Love of martial arts passed down from Antunes to Antunes (to Antunes to Antunes)

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Michael "Tunes" Antunes squints one eye in my direction, as he explains the philosophy that has carried his family to martial arts excellence.

"My father always had a saying 'Once you've got an opponent beat ... don't him,' and that's my philosophy, too," he says with a gentle smile.

It is a lesson he has handed down to his own children, and they, in turn, to their kids, as well.

Four generations of Antunes -- his dad, Peter; himself; son Michael; and grandsons Mike and Sean -- are all champions in various forms of martial arts self-defense.

Past -- and present.

Picking up the martial art called Shotokan while in the Air Force, Tunes garnered his first black belt in 1961, which in turn sparked his dad's interest once he returned home. Soon, Dad had a black belt, too. Peter Antunes eventually became so proficient in self-defense that he opened up his own Dartmouth martial arts academy, instructing right up until his death in 1980.

Yet, if Tunes and his dad started the martial arts ball rolling more than 40 years ago, it is the younger Antunes family members who continue to make quite the name for themselves.

Michael, 39, for example, and his sons Mike, 14, and 10-year-old Sean, each took multiple honors recently in the Northern Rhode Island Karate Championships. It is the fifth such competition where either father, sons or all three have won awards.

This time Sean and Mike took two prizes, while dad Michael captured three, including a first place finish in self-defense techniques.

"I'm kind of proud of it," says Tunes, a corrections officer at Bridgewater. "It's my first first-place finish."

And Tunes Antunes is proud of each of them.

He knows that if it were not for him, and his dad before him, it is unlikely his son and grandsons would be so seriously involved in the various martial arts programs that are adding so much luster to the already well known Antunes name.

For, if the appellation "Tunes" Antunes rings a bell, it is no doubt due more to his musical prowess than martial arts.

After all, as a founding member of Providence's John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, he and his long-time bandmates gained a modicum of immortality in the movie "Eddie and the Cruisers," and its best-selling soundtrack album.

Or, perhaps, you might know him from his popular and successful local cable program of the late 1980s, "Cape Verdean Times," wherein he interviewed notable guests and showcased self-defense techniques for men, women and children.

It is these martial arts maneuvers, and their life-affirming effects on his family, that he chooses to talk of on this recent day.

All five are gathered in son Michael's New Bedford home to share their experiences, but son and grandsons defer to Tunes, who becomes the automatic spokesperson for the family.

"People think 'martial arts' and all they think about is beating people up," Tunes chuckles quietly. "But martial arts is not just for fighting -- it becomes a way of life. It is about meditation. It is about learning to defend yourself and self-control."

Self control -- this is a big thing for the quiet, unassuming man. Trim and fit, he looks far younger than his 60 years. Part of this is his obvious exercise regimen, of course, but part of it is in the self-confident way he carries himself.

"My father always taught me to respect others if I wanted to gain respect for myself. To this day I still try to do that."

Clearly, the late Peter J. Antunes had a tremendous impact on his son -- and grandson, Michael, as well.

He was only a boy of 7 or 8, Michael says, when he started training with his grandfather. "It didn't take me long to realize grandpa was an excellent instructor," he laughs. "He was tough, but fair. I picked it up pretty good."

"My father was an instructor's instructor," Tunes chips in. "He had a way with people."

"A natural-born leader," Michael agrees.

Young Mike and Sean, of course, never met their grandfather, and Tunes finds that an almost impossible thought.

"He was not only my father," he says quietly. "He was my best friend."

Today, Michael, Mike and Sean all study with New Bedford's talented Joe Rebelo, adept at any number of martial arts disciplines.

"Joe Rebelo is like a walking encyclopedia of martial arts techniques," Michael says. "He's got something like 12 black belts in various styles and disciplines."

"Which is perfect for competitors who like to experiment," Tunes says, waving a hand towards his grandsons. And he should know -- up until his 40s, Tunes competed, as well.

Very well, I might add.

"My age has always been deceiving. In my 40s I was competing against guys in their 20s. I beat most of them, but at the age of 42 I stopped all competition."

Tournaments start in the mornings, he explains, and the band always plays at nights ... which was a pretty tough combination for a working musician. "It was becoming impossible to stay awake," he says. "So I gave up the tournaments. Rank wasn't a concern to me, but music is how I make my living."

Yet, up until three or four years ago he continued as a martial arts instructor and to this day still works out with weights regularly. A dream for the future, he says, would be to start a school for beginners, a sort of "basic training for martial arts. Footwork. Blocks. Punches."

It's important to teach a person respect, he feels. Respect for self -- respect for others. The younger the better.

If part of the importance of martial arts is the self-confidence it imparts, however, Tunes emphasizes he was taught never to go looking for trouble, only to be ready for it, if -- and when -- it ever came looking for him.

"I've only had one serious real-life 'incident,' " he says matter-of-factly in his low-key way. "I had to disarm a guy with a knife, once."

It was in the early 1970s in a Cape Cod restaurant, he says, when two men were beating another man, ganging up on him.

Tunes didn't like the odds and stepped in. "They were starting to beat this guy up. I shoved one guy away and he went flying backwards. The other guy stepped forward and I hit him with a two-handed heel strike in the chest -- you'd be surprised how much that hurts -- and that's when out of the corner of my eye I saw a third guy with a knife coming at me from the side."

What happened next was pure instinct, Tunes says, something he had practiced a thousand times in his martial arts classes.

Only, this time it was for real.

"I grabbed him in a wrist lock and took him down," he says, demonstrating by grabbing my hand and bending it gently backwards towards the wrist.

I could see how that would smart.

"Once he was down I put my foot into his neck, and twisted his wrist until he dropped the knife."

Some guys in that position might have gone further, he theorizes. "They might have broken something, or maybe even stabbed the guy with his own knife."

He did not.

For him, the scuffle was over.

"All I could think of was what my dad always used to say 'Once you've got an opponent beat...' " he smiles, and quickly points an exaggerated finger at grandsons Sean and Mike.

Without missing a beat, the pair finish the sentence "... don't beat him."

Clearly, all have learned Peter Antunes' lesson well.