Japan Trip Update (Stage One)

[AnonymousOne]

Well we had a great time. It’s been over 20 years since I was at Hombo Dojo in Japan. The only difference I noticed was a fresh paint job and different buildings everywhere around. This time around I took my sweet heart and stayed at a Westernised Hotel. Thank God for that, I can’t stand Japanese food! I don’t eat any seafood and they eat the stuff like sharks.

 

The first week of training was relatively easy. We trained 2 lessons a day. 2 hours each. One late morning and the other in the evening. As I may have mentioned before I had trained intensely for about 2 years before I went. Not that I had really slowed down much in the last15 years. I just really focused these last 24 months. The morning lessons were spent with Kancho Sensei Sasaki 10th Dan. These morning lessons were the most enjoyable because I was able to ask him all sorts of things I never got a chance to ask him 20 odd years before when I was a Nidan. This man, who is quite elderly, now, trained directly under Funakoshi and he’s truly a man of steel. His skill and technique is truly awe-inspiring and he’s an absolute fanatic at neatness of technique. The evening lessons consisted of training with all grades. All grades train together for 2 hours at nights, from 7pm – 9pm.

 

These were also good because the instructor really grilled the Kyu grades in basics. In fact I was senior in rank to all the instructors, usually 3rd or 4th Dan however out of respect of protocol and not knowing the complete language I just trained. I must say it was quite fan. Some of the Japanese are quite proud of themselves and believe that the Japanese have the franchise on skill and me being a “Gai-jin”, some attempted to give me a hard time in sparring. Just young whippersnappers who judge a book by its cover. What I did however was where a belt that had no Japanese inscriptions on it, so my grade was not indicated. That was a lot of fun. Then when we were asked to line up in order of rank I was way away from most of them. That will teach them young whimps to treat a bald headed old white coot!! So… things were a far different cry from the days when I was at the lower echelon of the Dan grade levels.

 

The training systems hadn’t changed much at all. Same system. The Japs when they find something that works for them they sure stick with it.

 

The second week was a little tougher. Kancho Sensei became more intense in his lessons. However he always made in interesting. He spent much time on Bunkai particularly. Actually he paid me a compliment, which is just extremely rare within out system. If you are good at something they never tell you, if you are poor boy do they let you know. Anyway, he said “Your technique grow much last time from”. In our system, that’s a huge compliment! I never expected it. So I was not only surprised but very pleased. It made me feel that all those days of running in storms, hail and rain, the tough evening lessons in the intense heat over the years, amounted to something. The only thing the old fanatic corrected me on was in one part of a Kata when my blocking arm was ½ an inch out of place. That’s all he ever said.

 

I did this time around, get a chance to spar with the old man. Now bare in mind I have trained almost fanatically every day for the last 28 years. I can bench press 260 lbs and I am not a big man and I can run a marathon in 2 hrs 22 minutes. I consider myself extremely fit for my age (45). But this old man, sheesh, his defence is like a barrage of steel and his attacks are like lightning. Several times he broke through my technique and said “Ahhh, old man, very sneaky for Gai-jin”. Cheeky old prick LOL

 

On the last weekend we went to a Gasshuku. That was tough but I got through it a lot better than many of the others. The weekend consisted of a pattern. Basics in the morning, Kata in the afternoon and Kumite in the evenings. As well as an 8-mile run in the mornings. I loved the runs; I out ran the lot of them! The Japanese are not great runners and they are weak in the arms, but they have legs like General Sherman trees.

 

So the weekend went fine. Except for the bloody food, I had to put up with that Japanese crap for 3 days. I ate mainly rice and vegetables. All this time thinking of my sweetie relaxing at the hotel eating steaks, fries and eggs!!

 

When we got back, I finally got a day off from training before my grading. Kancho Sensei ordered me not to train that day. However I got invited to his home for a traditional Japanese meal. More crap Jap food sheesh. Raw fish, eels, and some **** I wasn’t game to ask what it was!

 

After the meal we were served tea by his wife outside on a sort of terrace thing, over looking a beautiful traditional Japanese garden. It was really beautiful. This was the first time I had ever really sat in a relaxed environment outside the dojo to talk to the old guy. I asked him many questions. Man there was so many of them I may not be able to remember them all right now.

 

I asked him about his early days of training, why he got into Karate and what it was like training under Funakoshi. When I mentioned Funakoshi his eyes lit up and he smiled and in his broken English he said “Ahh Funakoshi Sensei, good old man”. He told me that training under Funakoshi was brutal. He said Funakoshi was really tough and the years early in the war there were so many students at Funakoshi’s Dojo they had to train in the streets. He was lucky and was excused from war service, as he was some kind of government employee.

 

He also mentioned Funakoshi’s son Giko, who had a huge influence on Shotokan. He said Giko was a great Karate-Ka, a great teacher, but wasn’t refined in Kata as he could have been. Interesting. Then I asked him about Funakoshi’s technique He simply said, “Sensei always block and no get through like hard castle”. I mentioned to him that some in the western world think that Funakoshi’s wasn’t that skilled. He replied “No, one come from Okinawa and be bad for Karate. Master kill mountain if he bad man”. That’s his very words. What he ment of course was that in Japanese thinking, was that a mountain is held with great reverence and they are enormous in scope. So if Funakoshi was a bad man to try and destroy something as cherished as a mountain, he could of, that was the extent of his technique. I came away with the distinct impression that Funakoshi was truly a man of great skill. If my Kancho Sensei is any measure of that, Funakoshi must have been truly awesome.

 

Then I got into a lot of technical questions with him. His thoughts on the state of world Karate, media coverage and how he feels about it all. I saw him in a different light that night. I think it was quite emotional. Here was an old man who had dedicated his whole life to an art he loves so much and he seemed very remorseful of what was happening. His views are that Karate is purely a martial art for the purpose of developing mind body and spirit. Although our school does cater for contest (and been extremely successful) it’s a very small part. This man, in all my years of training, is the most fanatical of proper etiquette and neatness of technique. Until you saw an advanced student from our school compared to other schools its hard to explain. But he took Shotokan technique in about 1957 and added a dimension to it that is unsurpassed, in my opinion of course.

 

Well I have much more to say and particularly about the five hours spent talking to this old man on that terrace but its late and my sweetie is looking a lot better than this web page so I will retire and I will share some more of what he said perhaps after my morning run tomorrow if I get time.

 

Blessing be upon you and may you reach out and achieve what you are truly capable of, meaning that which lies within you, that is dorment and needs releasing. Your greatest enemy to achieving your goals is self doubt, conquer it with a fierce battle or one day wake up an old man thinking “I wish I had tried just a little harder”. Don’t wake up to that nightmare!.

 

 

 

_________________

 

Soft teachers make soft students

 

[ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-07-06 11:39 ]

[Jack]

I'm envious.

 

So how long did you end up spending in Japan? It has been quite a while since I last saw you posting here.

 

And how it must have felt to train under someone who himself was trained by Funakoshi, how did you feel about that?

 

 

[AnonymousOne]

I was there for 2.5 weeks. I had spent a whole year there in 1981.

 

I havent been online much as when I got backI have been putting a new business together.

 

It was awesome training under Kancho Sensei. He always makes it interesting, but hes very strict, like a military commander