Grandmaster Dr. Fairbanks Was Taught Well
Previously in the FWIS, Grandmaster Ray Russell was profiled when he received his 9th Degree Black Belt status. We also posted a short documentary on Russell on our FWInkSpot.com website (it’s still up!), about this karate studio found off of Oxford Street, and about how his master, Grandmaster Dr. Woodrow Fairbanks, is the second most responsible for it (God is first). Russell, as a young karate kid, saw Fairbanks, his first unfathomable (before then) image of a black karate instructor and found an idol. But Russell got to learn from his first.
Grandmaster Dr. Fairbanks, as a high schooler, kind of sparred with legend Bruce Lee in an exhibition, back when he was Kato on the Green Hornet television show. “I was a chump in there,” Fairbanks said, laughing, who was among the tournament winners chosen to do their best against Lee.
By high school, Fairbanks was already ten years in. His father, a World War II veteran, started teaching him judo at age 5. His grandfather, veteran of The Great War, ran a boxing gym; his grandmother and mother taught him spiritual-ness. But Fairbanks’ father really was training his son to be head of household. He put a rope around his son’s waist, tied the other end to his car, and made Fairbanks run behind him, tethered to the slow-moving vehicle. The judo, the running, was about strengthening resolve. “He worked the devil out of us,” Fairbanks said.
When Fairbanks was age 13, his father sent his boy to learn from renowned African-American martial arts instructor Victor (Vic) Moore, who trained him in five styles. His first grandmaster was Robert Trias, the father of American Karate. In 1973, the governing bodies that assign martial arts ranking decided to reset classification, so Fairbanks was demoted back to no belt. He worked his way up to a 6th degree and was promoted to five styles in the same time period. He traveled the country, competing, exhibiting…bout-ing with Bruce Lee.
He enlisted in the military at age 18; after coming back in ’68, Fairbanks worked for the recreation department out of his hometown Cincinnati, Ohio for 45 straight years, working with kids, adults, and seniors, teaching self-defense and crisis intervention. At one point, he was living in New York City, with his uncle who happened to be the accountant for all of these famous martial arts instructors. Fairbanks, naturally, sponged all of that tutelage.
Fairbanks has five (count ‘em five) 10th Degree Black Belts, in over 17 styles including Kenpo, Shuri-ryū karate, and, even, tai chi that he teaches out in the community. Fairbanks now is one of many African-American grandmasters (at least a 9th degree black belt) out in the country, but back in 2000, there might have been only “25 or 30 nationwide that you might have heard about,” he said, and even less when he was a student.
Today, he’s still running. He’s never had less than three jobs at one time in his life and now is no different. He teaches at the YMCA, hosts seminars, helps run tournaments in the state…assisting his students, wherever they be, in both internal and external arts, like his father did for him. “I retired 12 years ago, but don’t want to feel like it,” he said. Fairbanks has seven children, 20+ grandchildren, and it’s the end of the school year so you know he’s crazy busy now. His grandkids see him teaching the very chill Tai Chi and want to test the grandmaster. “I have to be careful,” he said, “you can’t hurt your grandkids.” Fairbanks laughs about “sparring” with his grandchildren. “Actually, it’s been fun.”
[Art: Rebecca Stockert WEBSITE]