Julian wrote: I think lot of people look at Terry
as a gold standard of a “streetfighter”. So you know him good and influenced
him. With you ability to break down the essential components, what is you
opinion on what made him that good?
Or is he just a natural born killer, natural athlete with the right mindset
and knows how to produce explosive power, who’s delivery system is karate?
Theodore wrote: I’ll add to this if it’s not too contravertial over the years Ive heard stories that you used to kick the crap out of Terry in training, but very recently heard the opposite he used to do it to you. Which is nearer the mark?
Steve replied: Julian, I think you’re
right that karate was the vehicle by which Terry O’Neill expressed his
violence successfully. And often people attribute the training methods of
karate to the fighting success of people like Terry; I’ve said this before.
From my observation, there’s a lot more guys practicing karate who can’t
fight than there are guys like Terry, who can. So you have to really say
that it’s more about violent intent and being conditioned to a violent
environment than necessarily Shotokan or anything else.
Whether or not he’s the gold standard of streetfighters, I don’t see how you
can have a gold standard for streetfighters because how can you measure
that? I think being the top streetfighter in the world was a label Terry got
from Lito Angeles, who put together a list of people he thought were the
best based on whatever stories he’d heard. That’s another story.
With regard to rumours being circulated about Terry and me so that some guy
can get a hardon over the idea that one of us beat up the other, let’s put
this one to rest. Terry and I were really good friends, and for various
reasons that friendship regrettably collapsed. But there was never any
physical fight, or anything resembling a fight, between us. Ever. We shared
courses, much like the one I did with Mick Coup this weekend. I’d visit him
at his home, and he’d come down to Earlham Street or Horsham. We never
trained together as such. He’d usually pick my brain, or I’d just make him
listen to what was going on in my head whether he wanted to know or not.
There was never a rivalry; in fact that’s why there was a good friendship.
Naturally I showed him things, and he was impressed by what I showed and
told him; he said as much. But we never ‘trained together.’
As for the question in the first place, Theodore, I find it’s an
inflammatory remark, intented to provoke, and in the future any such remarks
will be deleted without the courtesy of a reply, and the poster will be
barred from my forum.