When it came to my turn to teach, it made sense that I would use it as a rehearsal for the filming work the next day, so we worked on the Bo kata and bunkai. Again, Kanazawa Sensei and Nobuaki Sensei joined in and trained with us. I was glad of the opportunity, because I wanted to show Kanazawa Sensei some of the ideas I had for the filming and to ask him a few questions. We got everything sorted, and it was a training session that will never be forgotten by those who were there. To top it off, we drank saké in the dojo after class to mark the occasion before all going out for dinner together.
The next day we travelled to the film studio in Dublin, where problems became immediately apparent: they had built the set too small, which meant that we were not going to be able to fit everyone in the way we wanted, and we could not use cameras at the sides as I had planned. It was very frustrating, but we had to make adjustments to the plan and keep going, because this was our only allocated day for filming.
We ran quickly through what was going to be covered, making the necessary adjustments and checking the camera angles. Then we started the filming itself, with the first part being for us all to line up with Kanazawa Sensei while he introduced the DVD. After his part in front of the camera finished, he got to sit and supervise the rest of the filming. There were many times over the next seven hours where he said the words that are familiar to all karate students: ‘One more!’ And so we would do it again, and again, and again. When he was satisfied, we moved on to the next section.
My hamstring was sore from the injury just one week earlier in Japan, but I managed to get through the morning’s filming with minimum pain. Unfortunately I cooled down over lunch and the hamstring tightened up; and straight after lunch I had to perform Kanazawa No Bo Sho. On the first take I felt a stab of pain, and I knew I had made the injury worse. There was nothing to be done though, and I had to keep going. Whether it was because of the pain, or maybe I was nervous in front of Kanazawa Sensei (and the cameras), but I kept messing up the kata, and had to do it about eight times before I got one that he considered good enough. It even got to the point of having to ice the hamstring in between takes!
Eventually, having completed all the filming, we could relax. The Japanese instructors were staying at my house again that night, so we went out for dinner and they expressed satisfaction with the day’s work.
In my naivety, I thought that we had the bulk of the work done for the DVD, but I was very wrong! When it came to the editing we realised that of the four cameras that we had used on the day, only one of them produced footage of good enough quality to actually use. That meant that we now didn’t have everything we needed to make the DVD. Fortunately, none of the footage involving the Japanese instructors was affected, but it meant that, two months after the initial filming, we had to go back to the film studio, rebuild the ‘dojo’ set, and film various sections all over again. And after that, we had all the editing to do. The film production company had great facilities for this, but we still spent over a hundred hours editing all the footage, putting it together, recording and inserting voiceovers, adding effects and music.
When the DVD was finally finished we held a ‘premiere’ as part of the launch. We invited all current and former students from the dojo, as well as people from other clubs and arts, a couple of local politicians and people from the press to a drinks reception, followed by a showing of the DVD. On the night of the premiere a man at the reception bowed and said ‘Oss Sensei!’ as I walked past. I didn’t recognise him, but returned the bow and kept going. A few minutes later I asked one of my students if he knew who the man was. He didn’t, so I forgot about it. A little later, the same man approached me again and bowed once more. This time I stopped to talk to him.
‘You don’t recognise me,’ he smiled.
I admitted that I didn’t. He looked like he was in his mid twenties, and had a full beard. I figured that maybe the beard was making it difficult to identify him. Then he told me his name and I instantly remembered him. But the person I remembered was a boy of about twelve, who had trained with us for maybe six months many years ago – and here he was now, a grown man.
He told me that it was thirteen years since he had been a member of the karate club. He was now twenty-five, had graduated college and was working. The invitation to the event had gone to his parents’ home, but he happened to see it and wanted to come along to say hello. He said that, over the years, he often thought of the karate training and the lessons I taught. In particular, he told me that he remembered me saying ‘If it were easy, anyone could do it,’ and, ‘Most worthwhile things are difficult to achieve – that’s what makes them worthwhile.’ This principle of working hard had helped him get through college when he found it tough. Even though he had only trained for a relatively short time when he was quite young, the lessons and benefits of karate training had helped him greatly many years later.
