Great Stories from Great Grandmasters

[scottnshelly]

How about a compilation of great stories that we've heard from those wise Grandmasters have told us.

One time, my Instructor's Instructor was telling me and a group about a guy that came into his dojo one night. The guy wore a white belt and asked Mr. Chandler to a grappling match. So, they got into the ring and grappled for a while. Mr. Chandler was starting off going easy because of the white belt. After a few seconds, it became appearant that this young man had some training. He said that they bout lasted for well over half an hour and both came out exhausted and battered. Afterward, he asked the guy why he was wearing a white belt, when by his skills he should be a Black Belt.

The guy explained that part of his requirement for belt tests was winning in a tournament. This guy was opposed to competing, so he never tested. He had been training for something like eight years.

The moral of the story - that i got anyway - is that the color of your belt doesn't matter, it's your skills, training, experience, etc. This story really changed my perspective of belts and belt tests.

Any other inspiring stories handed down to you?

[Skeptic 2004]

This isn't exactly an inspirational or moral story, but hearing it I think it's kinda cool. I think it's a tale of karma.

Chosin Chibana used to be a "tough guy" when he was younger, training hard with Itosu and Tawada and challenging people to fights. He had a strong sense of "kakedamashii" or "fighting spirit." As he got older he calmed down considerably but always wondered if his "tough guy" past would ever revisit him in some form.

Enter my instructor. My instructor went to college on mainland Japan to train karate back in the 60's. He was (and for all intents and purposes acts like he still is) a "tough guy." His freshman year when he was trying out for his school's karate team he challenged the team captain (a senior and second or third dan) to a match; his mouth is still slightly crooked because of the broken jaw he received in that match. It didn't stop him; it only encouraged him. He found his way to Ohtsuka Hironori and trained Wado Ryu. His training as I understand was fairly hardcore. Encouraged by his intense training, he started challenging guys to fights and winning them.

Ohtsuka took my instructor to Okinawa to meet some of the top guys there, including Chosin Chibana. Chibana at the time was in 70's, teaching a small group of students in his own school (Miyahira, Nakazato, etc.). Chibana ate, lived, and breathed karate, and from the moment Ohtsuka and my instructor walked into the house started talking about karate. The conversation took an ugly turn as Chibana began to disparage Japan style karate. Ohtsuka started getting mad. He lost patience and challenged Chibana to a match. Chibana obliged. They both stepped outside. Ohtsuka punched at Chibana. Chibana blocked. Ohtsuka fell to the ground, clutching his arm. My instructor sat wide-eyed; the man he had spent most of his training with in Japan had just been felled by an old geezer in his 70's in a single blow - a block no less! Chibana agreed to take on my instructor as a student, but kindly asked Ohtsuka to leave.

During his early lessons with Chibana, my instructor used to replay the fight in his mind, wondering what on earth Chibana had done to Ohtsuka and how he had done it. It began to gnaw on him after a while, and the tough guy in him found him challenging Chibana to a friendly match. Chibana, smiling I'm sure, obliged.

My instructor thought that maybe Ohtsuka had failed because he hadn't feinted. He planned on faking high and then punching low. He launched his fist in a high fake. Suddenly, he says that it felt like a 100 pound weight had just been dropped on his arm. He fell to his knees, clutching his arm. Chibana stood over him. "The purpose of training is to develop a strong punch, strong kick, strong block," he says. Walking away he must have chuckled to himself. His tough guy days had come to revisit him indeed.