American Freestyle Karate • Modern Arnis • Self-Defense

"Super Dan's" Karate Scrapbook

by Dan Anderson

Gresham, Oregon-based martial artist Dan Anderson began competing nationally in 1970 at age 17. By 1978, he was the number-one ranked fighter in his region, and was nationally ranked as well. He fought some of sport karate's biggest names, including champions such as Howard Jackson, Al Dacascos, Benny Urquidez and Roy Kurban. Anderson was also around for the "changing of the guard," and competed against more recent champions like Steve "Nasty" Anderson, Keith Vitali, John Longstreet and Ray McCallum. Known in the '70s as "Super Dan," Anderson reminisces in the following column about the "glory days" of sport karate.  - Ed.

The toughest guy I ever fought was Howard Jackson, who I fought twice. The thing about Jackson was that he was small and quick - about 140 pounds, and five feet, five inches tall. He was the first person who had a takeoff move - an actual commitment speed. He'd go through everybody's defenses. He was so fast he could get on the inside of Bill Wallace's kicks. And nobody got on the inside of Wallace's kicks.

Back then there was a trio of champions: Wallace, Jackson, and Jeff Smith. They kept playing against each other, and the wins kept going back and forth between them. Wallace would beat Jackson, then Jackson would beat Smith, and Smith would beat Wallace. They were the top echelon, and everybody else was in the second echelon. They would lose now and again, but as far as consistency goes, it was always Bill, Jeff and Howard.

I never fought Smith. I worked with him a little bit - or I should say he worked with me, because I was just up and coming at the time. The same thing with Wallace. But I actually competed against Jackson because we were both lightweights. The guy was incredibly fast. He was a lot faster on the takeoff than Steve Anderson. He beat me both times we met. They were both good matches, but like a lot of other people, Jackson was too quick for me.

Up in the Pacific Northwest there was a tournament called the Western States Karate Championship, which I was the grand champion of something like seven out of eight years, from 1970 to 1978. It was in Portland, Oregon, and it was one of those tournaments where, when I walked in, I felt like I owned the place. And actually, almost any tournament in the Pacific Northwest was that way for me. Because at the time, I was the only rated fighter in that area, and I had the experience of competing abroad that I could bring back home. When I went outide the local area, I'd always bring back new techniques and hit people with things they'd never seen before.

I have three distinct memories from my tournament fighting career. At the 1973 U.S. Open Championships in Dallas, I fought Demetrius "the Greek" Havanas. I beat him for the lightweight division championship, which was quite a thing, because nobody beat the Greek in Texas. As I came off the stage, the fellow I was there at the tournament with, Steve Armstrong, came booming through the crowd, picked me up, and gave me a great big hug, saying "You did it!" And at that moment, I realized that I had broken through the ranks.

Another great memory for me was the 1979 Diamond Nationals in Minneapolis. I was fighting Keith Vitali and we were in overtime. We were standing there, and the interesting thing was that the minute he started moving, I just knew that I could move and create just the right distance where I could hit him but he could't get me. Bang! I tagged him and got the point. That was a real glowing moment.

My third real great memory was when I competed in an exhibition match at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. Here I was, a 37-year-old man, fighting at about 20 pounds heavier than I did when I was competing full time, against a younger, more physically fit man. Although I had only trained for about a month, I had a game plan, and I knew that my tournament experience could help overcome most of the physical differences. In the end, I won, and it made me feel really good.

Those are my three biggest memories from sport karate. The first was when I broke into the leagues of the big-name competitors. The second was when I was at my prime, and I beat the number-one fighter of that time. And the third moment was as a retired fighter, knowing that I still had what it took to win. They're good memories.

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Anderson, Dan. " 'Super Dan's' Karate Scrapbook." Black Belt Feb. 1992: 11