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Forward from Odo no Karate(English translation)Already twelve years have passed since I won the First World Open Karate Tournament. I retired after winning the tournament, but soon afterward opened Satojuku, and since then I have been engaged in providing young students with instruction and encouragement while daily devoting myself to researching modern karate, in which I hold strong beliefs. Through the good fortune to have attained the cooperation and understanding of many individuals, and having been blessed with students, this year I was able to host and preside over a successful 2nd All Japan Point & K.O. Karate Tournament. It was four or five years ago that I began to feel the desire to put together (in the form of this book) the personal experiences leading to my becoming the first of the World Tournament champions. As I pursued a precise, modern karate that is based on the development of technique, power, and speed through training, I was inevitably made to look back on the hardship-filled journey that led to my victory. Modern times that choose to disregard tradition can hardly be called modern times. It goes without saying that my own karate began with the teachings of Mas Oyama, and is modeled after Kyokushin karate, which was built from the hard work and diligence of many esteemed seniors (senpai). In order for me to continue pursuing a truly modern karate, it was absolutely necessary for me (or us) to both consider and reevaluate traditions. My life is not devoted solely to karate. Whether good or bad, my personal history coincided with the history of postwar Japan, which had a tremendous influence on me. During my boyhood days, materials were scarce and everyone was poor. The difference between modern times and those days is like that between heaven and hell. Take education as an example. Whether it was at home or at school, people who teach and people who learn faced education as a serious match. Because of their dedication, even if there was a misunderstanding between a parent and child, or between a teacher and student, that misunderstanding was used to cultivate a greater bond of trust, which I believe supported the postwar recovery. At Satojuku today, particularly when I instruct youths, I emphasize character
development and educational aspects in my teaching because of my belief in education. Karate is a world of serious matches. A world of seriousness is heartless. However, only those who have experienced such heartlessness will come to know what humane feelings are. What lies beyond the heartlessness of modern karate is Odo Karate, which I pursue as the ideal. Odo means the way champions must behave. It is based on humane feelings and courtesy, on being honorable, on being devoid of selfishness or bias. It is the antithesis of any martial art that relies only on force to conquer an opponent. The intent of the Japanese martial art of karate is not merely to win over others. The process of training is more important than the outcome of the contest. Budo is about facing your own weakness, and about the fight to overcome that weakness. I believe you will find that this book is not just a record of my recollections. I wrote about my past as it was, without hiding any facts. Because karate is a world full of serious matches, karate is greatly misunderstood by today’s society, and it is also true that there are many in the field of karate who know nothing of human feelings or courtesy. Nonetheless, it is essential that we devote ourselves to the ideals of Odo Karate through our persistent efforts, just as our predecessors have … while imagining the face of a kindred spirit whom we may have yet to meet …
August 1987 |
