Dave Harris Sensei June 10

Dave Harris died Sept 10th.

I am sorry to report that Dave Harris Died Last week, it is a great loss to his students and friends.

David Harris was an Educator, Artist and a Consummate martial artist. Dave was my teacher, my mentor, my friend and my t'ai chi brother.

He was a real artist with the most elegant and subtle skill both in fine art ceramics and martial arts. I enjoyed visiting his home and observing his ceramic works. He had a fascinating style in his work. Dave was also an educator who developed classes in learning theory and how to improve visual IQ for college students. He was a multidimensional educator.

I met Dave almost immediately after I moved to Seattle in the early 1970s, This was when my ex and I moved to Seattle to attend Intensive Japanese Classes at UW. My ex and I lived a block from Green Lake with a family who were friends of my ex, one of who was working on his PhD in Astrophysics and later became an astronaut. Dave's school was just up the street from where we all lived.

A few days after moving to that area my ex-wife and I wandered into his school after eating at a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away from our home, it was fortuitous, that the restaurant was right next door to his school. Out of curiosity I was drawn to visit his school, I expected the same old, same old, karate studio. But I was amazed at what he was teaching, at that time he was doing a combined application system based on the Red Boat Style Wing Chun/Southern Preying Mantis of Master Fuk Yueng and Dave's base system of Shito-ryu.

After talking to Dave and his finding out that I studied t'ai-chi ch'uan with several teachers (Kuo, Liang and Tung) before moving to Seattle, Dave then introduced me to Grandmaster Raymond Chung. Chung taught Yang Sau-chung's style of t'ai chi ch'uan at Dave's Karate school. Dave personally introduced me to Raymond Chung. Based on Dave's recommendation, Chung then tested me and after being satisfied with my Yang style form, he placed me into his advanced class along with Dave and some of his advanced kung-fu students who also trained in the t'ai-chi chuan. It was a good sized class as there were many others studying pushing hands and san shou. Dave was one of the most advanced students.

I also studied with Master Dave, in what Dave called Red Boat style at that time, the method of Grandmaster Fuk Yueng. Dave and Dave's students were incredible, having wonderful and subtle skills. He had a very advanced core group who were very high caliber, an amazing group who impressed me.

It was wonderful to work with Dave, his advanced students, and Grandmaster Chung. I was also had the great fortune to meet Sensei Andrew Dale at that time who taught Aikido at UW. Andy who later became a tai chi brother under Grandmaster Tchoung, became instrumental in the Internal Martial arts of Seattle and became the go to guy for Internal arts. He remains the man to visit in Seattle.

Later Raymond Chung stopped coming down to Seattle and I believe it was Dave that recruited Tchoung Ta-tchen to teach. Some of Master Chung's students moved on to Grandmaster Tchoung's class, including Dave and Brian Hata.

Dave was instrumental in recruiting Grandmaster Tchoung, as Dave could tell who was a real master and who was just a dancer. Dave became a pivotal figure in Grandmaster Tchoung's class. That was because he was egoless in learning from other teachers and could find benefit in even the most basic class.

Master Andrew Dale and Chuck Livingstone, who were teaching Aikido at UW at the time, also joined Sifu Tchoung's class. We all trained together with Grandmaster Tchoung. Later Dave also taught Andy and Chuck his system.

Dave helped to keep us honest and on track in training. There was a great deal of mixing of ideas and training which helped everyone open their eyes to possibilities, Dave was central to this process.

Dave also introduced me to Grandaster Fuk Yueng who was his teacher. We traveled to Grandmaster Yueng's house very late one night, after Master Yueng's restaurant closed, to workout in his basement. Grandmaster Yueng turned out to be one of the most powerful and subtle martial artists I have even met. He was amazing, and Dave was his top student. Later to be named his Number One Son.

Dave had no trouble introducing people to his teachers, he was egoless in that or maybe he was so high above the rest of us in level that he had no worry about being overtaken. Or maybe he wanted to have more people to play with who could give him a real workout. Whatever the reason, Dave introduced us to great masters and was always willing to train with us.

Dave also was a great resource. He always seemed to find a novel application of techniques. I remember him delighting in the applications he discovered in the Ch'i kung techniques. His skill was subtle and exquisite. He always had something new to share and I was thrilled and blow away every year when I returned to visit him and the group.

Dave later worked with other teachers and he evolved an amazing system of his own. He could steal ones balance and with barely any effort control the most powerful opponent. His skill was extraordinary. He was a true genius. I was fortunate to have met and studied with him. He will be missed.

A Prayer,

Lord Sovereign of the Universe, I am grateful for the years of the life of David Harris, Help me understand how my life has been formed and shaped by my teacher and friend. Help me to make my life a living monument of holiness to his memory. May he rest in peace. Amen.

May his memory be a blessing to us all.
Harvey Kurland

Riverside CA
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How can you find words to describe Dave?
The talent, the giving, the teaching. The humor.
Thank you Dave, for all you gave.
Daniel Brasher
NWTCCA Spokane

I wanted to pass on the very sad news to everyone that Sensei Dave Harris passed away on 2008 Sep 09. For those people who knew Dave Harris, or who know of his skills, this will be a great shock. Born on 1939 Jun 10, Dave lived in Seattle, WA, USA, and taught there until his death last Tuesday.

Dave was first of all a great and generous teacher who shared everything he had learned – with his family, with his friends, and with his students. Many people who knew him as a martial artist were not aware that he was also a gifted art teacher and potter. He also had a deep understanding of music and would often use the description of a jazz passage to explain something that he was teaching in his martial arts.

While Dave Harris was a man of the highest moral character, he never took himself too seriously. He taught ‘Beginner’s Mind Karate’ in Seattle since 1961 with the lightest touch, physically and emotionally, and with the skills of a magician. Dave always claimed that his skills were small compared to those of his teachers: Fook Yueng, Tchoung Ta-Tchen, Raymond Cheung, and others. Dave was the bridge for many of us to those martial giants of the past. He was ‘the real thing’, a martial artist whose life was lived according to the highest standards. His smile and sense of humour helped us to believe that eventually we could learn those ‘impossible things’ too.

For the past three years, Dave Harris had been helping his wife Geri cope with the changes in her life brought on by Alzheimer’s and he had scaled down his martial arts teaching to give himself more time to devote to her care.

If you would like to read or add to the memorial page in Dave’s honour, follow the link on Andy Dale’s website, www.wuji.com .

Diane Kehoe & John Eastman

Riverbank T’ai Chi,

Ladner, BC, Canada