Karate is Aloha, Aloha is Karate

For the day after Thanksgiving,
I didn’t expect much attendance so I was surprised when over half
the regular class came to Ki Class here at the main dojo.

This made me think about what things make for a good class:

1. For one thing, the quality of a class depends on the enthusiasm
of the instructor and the students.

2. Also, a shorter class is better than one which is too long because
the attention span works better in a shorter class.

3. Too small of a class is not good because it is more like a private
lesson.

4. Finally, a good class should not have too much detail which
results in not enough spirit.

On November 10th –11th, 2007, the annual JIKC Karate Kamp
Training was held. This Karate Kamp takes place every year in
either October or November. At the first camp in 2005, 95 people
attended. Last year, 2006, 105 people made the trek.

This year, 2007, there were 140 people that attended the happenings.
It is wonderful to see that slowly more and more people are coming
to this wonderful event.

At present in the State of Hawaii there are 14 or 15 JIKC Karate
Dojo locations. This means that on any given day, 200-300 people
will be practicing at JIKC. If we assume that each person practices
about 2-3 times per week, this means that every week about 1000
people or more will be practicing at JIKC. That’s a lot of people.
But even though they are all of the same organization, many don’t
even know each other’s face. And this brings us to the real
purpose of JIKC’s Karate Kamp Training and why it is held every
year.
It is so that the people of JIKC can get to know each other. They
have a chance to meet the other members of their JIKC family in
a great and fun way. All the dojos can come to the camp to meet
together, to eat together, to over-night together and to train
Karate together. But besides this, people break up into groups of
maybe 50-60 and are able to do swimming, rock tower climbing,
hiking, archery, etc. The events are many. Besides that there are
the things that one does at the beach like walking and talking along
the shoreline, building sand castles, etc. There seems to be
something for everyone..

Children 5-9 years of age must attend with parent(s) or guardian(s).
Anyone 10 years old or older can come on their own. The gathering
is held at Camp Erdman in Mokuleia on the north-west end of Oahu,
very near its western-most tip, Kaena Point. Camp Erdman is
bordered on one side by the blue Pacific Ocean and on the other
by the Waianae Mountain Range that juts it’s green peaks into the
Hawaiian skies. Here you are immersed into some of the most
beautiful and remote Nature that the island has to offer.

There are cabins or bungalows enough for 200 people to sleep over.
Each cabin can house about 5-10 people. There is also a cafeteria
that serves some mighty fine grub to about 150 at a time. Once a
day Souke leads a Karate training. The rest of the time activities are
held so that people can play and have fun.

The emphasis of the Karate training at camp is much like it is at
JIKC’s daily class training. What is important is not the attention
to every little technical detail but to the correct attitude with
which one trains. And what is this correct attitude? You train hard
with the mind of sincerely wanting to learn. So in other words,
using the basic postures and techniques, you try hard. This is the
most important thing. Training like this, you build a good foundation
not only for Karate but for all of Life.

How do you teach and learn this correct mental attitude?
The Method is:

1. Line up properly.

a. You line up yourself properly first.
b. Next you line up with others properly.

2. Then you sincerely and consciously announce the Factors
for Proper Training:

a. Factors of Mental Strength:

1) Seriousness.
2) Try Hard.
3) Never Give Up.

b. Factors for Learning Attitude (or correct attitude
towards learning):

1) Initiative.
2) Sense of Responsibility.
3) Pride. (This is not the pride of arrogance but the
pride of self respect and having faith in oneself.)

c. Factors for Relationship with Others:
1) Appreciation. (This is appreciation for yourself and for others.
This appreciation is already within you and its presence within
you is not dependant on external things. This is why you can
truly appreciate things that others give you. And you also
see the lessons that it contains. In this way, everything
becomes something that you can appreciate.)
2) Consideration. (You are able to feel the other’s point of view.
For example: If rain comes, we might feel,
“Damn!!! It’s raining!!!”
But if you are able to see the rain’s point of view, you see how
it nourishes and is absolutely essential to the Earth. When you
see this about the rain, you start to appreciate it. Appreciating
everything like this you come to the most fundamental point of
view which is Nature’s point of view. From this perspective you
can come to see and appreciate your place in the Grand Scheme
of things.
You see that you are just a small inseparable part of this Infinite
Universe. But at the same time you are the also see that you
are't he whole thing. And this brings up even more appreciation
for yourself, for others and for all things.)

