“Do not believe on the strength of traditions even if they have been held in honour for many generations and in many places; do not believe anything because many people speak of it; do not believe on the strength of sages of old times; do not believe that which you have yourselves imagined, thinking that a god has inspired you. Believe nothing which depends only on the authority of your masters or priests. After investigation, believe that which you have yourselves tested and found reasonable, and which is for your good and that of others” Buddha
Well, the first thing I will admit is that I am no sensei. In fact, I am the leader of nobody; if you follow me, just remember: I might just be the first lemming at the edge of the cliff.
I am a teacher of Shotokan karate. I have been teaching for over ten years. I have been doing martial arts for well over twenty years, the vast majority of it traditional ITKF Shotokan karate. I am what you might call ” a true believer” when it comes to Mr. Nishiyama’s approach to karate. I do have my own ideas, or, more accurately, I have my own way of seeing things and saying things, but the basis of all my beliefs stems from the dojo of Hidetaka Nishiyama.
In my early years I actually studied the Yang style Tai Chi Chuan Long Form. I still do the long form daily, but I would suspect that it now looks a lot like Tai Chi with karate stances and dynamics. The two martial arts actually do compliment each other; many of the elder statesmen of karate such as Mr. Kanazawa train Tai Chi Chuan very seriously. I admit my reasons for starting Tai Chi were far less than honourable: I believe her name was Sue and she and May West had a lot in common, if you know what I mean.
I started karate very late in life: I was 29 and my daughter was not quite a year old yet. I know that many of you hard-core karate guys started karate while practically suckling babies, but I had other fish to fry in my youth. I was a serious competitive swimmer into my early twenties. I managed to place in the top sixteen in two events at the 1980 Olympic Trials. I still train in swimming to this day: I remain only a pound or two above my teen-age competition weight. Being a national class athlete gave me a step up on most other karateka: I had the internal self discipline hammered into me by years of dedicated deprivation in the pool.
I earned my Shodan ranking back in 1997. I never have bothered grading beyond that point. I still study karate passionately and I have actually written a couple of published articles on various subjects. I just don’t have much interest in ranking. If you really are impressed by ranking and want to wave your rank in my face, go ahead. I don’t care what your rank is or who gave it to you. I could care less if you were a multiple national grand champion. All the cheap trophies in the world or the stipes on your belt do not necessarily translate to knowledge or teaching skills. Superficial awards only represent physical skill (and sometimes political savy). I have sat next to Olympic gold medalists and know what a truly great athlete really looks like: most karateka do not qualify in those ranks.
Enough about me. It’s not about me. It’s really about karate and the wonder of the art.
