A brief history is necessary, to preface M. L.'s biography.
In 1905, a child was born in Khotin, Bessarabia, in Romania. His name was Fischel Cerpok and he was the son of Leib Cerpok. In 1913, Leib Cerpok hid Fischel and his brothers in potato sacks, loaded them onto a wagon, and fled the country. When Fischel and his family arrived in the United States on March 5th 1913, their names were changed and Fischel Cerpok was renamed Philip Rosen. Shortly afterward, in 1919, the village of Khotin was the site of a horrific massacre and the entire town was laid to waste and plowed under. Many, if not all, personal records were lost.
Coincidentally, a grandson of Philip Rosen was born on March 5th in 1961. The grandson was named Michael Lewis Rosen (Lewis being the English version of Leib). While the name Rosen has a great deal of personal history itself, that history is relatively brief, and Michael wished to honor his heritage by going back to using the name Cerpok. He also wished to pay respect to his great-grandfather, Leib, whom he was named after. So, in early 2006 after the passing of his grandfather (nearly 101 years of age) Michael resumed the use of his original surname.
Michael Leib Cerpok was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1961. In 1978, he left home to explore creative pursuits of music and writing in California. In 1980, he became involved with martial arts and after thousands of hours of study in several martial disciplines he founded the system of Byakko Ryu Jujutsu some time around 1992. While studying the martial arts, Michael was also deep in the study of world religion and both Eastern and Western philosophy. As the system of Byakko Ryu Jujutsu evolved, so did Michael's personal philosophy of living. This philosophy has been formalized as The Study of True Understanding.
M.L. Cerpok's newest book, The Gentle Ravings of an Egomaniacal Master, was released July 1st, 2006. This book explains, in some detail, the philosophy of The Study of True Understanding, and is intended as a guide towards a more simplified and satisfying way of living.
A more detailed biography can be found at Meet Osensei on the Byakko Ryu Jujutsu Society page of this web-site.
