TAISHA AND FLORINDA WERE KARATECAS

Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner were two witches of Carlos Castaneda.

Taisha met Castaneda around 1964; they were both studying at  the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Between the end of 1967 and the beginning of 1968, Taisha began practicing karate. 

TAISHA BEGINS TO TEACH KARATE

The UCLA newspaper, "Daily Bruin", in its January 7, 1971 edition, announced the karate classes that Taisha began to teach:

«

A NEW KARATE CLUB FOR WOMEN IS FOUNDED

A new URA club, KARATE FOR WOMEN has been started on campus thanks to the efforts of George Takahashi, 3rd dan black belt and UCLA Karate advisor

Although Karate has been popular at UCLA for quite some time, there has never been a Karate class that was geared to women. KARATE FOR WOMEN hopes to fill this gap by providing training particularly to fit a woman’s physical constitution and capabilities

The class will be taught by Annamarie Simko, who holds a first kyu belt and is currently training at the All American Karate Federation, which is the official affiliate of the Japan Karate Association.

She is working under the guidance of sensei Hidetaka Nishiyana [sic], 7th dan black belt, who is the chairman of the Federation, and sensei Yutaka Yaguchi, 6th dan black belt. Miss Simko began her Karate training three years ago with James Yabe, instructor of the UCLA Karate Club.

All women who are interested in developing confidence, self control, poise, balance, and strong bodies and minds are invited to come. The goal of the class will be to strive for spiritual, mental, and physical perfection.

No previous knowledge of Karate is required and instruction will be geared toward the beginning student. KARATE FOR WOMEN will meet every Thursday at 5:00 pm, in the Women’s Gym, Room 200, though more hours are planned in the near future. »

(Vol. No. LXXXII, No. 2, p.17)

Observations

1. The 1st kyu belt is the highest level of brown belt that a karate student reaches before the next level, which is the first dan black belt.

2. George Takahashi, MA, was also a professor of Japanese in the Oriental Languages ​​department at UCLA from 1965 to 1971. Taisha also took a course in translated Japanese literature in the summer of 1966.

3. Taisha belonged to a true cultural lineage. Her karate teachers were:

Gichin Funakoshi, known as "the father of modern karate", very influential.

Nishiyama and Yaguchi were some of his most outstanding students.

Yabe and Takahashi were students of Nishiyama.

Maryann was a student of Nishiyama, Yaguchi and Yabe.

FLORINDA ALSO STARTS PRACTICING KARATE

Florinda also enrolled at UCLA and by 1971 she became involved with Castaneda and Taisha.

In a conversation she mentioned that she also practiced Shotokan karate at UCLA, so she took classes with Taisha.

PHOTOS

In Samurai Magazine, the official publication of the American Karate Federation, an article by Mauricio Hernández titled "Karate and Women" was published in November 1974,  featuring photos of Taisha and Florinda practicing karate.

These photographs are a transgression of the rule that Carlos Castaneda had established of not allowing himself to be photographed.

ARTICLES

Several articles were published in Samurai magazine, signed by Annamarie Carter (Taisha's name at this time) and by Regine "Gina" Thal (Florinda's name at this time).

In November 1974, an article signed by Annamarie Carter and Regine Thal was published on page 30, entitled “Karate for Children”.

In January 1975, Annamarie Carter's articles entitled "Training instructors in the perfection of form", p. 34, and "Karate for women and men as 'non-persons'", p. 20, the latter co-written with Beverly Evans, were published.

In March 1975, Annamarie Carter's article entitled "The Martial Arts of China" was published, page 18.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MORE CLASSES

The "UCLA Daily Bruin" in its March 5, 1976 edition, again advertised the karate classes taught by Taisha:

«

WOMEN'S KARATE OFFERED THIS QUARTER

A Karate class for women, stressing Karate techniques and their applications, is being offered this quarter. The class also covers some of the philosophical principles underlying Karate and other martial arts in general.

Karate, which literally means “empty hands” in Japanese, is a form of weaponless combat. Through training, one learns a system of bodily movement aimed at developing certain sensibilities in the total person as well as heightening one’s success and improving one’s concentration. Karate training also provides a vital form of self-defense, according to Annamarie Carter, who teaches the class.

Karate has been traditionally placed in the realm of men’s activities but recently has begun to attract women. Female students, however, find it difficult to become totally involved in a male-oriented class due to the fear of losing their femininity or the inability to keep up with the rigorous training.

The class meets at 5 pm Thursdays in Women’s Gym, [Room] 200. All interested women, regardless of past training, are urged to come. »

(Vol. No. XCVII, No. 39, p.3)

LIES TOLD BY TAISHA

Later, at the workshop held in Mexico City in August 1997, Taisha said that Don Juan's sorcerers forced her to take judo to toughen up, but that she switched to karate at Don Juan's suggestion because they used her too much to practice throwing.

But this assertion is false because historical data shows that she knew neither Don Juan nor his sorcerers.

It is most likely that Taisha and Florinda started practicing karate at Castaneda's request.

On the other hand, Taisha claimed in her book "Where the Witches Cross" that in the early seventies she spent several years in Mexico receiving training from the witches of Don Juan's group, but this assertion is false because in reality she was very immersed in UCLA and her karate classes during those years.

Furthermore, Taisha sought publicity for her activities despite the supposed warnings that Don Juan had given Castaneda about the need for sorcerers to erase their past.

(Source: SustainedAction.org)