Originally in Karate, of which its roots can be traced to Okinawa, secrets were passed down from father to son, from a master to an excelled disciple. Kancho, however, does not have a master since he was self-taught, solely through the practice of Karate Kata. In a sense, therefore, Kata could technically be considered Kancho’s master. He had worked diligently and earnestly to learn the traditional forms of Kata skillfully. As a result, he gained the mysterious power embedded in traditional Kata.
A defender’s skilled performance of Kata causes an attacker to fall under the defender’s control with minimal muscle power. An attacker is thus neutralized by a defender’s skilled performance of Kata, and is defeated without a struggle.
I was fascinated by this world of Karate, thanks to Kancho’s personal guidance. I had taken Kancho’s personal lessons almost regularly in Osaka since I was 67.
Of course, I was vulnerable in the world of combative Karate at that age. Nonetheless, I was appointed by Kancho to become his fifth instructor at the age of 70, along with four other instructors, most of whom were former world champions.
At that time in 2013, Shingikan’s Tokyo Dojo was established under Kancho’s direct jurisdiction, which exclusively gives lessons in the traditional martial art of Karate, except for the combativeness being toned down significantly.
I have since been appointed as Head of Tokyo Dojo. I’ve learned how the use of power is completely different between Karate as martial art and Karate as a combative sport. The former is characterized by a defender collapsing his opponents without using muscle strength, as well as by not colliding with them.