A Karate Story
Page 21
There was an anxious wait after the examination finished. I knew I had done as well as I could have, but I just was not sure if it was enough. As the results were being announced, several of the students were informed that they would have to try again another time. I started to feel that I might be joining them. Then my name was called.
‘Seamus O’Dowd.’
‘Oss! Sensei!’ I stepped forward. Kanazawa Sensei looked up at me with a stern look that seemed to last forever. My heart sank. Then he smiled.
‘Roku-Dan,’ he announced with a grin, knowing that he had terrified me with his look. I bowed and heard people clapping. I had passed.
That evening, a large group of us went out for dinner and a few drinks. I was relieved to be finished with the grading, and could now enjoy the rest of the trip.
The following day we were enjoying the annual Hanami (flower-viewing picnic), sitting once again under the sakura. Nobuaki Sensei spoke to me and asked me what I thought of some of the extra elements they had included in the examination, where they tested the Dan grades on parts of the Kyu-grade examination syllabus. I replied that I thought they were good, and that I felt it was important that everyone should continuously practise the entire syllabus. He told me that their intention was to make the Dan grading examinations a little more difficult, especially for the higher Dan grades. I told him that he could make them as difficult as he liked now, because I was already a higher grade than I ever thought possible, so I was finished now and would never grade again! He laughed.
It felt good to go training at the Honbu Dojo over the next few days with no examination to worry about. Training in Japan is always enjoyable and intense, but it is easier to enjoy it after an examination than before.
*
On the flight home from Japan I realised that I was only a few months from my thirtieth karate anniversary. I reflected on the time I was a white belt, watching my brother perform Tekki-Shodan and thinking that I could never learn that. I remembered the phone call telling me that I passed my Shodan examination. I remembered the feeling of nervousness when I opened my dojo. I remembered many highs and lows over the previous thirty years.
Karate went very quickly from something that I do to something that I am. It is a constant struggle, because there is no shortcut or easy way for serious karate. It is a path: a Do. But it is worth every second, every drop of sweat, and every injury. Karate has helped me in so many unexpected ways, so much more than the mere physical ability of defending myself. People often ask me if I have ever used my karate, and I tell them that I use it all the time: in the calm determination that is required in business negotiations and boardroom meetings; in studying the body language of a difficult customer; and in everyday life by being aware of what is going on around me so that I can avoid ever having to actually engage in a dangerous situation.
I often wonder what my life would be like without karate. There are people I went to school with who were great athletes then, but who are now overweight, unfit and inactive. They talk about the glory days of the past, while I still feel fit and strong, and look forward to continuing to improve.
Karate has helped make me the person that I am – hopefully a person of integrity and character. I have many flaws, but they are more under control because of karate than they would be otherwise. I will always be a work in progress, and this is why my karate journey will never end.
As my brother said to me at the beginning, it doesn’t get easier. But it is worth it. I estimate that I am probably about halfway through my karate ‘life’. I have now been training for thirty years, and still have a long way to go. I am looking forward to the next thirty.
AFTERWORD
I thought I knew young Seamus – now Sensei Seamus – pretty well. I have spent many enjoyable times both inside and outside of the dojo training, and also sharing ideas and witticisms with him and his lifelong friend Garry Cashman. And I have had the pleasure of meeting his sensei, Ray Payne.
I also know that A Karate Story would not have come into existence without the inspiration and charismatic leadership of Grandmaster Kanazawa, founder of SKIF, whose amazing way of life is well depicted in this book. I was privileged to train under Sensei Kanazawa when I first visited the Japan Karate Association in 1963 and was impressed then, as I am today, by his amazing skills, innovative ability and warm demeanour.
But reading Seamus’s book made me realise that I had been looking at the mere tip of the O’Dowd iceberg. As the story unfolded I found it fascinating to see how a youngster who was well below average at sports, and far removed from the excellent achievements of his two older brothers, suddenly changed gears at the age of sixteen and, with his nose to the grindstone of karate, moulded himself into the accomplished karate exponent that he is today.
Not only is he accomplished, but Seamus is also a very likeable guy with a sense of humour that is second to none. I still smile at the time he sent me a white belt as a birthday gift: in addition to that, he and Garry Cashman also wrote and sent me a booklet with a title to parody my book, by calling it Spirit of the Empty Head, in which they poked fun at themselves, at me, and at different aspects of karate. I have had people in tears of laughter as I read them sections of this little gem. It included lists of alternative book titles, such as Mooing Zen – Philosophy for Cows and The Pessimist’s Guide to Karate: Spirit of the Half-Empty Hand. Between them, they have a unique way of combining irreverence with a genuine sense of respect for all karate-ka, and a love of their chosen art.
Every beginner, student and high graded karate-ka should read A Karate Story. Not only does Seamus address the techniques and fighting spirit of karate, he more importantly reveals to the reader the ethos that underlies the serious practice of karate: camaraderie, kindness, humility, respect for our fellow karate practitioners and for all human beings, all of this juxtaposed with those constant and necessary cousins: courage, challenge, extreme pressure and innovation.
As I enjoyed reading his words and fascinating experiences it gradually dawned on me that Seamus was most certainly not an overnight karate wonder. The beauty of this warm-hearted karate story is that it starts with a youngster who was basically a dropout at school sports. He was a stay-at-homer who, despite his brother’s success in karate training was not interested until he reluctantly took a karate class at the age of sixteen. Something happened in that one class to make him want to do karate of his own volition, and from then onwards it was just blood and guts that gradually transformed Seamus, that reluctant and shy boy, into a dynamic and respected karate champion and instructor. This did not happen over months, or even years. It took decades of honestly applying the maxim: Train man, train!
I have seldom come across a more dedicated practitioner of the art who is prepared to reach out and study other martial arts such as T’ai Chi and Bo-jutsu to enhance his prowess in his chosen art of karate.
Stan Schmidt
Melbourne
October 2015