That short conversation, and the fact that he had gone to the trouble to come and thank me, made me realise that we often don’t know how much we are helping people through teaching them karate. Even when people stop training, they may still benefit from our lessons. For me, that was the highlight of the evening.
I was so sick of all the work we had done filming, re-filming and editing the DVD that I couldn’t even watch it. When the lights dimmed and the DVD started playing that evening, I closed my eyes for the entire thing! In fact, it was only about four years later, when my son asked me if I would watch it with him that I actually sat through it.
Fortunately it was well received, and people really didn’t notice all the little things that I was still not happy about. It got good reviews in various magazines and blogs, and – more importantly – people bought it!
The trouble was that I had spent far too much on the project, and it was going to be difficult to ever break even, let alone make a profit. I didn’t mind so much. After all, not many people get to make a DVD with Kanazawa Sensei, and I would have preferred to lose money and do a good job, than to make money on an inferior job.
38. IF YOU BUILD IT
The time when Kanazawa Sensei came to stay at my house was very special. Several years earlier I had bought some land to build a house. My business was doing very well at the time, so it seemed like a good investment, although times became a little tougher later. I hired an architect: he studied the land, looking at the elevations and aspect. Then he asked me about what I liked to do and what I wanted in a house.
I told him that karate was my passion, and that I really wanted my own dojo. Once I had explained what a dojo was, that became his starting point for designing the house. Then I also told him that it was a dream of mine to someday have Kanazawa Sensei come and stay at my house. Again, I tried to explain just how much of a VIP Kanazawa Sensei is in the karate world, and how important he is to all his students.
I had been to other people’s houses with Kanazawa Sensei. He sometimes commented that it was nicer to stay at a house with a family (as long as he knew them well) than to always stay in hotels. Anyone who travels a lot for work will know how boring and lonely hotels become after a short while, and very few people travel as much as Kanazawa Sensei did for many years.
The architect listened to all of this, and determined that I was looking for a guest suite for Kanazawa Sensei or other guests, which should have the comforts of a hotel, but should also be homely and enable guests to feel part of the family. Perfect! Except then I said that Nobuaki Sensei often travelled with his father, so perhaps we needed a second one as well…
‘No problem,’ replied the architect. ‘We will put one at each side of the house.’
And so the house was designed around a beautiful dojo in the basement and two guest suites on the top floor. General living and family bedrooms were sandwiched in between on the ground floor. The larger suite was named the ‘Kanazawa Suite’ and the slightly smaller one was named the ‘Nobuaki Suite’ long before either of those gentlemen ever set foot in them.
If you have ever s
een the movie Field of Dreams, then that is what it was like when we built that house. ‘If you build it, he will come,’ is one of the key quotes in the movie, and that is exactly what happened. In planning the DVD production I also ensured that the dojo was completed just days before Kanazawa Sensei and Nobuaki Sensei arrived to stay. They each stayed in the rooms that bore their name; they were able to relax and have fun playing with my young children, but they had their privacy as well. They taught in my dojo, and we even mounted a plaque on the wall to commemorate the occasion. It all worked out exactly as I had hoped.
Tick another one off the bucket list.
39. ATHENS
The SKIF World Championships took place in Athens, Greece, in 2009. I was not participating in the championships, but Kanazawa Sensei had asked me to go there to promote and sell the new Kanazawa No Bo DVD. Nicola and I flew to Athens like travelling salesmen, armed with a suitcase full of DVDs, polo shirts and posters.
Before the championships there was a training seminar with Kanazawa Sensei, assisted by several of the Honbu Dojo instructors. I try not to miss a chance of training with Kanazawa Sensei, so naturally I went along for the training.
