Los Gatos Weekly-Times

49ers learn karate from a local business owner

By Clarence Cromwell

Three of the San Francisco 49ers in shorts and sweatpants traded karate kicks and punches last Thursday at the 40-yard line of the team's close-cropped practice field, a stone's throw from Santa Clara's Great America amusement park. It was just another practice drill.

George Chung, the owner of America's Best Karate School in Los Gatos, spends 30 hours a week in the 49ers' back yard, teaching defensive players how to shuck away offensive linemen so they can chase the ball carrier. The seventh-degree black belt translated his martial arts skills to the gridiron about 10 years ago.

A number of players and one assistant coach credited Chung's techniques with beefing up the 49ers' defense, especially the pass rushers.

"I see myself in films sometimes and I think, 'How'd I do that?'" defensive tackle Junior Bryant said. Bryant drilled Chung's 10 or so hand movements until they were automatic. Now, if another player puts his hands on Bryant, the tackle said, he swats them off almost without thinking.

In a drill at Thursday's practice, he slid his way around two teammates again and again; he swam over them, spun around them and pushed through them, each time slipping through their fingers with Chung's blocking moves.

Assistant Head Coach Bill McPherson said Chung is the first consultant to successfully improve the team's pass rushing. Chung used his martial-arts skill and, according to McPherson, an ability somehow to come up with just the result the management and players want--immediately. "This guy listens," McPherson said. "He's like, bang, 'We're doing it today.'"

Chung's specialty is the pass rush. The 49ers defensive linemen--who are generally smaller and more agile than other defensive teams--face off with 300-pound offensive linemen.

"Take a tank and make it move really fast, and that's an offensive lineman," Chung said.

Once the ball is snapped, Chung said, the defensive players have about 2.5 seconds to break free of an offensive player's grip, move past the opposing lineman, find the quarterback and then sack him.

Chung based his techniques on karate moves called "blocking" or "checking." He shows players about a dozen ways to hit an opponent's arm or wrist to knock his grip loose. Players have to choose a technique based on the other player's grip and which way he's pushing. Then they loosen his grip and shift their weight so he can't hang on.

"Imagine having to stand in rush-hour traffic with cars coming at you from all directions, and you have to move out of the way of each car in a second," Chung said.

The technique strengthens players' talents and gives them a larger arsenal of moves. Chung said the martial-arts training also develops flexibility and mental toughness.

Chung said most players have an asset, such as speed or agility, that he can help them exploit by teaching the right techniques.

"If you have a fast guy, you teach him how to go around. If you have a strong guy, you teach him how to barrel people over," Chung said.

But the best players, Chung said, have so many maneuvers up their jersey sleeves that they're just plain unpredictable. They go around, through and under opponents.

"I've always been a one-move guy," Daved Benefield, a defensive end and linebacker said. "This opens up more options for me to get away from those big guys that want to hold onto you. People can always find out what your weakness is, and George gives you more options."

Chung met up with the 49ers about 10 years ago, after 49er safety Ronnie Lott came to his Los Gatos karate school. Lott brought several teammates to the school and pitched Chung's services to Dwight Clark. Later, Clark became the 49ers' general manager and asked Chung in 1991 to help the team's defensive squad four or five days a week. Chung still runs his 11 karate schools in addition to training the 49ers.

America's Best Karate School and the Los Gatos Lions sponsor a charity basketball game June 1 between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Gatos Dream Team at the Los Gatos High School gym. Tickets are $10 and are available from Lions Club members and at the high school, America's Best Karate School and several other locations in town.