RIP Grandmaster Al Novak

[GeneChing]

I just heard via facebook. First Grandmaster Ming Lum, and now Al - Nov 2011 has been a tragic month for the Bay Area martial arts community.

[hskwarrior]

Oh wow.....rip sir......glad i got to meet you a few times. My sifu knew him well

[SIFU RON]

It is indeed a sad day, I have known him for decades. He was a great Kung Fu Sifu and a really nice person. I am truly happy I saw him this past June at Tiger Claw.

My very best to his family and friends

Ron Shewmaker

[teetsao]

1 of the very first iron palm practitioners in america and to come out in the public and share a jow formula and training. as u all know i am an iron palm practitioner to every degree,i highly respected him . R.I.P.

[mickey]

Gosh,

I was thinking Al Novak when hskwarrior posted those antique weapons. i thought they might have been his.

mickey

[GeneChing]

This breaks my heart.

Al Novak, Bay Area martial arts grandmaster, dies
By RICK HURD
San Jose Mercury News
Published: Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 - 12:00 am
FREMONT, Calif -- FREMONT, Calif. - Bay Area martial arts legend Al Novak,who influenced movie icon Bruce Lee, died Saturday in a Fremont hospital after he was hit earlier in the week by a car while sitting in his wheelchair, friends said.

Novak, a Great Grandmaster and last surviving 10th degree black belt in the kajukenbo self defense style, was in his late 80s. The Fremont resident broke down racial barriers once inherent in the sport, growing up training in San Francisco's Chinatown, unheard of for a Caucasian in the 1920s and '30s.

His family could not be reached for comment.

"He was beloved by everybody," said Greg Lee, whose father, James Lee, was a business partner of Novak's and Bruce Lee, Hollywood's first martial arts star who died tragically in 1973. "When you're a grandmaster, it means you've incorporated your own maneuvers and changed other things around and developed an art, and that's what Al did. He stayed very involved in that arena and was always volunteering at tournaments around San Francisco."

Novak's martial arts career spanned more than 50 years, according to a profile on usadojo.com. He became so accomplished that Bruce Lee would not spar with him publicly, according to the website and his friends.

Novak was confined to a wheelchair in 2005 after the van in which he was riding in as a passenger crashed. Both his femurs were crushed.

Even though he could not walk, he still split blocks of wood at the martial arts school he ran in Fremont and commanded enough respect that black belt recipients in their respective arts often wanted Novak to sign their certificates, said friend Jeff Finder.

Novak served on a PT boat during World War II, training alongside future President John F. Kennedy.
"Being around him, you knew you were in the presence of someone special," Finder said. "He was a tough old bird."

[GeneChing]

Grandmaster Al Novak 1924-2011

[David Jamieson]

RIP Al Novak.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Gene, that was a really nice write up.

Question: Do you have Cantonese ancestry?


mickey

[GeneChing]

My grandfather, who I never met, was a sailor from Southern China. The first generations of my family in America are all in Hawaii. Although I've never lived there, that's always given me a connection with people like Gm Wally Jay, Gm Al Novak and Gm Ming Lum - that Hawaiian link. I don't speak Hawaiian pidgen at all, but I can understand it.

Back OT, I've been reflecting on Al a lot over the last few days. I really miss him. Even after Borders closed, I'd see him strolling about the Hub occasionally during lunch. I regret not spending more time with him. Beyond being a martial legend and pioneer, etc., he was a really great guy to hang out with and talk about martial arts.

[Dale Dugas]

Prayers have been said for GM Novak and his entire clan.

RIP

[GeneChing]

A candlelight vigil was held for GGM Al Novak last Friday at Lake Elizabeth. Jonny Oh (Tiger Claw President), Kevin Melendez (TC warehouse worker and former Kajukenbo practitioner) and I attended. It came together rather quickly. I only heard about it at the last moment. Many of the Kajukenbo grandmasters attended, although I'm sorry to say that I don't really know that lineage very well, so I'm not exactly sure who was who. Many spoke of their fond memories of Al and everyone mentioned that powerful handshake of his. Al liked to feed the birds at Lake Elizabeth. He had also requested that there be no memorial for him, so his students side-stepped that by holding the candlelight vigil. It was well attended, despite the short notice.

I posted a few photos on a facebook album. You can't really see the crowd because most people chose to stand in the back instead of sit in the seats.