Dr. James Boulgarides, former Mayor of Culver City, is a senior student of Hideharu Igaki in more ways than one.... Born September 10, 1923, Boulgarides currently holds a San-Dan ranking from Igaki Sensei. His rank is made more notable since he began his Karate training at the age of 57.... The following is an interview by DOSHIN with Dr. Boulgarides at Igaki Sensei's Culver City, California Dojo.

You started training in Karate at age 57, a time most would have been thinking about retirement. You earned Sho-Dan at age 60. What made you choose to start your studies at that point in your life?

At that time, in 1980, I had just completed 8 years on the City Council. I felt it was a time that I needed a new direction in my life. In the spring of 1980, while I was still on the City Council, I spoke on behalf of the City to welcome the new Mumon-Kan Dojo to Culver City at the dedication ceremony. I remembered that, so on Wednesday, October 8, 1980, I went back to the Dojo to begin my training in Karate.

Did having Bruce Lee as a neighbor have any influence on you?

Bruce Lee was our neighbor for a few years, living across the street from us. Brandon Lee and my son James were about the same age and played together. My wife Wanda and Linda Lee also visited together, and when the Lees moved away to Mulholand Drive, the boys would visit each other. The last time I was driving James to visit Brandon, there were fires in the hills and we were turned away, so we never did make the visit, but had to return home. At the time Bruce Lee was our neighbor, I was working to establish myself as a manager for the Douglas Aircraft Company when we came to California in July 1966 and to Culver City in August 1966. Bruce Lee did not influence me at the time, but I did admire him for his accomplishments after his death.

In the early 1980s you were involved with what some considered a visionary project -- 'The University of Budo Science' in Anaheim, California. Can you tell us about how that got started?

The University of Budo Science was the vision of Akiro Nagao, the founder of the Mumon-Kan Dojo in Culver City. The idea was to unite Martial Arts, the spirit of Bushido, with academics. This unity of mind and body is a great strength for the individual and for society. This philosophy of the unity of mind and body has been expressed in Western thought by the philosophy of the ancient Greeks where it is expressed as , "a sound mind, in a sound body". My Greek heritage had caused me to be familiar with such thought and to realize the unity and richness of the philosophies of the East and the West. That is what I saw as the great value of the unity of the University of Budo Science program. Unfortunately, the financial backing did not materialize during the period that I was involved.

Given the powerful personalities involved, a faculty that included Rev. Hirokazu Yamamori (Shorinji Kempo), Samuel Combes (Aikido), Takeshi Yamaguchi (Kendo, Iai), Toshio Kuramoto (Karate-Do), Yukiyoshi Marutani (Karate-Do), Minobu Miki (Karate-Do), Kiyoshi Yamazaki (Karate-Do) to name a few, how did 'UBS' do?

It was my privilege to work on the UBS program. From nothing, we created a program which was accepted by the State of California. There were many meetings, planning, programming, and celebrating the idea of UBS. I am proud of my contribution and feel privileged for the experience and opportunity to meet and work with such outstanding and exceptional people. Once the UBS program was developed, and after a few false starts a location for the school was found, the problem was getting students to attend. The original idea was to have students from Japan as the base, teach them English, and then combine academics and martial arts in the program. There were outstanding faculty resources identified, but the student base did not materialize. It is a known fact that if you start a venture such as UBS from scratch, it takes a number of years to bear fruit -- time ran out. A big factor in the involvement of the outstanding individuals you mention, is that each of those individuals are very busy people, involved with their own programs, so their individual contributions to UBS could only be minimal.

To the best of my knowledge, the UBS program is now part of Chapman College, but I do not know in what form, I have not followed up, having become involved again in City government and with the writing of two books as well as my primary responsibility as a professor at California State University with my teaching and research. The source of my information about UBS has been Syd Kronenthal, Director of Human Services of Culver City.