In 1992, Tapia met the style head of Shorei-ryu, Terry Sanders, 10th dan, and began training in the art of Iaido Shinkage-ryu (the art of the samurai sword) on his periodic visits to the honbu in New Mexico. Sanders Hanshi also helped refine his Shorei-ryu kata. In 1993, Tapia met Charlie P. Contreras, 10th dan, the first black belt promoted by Master Robert A. Trias, at a Shorei-ryu karate camp in Riverside, Ca. Tapia trained with Contreras on his visits to Arizona. Here he learned advanced kumite techniques, strong kata, grueling makiwara strikes, and Judo techniques.
As his passion for the martial arts grew very much, Tapia trained under many stylists. Tapia trained with Shogen (Roy) Oyakawa in 1997 in the art of Okinawan Kobudo. However, due to Oyakawa’s illness, training ceased. Later that year in October, he met Chris Hoshiyama (Judan Shorei-ryu), the last black belt promoted by Grand Master Robert A. Trias. Tapia sought Hoshiyama to further his knowledge of Okinawan Kobudo. During his study with Hoshiyama, he began to learn Shorin-ryu Kobayashi style of Okinawan karate and Okinawan Rei Hokan Kobudo, which has a Yamane-ryu influence.
In 2007, Tapia was promoted to Godan (Shorei-ryu) by Soltis. His time in karate, level of training, and passion for karate was notable in this promotion. Soon after, Tapia promoted his first black belt in Shorei-ryu, Lizette Salgado (on December 27, 2008). Training his first black belt was a great experience; he is very proud of Ms. Salgados’dedication, determination, and perseverance.
Tapia considers himself a fortunate student of karate-do and budo as it has been his avenue of enlightenment. Tapia enjoys researching history of Okinawan karate-do and kobudo. In particular, he traces these styles back to their origins. He also enjoys learning Aikido police self-defense tactics, Judo, and Jiu-jitsu. Nonetheless, he is dedicated to the way of the empty hand (karate-do); it is his way of life as it has been since the age of six. Tapia has an ultimate goal in his karate career—he learns, trains, and dissects techniques to discover the levels of application (bunkai, oyo, tuite, and kyusho). This shall enable him to understand and master kata by researching, training, and teaching karate-do. “To train in the land of the masters in Okinawa, Japan, would be a dream come true,” expresses Tapia. Nonetheless, Tapia focuses on passing the teachings of karate-do to future generations. Though he has studied and trained in many martial arts styles, he has remained loyal, obedient and a good son to Soltis Sensei.
Tapia extends a personal invitation to his dojo to any student and/or black belt of Shorei-ryu. Tapia currently resides in Phoenix, Az area. He works for the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons as a Federal Correctional Officer. Tapia reminds Shorei-ryu stylists that “in order to be a good teacher of karate-do, you need to stay teachable and maintain an open-mind.” (Scott Wiseman).
