripheral vision, have you already forgotten everything I taught you; it’s about time you showed up, I need your help teaching a few of Gods Angels numerado. All would be forgotten, and we would train for the love of the art and for each other as we had in days long since passed, at least one can still dream, rest in peace GM Art, you will forever be in my heart and memory.    

​Grandmaster Art Gonzalez 7-18-1953 to 10-03-2019      
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