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Cane More Than Crutch

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 11, 2009

On a quiet road in Dover, in the middle of 21/2 acres with a lake out back, 54-year-old Merle McAlpin puts the finishing touches on another batch of elegant walking canes. It is a pastoral scene.

"This is a little bit of paradise," he said. "I like the solitude and quietness, and I have fantastic neighbors."
McAlpin moved his business from Reno, Nev., five years ago to serve a growing East Coast market. Cane Masters manufactures wooden canes used in the American Cane System, an internationally recognized martial arts discipline designed to redefine the cane from crutch to self-defense tool.

"The American Cane System is the only martial arts system designed in America that's recognized in Japan," McAlpin said.

The canes, made from hickory, red oak, white oak and walnut, are available in a variety of designs priced from $25 to $300.

"I knock out roughly 100 a week, and they all meet the specifications of the American Cane System," McAlpin said. "It's a billy club with a meat hook on the end of it."

Born in Reno, Nev., McAlpin was raised in the nearby community of Sparks. "Reno is so close to hell you can see Sparks," he joked.

"After high school, I got involved in fender and body work," he said. His craft took him to Stockton, Calif., where he worked on hot rods and custom cars before shifting to glazing and moving to Lake Tahoe in the late '80s.

All the while, he immersed himself in martial arts.

"I've been in martial arts well over 20 years," McAlpin said. "The first system I learned was karate. Then, in Tahoe, I met Grand Master Mark Shuey."

Under Shuey's tutelage, McAlpin earned fourth-degree black belts in Tang Soo Do and Combat Hapkido. A decade ago, the two developed the American Cane System.

"I'm also a certified travel marshal working with the Chuck Norris America defense program," he said. "I train American Airlines employees in self-defense. We're unarmed, and we let them know when we're on board. Chuck Norris is the epitome of everything you want to think good in a man."

In Tahoe, he operated the McAlpin Tang Soo Do studio. Now he only teaches private lessons.

"I have a dojo set up here in my home but don't have time for a full-fledged school," he said.

Historically, canes have been associated with disability. McAlpin wants to change that.

"The cane is a viable tool," he said. "And because it has a crook, it's covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. You can travel anywhere with one of these. We teach both self-defense and an exercise and rehabilitation system. It's easy to learn, no matter how old you are."

He said business is growing.

"We made the front page of The Wall Street Journal last July - they called it 'Cane-Fu.' We've been featured on CBS, FOX and CNN. PBS just filmed a documentary, and we've been in books by Tom Clancy and Dale Brown.

"More people are finding out about us. Along with the resistance bands, you have a complete gymnasium you can travel anywhere with."

In his free time, McAlpin is an enthusiastic bagpipe player with the Turkey Creek Shrine Club, enjoys traveling to Scotland for the world piping championships and talks about his cane system to local schools and martial arts studios.

He's also the proud father of daughter Leah. "She just graduated medical school in California," he said.

McAlpin's cane system eliminates vulnerability.

"Anyone who feels they could be threatened in any way can benefit from the cane master system," he said. "If you have to walk with a cane, you might as well learn how to defend yourself. ... People tell me, 'Thanks for giving me my confidence back.'"

MEET MERLE McALPIN
Owner, Cane Masters, American Cane System

BORN: Reno, Nev., 1954

EDUCATION: Sparks High School, Sparks, Nev., 1972

LIVED: Nevada, California, Florida

MOVED TO FLORIDA: 2003

AFFILIATIONS: Egypt Shrine Temple; World Blackbelt

CONTACT: www.canemasters .com; 1-800-422-2263

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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