The controversial memo from the JKA to its members

[Shojiko]

There have been discussions on Reddit and other platforms over the surfacing of this letter dated August 10, 2023, which was addressed to members of the JKA and clearly states that disciplinary action will be taken if any of its members attend a seminar hosted by a group that is not affiliated with the JKA.

"TO:JKA/WF member countries and organizations

Dear representatives

we appreciate your continues support for promoting JKA Karate in the world.

You may have recieved the invitation for the seminars organized by the Japan Traditional Karate Association (JTK) which will be held in Denmark from 1st to 3rd of September and inGermany from 8th to 10th September this year.

We must indicate you all that JKA has nothing to do with JTK. In addition, JKA does not allow participation in their seminars. Therefore, please be aware that attenting those seminars may violate the ethics and Disciplinary regulations.

We would like to ask you to make thhis issue known to your every club, dojo and member.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Seizo Izumaya

Managing Director

JKA HQ "

I'm interested on everyone's opinions on this subject

[sensei8]

Seems quite straight forward and to the point. JKA members are to NOT participate in ANY JTK seminars and the like in any shape, way, and/or form. To do so will only bring forward discipline to the guilty JKA member, which might include termination of said JKA member for cause, as well.

If the JKA member values the JKA in its totality, then abide and obey the JKA directive.

If not, then the JKA member can do whatever they want to do without any concerns and/or reservations whatsoever.

The SKKA, the Governing Body for Shindokan that I was a member of forever and a day, NEVER interfered with the students right and desire to attend any outside training because the SKKA knew that no style of the MA is without flaws in its methodology/ideology. The SKKA might've not liked the students' choices for outside training, but they certainly never interfered and/or prohibited the students' rights. To do so as a Governing Body is contrived as being controlling over its members/Student Body. Not professional and not, well, cool.

The JKA has a history of expelling its members, whether they were for cause or not, the expulsions were the rights of the JKA to do so. For example...

Hidetaka Nishiyama: One of the founders of JKA, he broke away in 1974 to create the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF).

Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi, and Tsutomu Ohshima: These senior karateka, connected with Gichin Funakoshi, formed their own organizations due to disagreements with the JKA. Just to name a few who were either expelled or left the JKA, which seem to be quite a lot.

There have also been more recent controversies, such as the expulsion of JKA from the Japan Karate Federation (JKF) in 2014, which was later deemed illegal and unreasonable by the Tokyo District Court.

Governing Bodies are the furthest thing from being perfect in any shape, way, and/or form!!

Imho!!

[Shojiko]

The SKKA, the Governing Body for Shindokan that I was a member of forever and a day, NEVER interfered with the students right and desire to attend any outside training because the SKKA knew that no style of the MA is without flaws in its methodology/ideology. The SKKA might've not liked the students' choices for outside training, but they certainly never interfered and/or prohibited the students' rights. To do so as a Governing Body is contrived as being controlling over its members/Student Body. Not professional and not, well, cool.

^^^ this.. I have trained with some of the organizations you mentioned in your post, and while they can speak similarly in terms of negatives such as cross training, it has never resulted in "disciplinary actions"; it's almost religious at this point, which creeps me out ..

there was also this comment on reddit:

"Not surprised one bit. Where I am to even join JKA, you need to submit a letter you sent to your Sensei basically stating you're leaving them as proof that you've committed to them. They may even hold ranks away from you because of this. Horribly political. "

[bushido_man96]

I'm making this post prior to ready any other comments, so it's just my straight reaction.

Personally, any ultimatum like that rubs me the wrong way. Big red flag. There is definitely something they are trying to control here. And they are definitely exerting an inordinate amount of control over their members here. They sound like they are scared of something. I don't know what the wedge between the two organizations is, but it doesn't appear that the JTK has the same issues.

What I'd like to know is how they intend to find out who attended the seminar?

Big red flag for me.

[KarateKen]

There have been discussions on Reddit and other platforms over the surfacing of this letter dated August 10, 2023, which was addressed to members of the JKA and clearly states that disciplinary action will be taken if any of its members attend a seminar hosted by a group that is not affiliated with the JKA.

"TO:JKA/WF member countries and organizations

Dear representatives

we appreciate your continues support for promoting JKA Karate in the world.

You may have recieved the invitation for the seminars organized by the Japan Traditional Karate Association (JTK) which will be held in Denmark from 1st to 3rd of September and inGermany from 8th to 10th September this year.

We must indicate you all that JKA has nothing to do with JTK. In addition, JKA does not allow participation in their seminars. Therefore, please be aware that attenting those seminars may violate the ethics and Disciplinary regulations.

