Do you consider yourself a traditional martial artist?

Probably not.  I teach the Jhoon Rhee system of Tae Kwon Do and although Master Rhee is credited with bringing Korean Tae Kwon Do into this country I would not think the system he developed
would be considered traditional.  My blend of free sparring could also not be called Tae Kwon Do free sparring or Olympic Tae Kwon Do free sparring.  Texas has always had a distinct reputation for the
blood and guts fighters as many of us were called.  This definitely had a lot to do with the strong punchers who learned to defend against the kicks and dominate with their punching techniques.  My second degree program teaches the 9 Chung Do Kwan forms and could be better described as traditional. But again the traditional drills I did in college have now become more modern, fast paced and fun to appeal more to the majority of young people and kids we teach in our program.  I also interject a lot of kickboxing and boxing into my sparring program.

What is the style you teach at your school?

Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do for black belt.
Chun Do Kwan forms for second black.
Self Defense and Arnis for third black.

Could you give your personal training routine say per week.

I usually train from 4 to 6 days of the week.  I got totally out of my routine after the Hurricane but lately have begun to catch up.
I have a boxing timer in my bag room and will do 2 minute or 3 minute rounds with 30 second rest periods.  I will alternate the rounds to keep my workout fresh.
I usually do 3-5 2/3 minute rounds of shadow boxing.  I then stretch for about 5 minutes.
Then I do one round each of the heavy bag, slip bag (double ended bag), the water heavy bag, the cobra bag, the uppercut bag and the speed bag.
I learned from kickbox trainer to do active rest rounds so during my 30 second break I do crunches.  I will change the way I do them so as not to get bored.
During the shadow boxing I do pushups or curls.
I do 2-4 kicking rounds which I call power sidekicks, power roundhouse kicks, speed roundhouse kicks and speed hook kicks.  The power kicks on the heavy bags 
and the speed kicks on pads or the cobra bag.
I finish the sets with jump rope.
I try and run 2 miles every other day.
On Fridays I spar with my kids classes and get in about 60 1 minute rounds.  On Wednesdays I spar with my adults and do about 10 rounds.

Who is your instructor?

Over the years I have had numerous instructors and people who coached me.
My first instructor was James Stevens.  In college I was taught by Fred Simon who was a Jhoon Rhee black belt.  I got my first degree black belt through the United States Karate Association.
I began to work for Les Armentor in college and tested under his association for 2nd and 3rd degree.  At that time I was training with one of the top heavyweight fighters named Ernie Smith.
In 1975 I was a member of the Ft.Worth Texans and fought in the first professional team kickboxing event in Ft. Worth, Texas.  My coach was Larry Caster.  My team included Ray McCallum,
Demetrius Havana, Phil Wilemon and Roy Kurban.  Demetrius "The Greek" became a close friend and someone I considered my instructor for some time although I never got any rank from him.
When I was kickboxing my trainer was Jim Choate.  After retiring from kickboxing I met GrandMaster Jhoon Rhee and developed a relationship with him.  I tested under him for 4th, 5th and 6th.  I always wanted to have a linkage to the blood and guts
era of Texas karate and tested under GrandMasters Pat Burleson, Jim Harrison, Ed Daniels and a score of other pioneer Texas black belts for 7th.  I will test next year for 8th under Allen Steen and Pat Burleson.

What do you think of MMA?

I do watch it but am probably not the biggest fan.  I like the stand up fighting but because I am not much of a grappler and really don't understand the ground fighting it has made me train a little
differently especially working on ways not to be taken to the ground.

Why do you attribute that so many great martial Artists come out of Texas and who are some of them you personally trained with?

As I told you my first world class training partner was Ernie "Radar" Smith a native of Louisiana who worked in Beaumont, Texas where I was going to college.  I trained and developed relationships with Demetrius Havanas, Ray McCallum, Billye Jackson, Tim Kirby, Troy Dorsey (who was my sparring partner when I kickboxed), Phil Wilemon, D.P. Hill, Roy Kurban and a score of others.  I think Texans always got the reputation for being tough fighters because we allowed heavy contact in our tournaments.  Bill Wallace used to say that a point in Texas was first degree manslaughter in California!
We knew we were tough but we also knew we needed good technique to do well on a national level.  I competed at the Internationals twice and that was the only major out of state event I particpated in.
But, I won Allen Steen's United States Karate Championships twice and beat nationally rated competitors who attended.  I also won Roy Kurban's Ft. Worth National Pro-Am twice and beat the number one fighter in the nation at the time Keith Vitali in the lightweight final.

What was your best full contact bout?

I won the WKA U.S. welterweight title in a 9 round decision over Bubba Walters after having been knocked down twice in the second round.  That title meant a lot to me as Demetrius Havanas had been
the last to hold it.  Of course my PKA title against Sam Montgomery and KICK world title against Allen Watson are very memorable.


What do you do outside of the Martial Arts, any hobbies?

I got out of college in December of 1974 and fought on the first professional kickboxing team the Dallas-Ft. Worth Texans.  I came back to Galveston and opened my studio in March of 1975.
I have made it a full time profession although I did work for 4 years as the Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Galveston.  I like to read, play the guitar and surf the web.

What is your favorite book?

I read a lot of motivational books and financial books.  I'm not sure if I have a real favorite.

What is your philosophy on Martial Arts?  

My philosophy is more about human motivation and following the warrior spirit.  As everyone, I find quotes and sayings to motivate my students.  I like quotes by former fighting champions, martial artists and men who demonstrated great leadership.    
  
Well, I put a bit of thought into this and also had to find time in between things to write it.  It's been a while since I have been interviewed and I thank you for the opportunity.

Take care:)

ishmael robles