Kanazawa Sensei started off getting the instructors to demonstrate his kumite syllabus, starting with the kihon (basic) kumite, and then moving on to the jiyu-ippon kumite (semi-freestyle). Murakami Sensei and Nobuaki Sensei demonstrated the jiyu-ippon kumite. Then we all worked with partners on various aspects of these exercises. Towards the end of the session, Kanazawa Sensei said he wanted the jiyu-ippon kumite demonstrated one more time. Everyone sat down again in a large circle as he signalled to Nobuaki Sensei to come forward. I was sitting down, waiting for Murakami Sensei to go forward also, but Kanazawa Sensei pointed to me and asked me to join Nobuaki Sensei in the centre. I was slightly surprised, but having often partnered with Nobuaki Sensei, I was comfortable enough to be on the receiving end of his impeccable techniques.
It all went very well – as always. I sat down again afterwards, still slightly confused to have been asked out to partner with Nobuaki Sensei, but always delighted of the experience of working with him. We can learn by watching such demonstrations, but when we get to experience the techniques at first hand, it is learning at a different level.
Later in the seminar we split into groups to work on various kata, with a different Honbu Dojo instructor for each group. I was in a group doing Sochin, but I was also keeping an eye on the people next to us where Murakami Sensei was teaching Nijushiho. He was making a very interesting point that slow moves can contain speed, sometimes starting quick and slowing through the move. He was demonstrating this beautifully in a way that I still struggle to replicate.
At the end of this session Kanazawa Sensei had us all sit down again, and this time invited students to go out and demonstrate the various kata that had been worked on. They were to do this in a group, so everyone doing a particular kata would all go out together. As this seminar was the precursor to the world championships, a lot of people who were hopeful of doing well in the kata competition were keen to go out and get in some extra practice and maybe some constructive criticism. I remained seated, as I was not participating in the championships, and felt it would not be fair to go out with those who were competing.
One thing that surprised me was that when the group went out to do Unsu I was disappointed with what I saw. Several of those who demonstrated the kata did what I could only describe as a technically poor kata, albeit with a spectacularly good jump. It was as though they had neglected the entire kata in order to work on perfecting the jump. To me, this was missing the point: it is a kata with many unique techniques, and with wonderful rhythm and timing. Some of the best demonstrations of Unsu I have ever seen have not had a particularly athletic jump, but the entire kata has been done with real intent and focus. I often think about those people doing Unsu when I work on my kata, and try to ensure that I don’t fall into the same trap.
Later that evening I was back at my hotel and about to go out for dinner. As I walked past the bar I saw that Kanazawa Sensei and the Honbu Dojo instructors were inside having a drink. I stopped for a minute to say hello and pay my respects.
Kanazawa Sensei turned to me and thanked me for partnering with Nobuaki Sensei earlier in the day. He told me that Nobuaki Sensei liked to partner with me. I figured this was because we were similar height and build, which makes partnering easier, and because we knew each other well at this stage, having partnered together a lot at various seminars in different countries. I told Kanazawa Sensei that he didn’t have to thank me, because it was always my pleasure to partner Nobuaki Sensei.
Over the next few days we were very busy selling the DVDs and merchandise at the championships. At various points, Nobuaki Sensei, Daizo Sensei and other Honbu Dojo instructors came and sat at the stand with us, signing autographs on the items that people bought. I was surprised at this, but Nobuaki Sensei told me that I was helping SKIF, so they had to help me too. I am always impressed at how considerate all the instructors are, and how quick they are to express their gratitude.
40. SKIF BO-JUTSU
Some time after the launch of the Kanazawa No Bo DVD, I visited Scotland again to train with Kanazawa Sensei, as I often did. We got talking about Kanazawa No Bo, and how we could encourage more people in SKIF around the world to become interested in studying it. It became apparent that we were discussing more than just a pair of kata; we were talking about a full system that complements the karate system of SKIF. Once we had reached this conclusion, Kanazawa Sensei suggested that we should develop a proper syllabus and have a grading structure for Bo-Jutsu within SKIF. He asked my opinion of this, and I told him that it sounded very exciting. Then he asked me how many grades there should be. I thought about it for a minute, and then suggested that we should do it like T’ai Chi, which Kanazawa Sensei had already been teaching in parallel with karate for many years. In T’ai Chi there are six levels, so I felt it would be good if Bo-Jutsu had the same. Kanazawa Sensei agreed with this suggestion, and we then discussed the basic structure of a syllabus. I was asked to expand on this work, and to then come to Japan a couple months later, in October 2010, to formalise the syllabus with Kanazawa Sensei.