We would like to ask you to make thhis issue known to your every club, dojo and member.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Seizo Izumaya

Managing Director

JKA HQ "

I'm interested on everyone's opinions on this subject

To start out I have no experience or knowledge of these organizations or any history they might or might not have with each other. I do agree that it is a red flag to claim that attending another seminar is an ethics violation. Some schools do not play well with others, and in my opinion that is unfortunate because by preventing the students from attending you are preventing them from learning. Unless there is some type of a scam or legal issue between the organizations this is 100% unacceptable imo. And, even if there is an issue, it's questionable.

Some years ago there was a lawsuit between USSD and Z-Ultimate Karate, where United Studios of Self Defense accused Z-Ultimate of rebranding USSD into a different name without consent and used their same material. The Katas, the belt system, the testing curriculum, was all the exact same as USSD, they just basically stole everything they did but changed the name. The courts sided with USSD, and Z-Ultimate was ordered to pay 7.7 million dollars in damages. However, even then there were students who were cross training between the two schools and were allowed to.

Another example, there was an Aikido school in town that did not allow students to attend seminars of other styles, dojos, or instructors. If the students did not obey this rule they were banned from training at the Aikido dojo. I don't like it. Actually, no, I hate it. If I was training somewhere and they told me I wasn't allowed to expand my knowledge by learning from others I would quit that school and go somewhere else. Major issue for me.

[wildbourgman]

Strickly working from memory I think the I remember the JKA group on the West Coast (USA) having even further directives than this that pertained to any outside official training.

I personally don't like it. It seems like they feel threatened for some reason, and I can point to some JKA leaders that do cross train publicly with no apparent punishment, so I'm not sure about the memo having any teeth or equal justice for all members.

[Montana]

I'm making this post prior to ready any other comments, so it's just my straight reaction.

Personally, any ultimatum like that rubs me the wrong way. Big red flag. There is definitely something they are trying to control here. And they are definitely exerting an inordinate amount of control over their members here. They sound like they are scared of something. I don't know what the wedge between the two organizations is, but it doesn't appear that the JTK has the same issues.

What I'd like to know is how they intend to find out who attended the seminar?

Big red flag for me.

My thoughts also. Are they afraid you'll switch to the other side?

[sensei8]

I'm making this post prior to ready any other comments, so it's just my straight reaction.

Personally, any ultimatum like that rubs me the wrong way. Big red flag. There is definitely something they are trying to control here. And they are definitely exerting an inordinate amount of control over their members here. They sound like they are scared of something. I don't know what the wedge between the two organizations is, but it doesn't appear that the JTK has the same issues.

What I'd like to know is how they intend to find out who attended the seminar?

Big red flag for me.

My thoughts also. Are they afraid you'll switch to the other side?

Governing Bodies are always afraid of losing their members, aka, Student Body because they represent revenue. Loss of revenue is a body blow to any Governing Body no matter what they might say.

Imho!!

[DarthPenguin]

Strickly working from memory I think the I remember the JKA group on the West Coast (USA) having even further directives than this that pertained to any outside official training.

I personally don't like it. It seems like they feel threatened for some reason, and I can point to some JKA leaders that do cross train publicly with no apparent punishment, so I'm not sure about the memo having any teeth or equal justice for all members.

Yeah that is surprising - Sensei Naka publicly cross trains in a lot of styles and produces a lot of content of him doing so.

I can sort of see the logic behind some slight restrictions eg. if you are below X grade in shotokan we don't want you to cross train in another karate style yet in case you mess up your techniques but once you are past that point then it's fine (and unrelated styles like judo etc are fine). But a blanket ban is for me a red flag

[Zaine]

Strickly working from memory I think the I remember the JKA group on the West Coast (USA) having even further directives than this that pertained to any outside official training.

I personally don't like it. It seems like they feel threatened for some reason, and I can point to some JKA leaders that do cross train publicly with no apparent punishment, so I'm not sure about the memo having any teeth or equal justice for all members.

Yeah that is surprising - Sensei Naka publicly cross trains in a lot of styles and produces a lot of content of him doing so.

I can sort of see the logic behind some slight restrictions eg. if you are below X grade in shotokan we don't want you to cross train in another karate style yet in case you mess up your techniques but once you are past that point then it's fine (and unrelated styles like judo etc are fine). But a blanket ban is for me a red flag

I've certainly heard that line a lot in the past. While I was never forbade from cross training, my sensei strongly recommended against it until I became a sankyu. To ban it altogether, like you say, is a huge red flag.