I spent a week in Japan on that trip, training as much as I could at the Honbu Dojo in the regular classes. But I also took part in the instructor training, where the syllabus and grading structure were finalised with Kanazawa Sensei and taught to all the Honbu Dojo instructors. It was a great privilege for me to be there and be part of that.
The grading structure is based on the Tai-Chi structure of six levels. It is intended that students should already be at least Shodan in SKIF karate before testing in Bo-Jutsu, so the first level, or grade, in SKIF Bo-Jutsu is approximately equivalent to Shodan in karate. This grade is called ‘Sho-Kyu’, meaning beginner level. The second level is called ‘Chu-Kyu’, meaning middle level, and the third is called ‘Jo-Kyu’, meaning high level. These are the three ‘student’ grades. After this is ‘Shidoin’, which means instructor, and is a formal instructor qualification. The fifth level is called ‘Jun-Shihan’, which approximately means ‘below master’. The final level is ‘Shihan’, the master level.
For our work in developing the Bo-Jutsu system, Nobuaki Sensei, Murakami Sensei and I were all automatically awarded the grade of ‘Jun-Shihan’. The other Honbu Dojo instructors were awarded the rank of ‘Shidoin’. It was necessary to do this in order to establish the authorised instructors and examiners to be able to go and teach Bo-Jutsu for SKIF. Only Kanazawa Sensei held the highest grade. I actually felt aggrieved to be awarded my grade without having done a grading examination, but as this was the birth of the new system I understood that it had to be done this way.
The following month the first formal international SKIF Bo-Jutsu seminar and grading examinations took place in England, as part of a regular SKIF karate seminar. Kanazawa Sensei and Nobuaki Sensei taught the karate classes, and I taught the Bo-Jutsu classes, wit
h Kanazawa Sensei and Nobuaki Sensei carefully overseeing my teaching. Some of my students travelled from Ireland to take part in the first ever SKIF Bo-Jutsu examinations. People from Scotland, England and Spain also participated in those first examinations.
Kanazawa Sensei conducted the examinations, with Nobuaki Sensei and me sitting with him. He made sure to ask our opinions on the students’ performances before he made his decisions. We all knew that he didn’t need our opinion, but he is always a gentleman and wanted us to be involved, and to learn how he conducts such examinations.
For me it was yet another chapter of what seemed like a surreal experience. I knew that we were witnessing an historic occasion in the life of Kanazawa Sensei and SKIF. He was already a legend in karate, and an acknowledged master of T’ai Chi. Now he was establishing his own system of Bo-Jutsu, and we were there to witness it and be a part of it.
I feel very lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to help with this work on SKIF Bo-Jutsu in a small way, to support Kanazawa Sensei and the other SKIF Honbu Dojo instructors. I am also very fortunate to be able to travel to different countries to teach Bo-Jutsu, which I do several times a year.
41. SPIRIT OF THE EMPTY HAND
Over the years I recommended the book Spirit of the Empty Hand to a lot of people. However, the book was now out of print, and became more and more difficult to purchase. Second-hand copies of the book were advertised online for anything up to US$250! I sourced a few copies from time to time from a second-hand online bookstore in South Africa. One day I received an email from the bookstore telling me that they had something that might interest me. Spirit of the Empty Hand was originally written as the thesis for Sensei Stan’s Masters Degree in Communications. Only eight copies of the thesis were ever printed. One of these had now been purchased by this bookstore, and they were selling it. I immediately agreed to buy it.
A Karate Story Page 18