3) Feeling of Unity. (You see the common point or common
ground that you share with others and all things. This is how you
can more properly relate. By seeing this common ground,
your interactions are allowed to progress much faster and in a
deeper, richer way.)

d. These important factors of practice (mental strength, correct
learning attitude and correct relationship with others) are
examples of Shu (mental strength),
Ha (correct learning attitude) and Ri (correct relationship with
others).

e. Furthermore, Shu, Ha and Ri can be thought of as Basic
Technique (Shu), Kata (Ha) and Kumite (Ri).

From the time I was 5 or 6 years old, I can remember my mother and
grandmother telling me, “naseba naru”, which means that you can
accomplish what you desire.

When I began to study karate at age 12, I also remember that my
senpai and sesnsei would also tell me, “ naseba naru” when I
wasn’t able to achieve the goal that I strived for. It made me work
that much hardeto succeed.

I came to Hawaii in 1962 and opened my first dojo, “All Japan
KarateDo Wado Kai – Hawaii Branch”, which evolved into
Japan International Karate in 1965. At that time, JIKC had
a total of 200 students.

About 1966, I saw a documentary movie, “Naseba Naru”,
which told the story of the Japanese company, Nichibo Kaizuka’s
women’s volleyball team. The coach of the team was Mr. Daimatsu.
The movie told the true story of how Coach Daimatsu took
a relatively untalented factory women’s volleyball team,
coached them for several years to become the Japanese national
champions.
Not only that but he took this very same team to the Tokyo
Olympics in 1964 and won the Gold Medal! It is an amazingly true
story – he was a truly inspirational coach who lifted the team
to the highest level.
He always told them, “naseba naru.”

I was very inspired by this story and made it my goal to make JIKC
the best and the largest dojo in the U.S. I reached this goal in the
early 70’s when JIKC had the largest number of students in America,
primarily because I truly believed in “naseba naru.”

One doesn’t hear this term, “naseba naru” very often in
contemporary Japan.
To me, this is an indication of a lack of a willingness to work to
the extent to reach a goal which might seem beyond one’s reach.

To find success in life and accomplish one’s goals, you must
remember “naseba naru” to keep the stated goal in sight.
It is too easy to lose sight of goals and become sidetracked,
but remembering “naseba naru” is critical to realization of your
dream.



By Souke Kiyohisa Hirano.

*Translator; Thomas Muraoka
Karate 3dan Since1982

When I began to study martial arts (budo) in Yokohama, Japan at age
12, we were taught primarily the competitive aspect of budo ,
which was to win. For those of us who learned karate in those days,
the primary focus was on the physical, rather than the mental part.
However, the “real” meaning of budo is the way to stop fighting,
which unfortunately has not been given much emphasis. When a new
dojo opened during those days, often times a high ranking sensei
would say a few words about this “real” meaning of karate. But for
most of us young men, we viewed ourselves as combatants and
warriors rather than peacemakers. We thought that what he said
sounded noble and the proper thing to say at an event like the
grand opening of a a new dojo, but we never questioned our purpose
for the long hours of training we endured – to fight and
to win!

The JIKC dojo precepts are as follows:
Uphold The Principles of Propriety and Courtesy
Cultivate The Spirit of Effort

Perfect A Mind of Patience
Live The Way of Truth
Do Not Lose Self Control Or Act in A Violent Manner

Many dojo have precepts similar to those above. Patterned after
other “dojo kun” , I began to use our dojo precepts around 1965.
Sometime after that, one of the older students in one of my classes,
Mr. Maekawa, who was the chief buyer at Star Market told me that
thinking .about the dojo precepts gave him a better understanding of
why he was a student of karate. This made me think of what direction
and attitudes I wanted JIKC students to have. So I made the dojo
precepts the basis of our opening and closing class ceremonies and
underlying philosophy . In addition, I made the following as part of our
credo:

Three Principles of Mental Strength
Seriousness
Try Hard
Never Give Up

Three Principles of Mental Attitude
Initiative
Responsibility
Pride

Three Principles of Relations with Others
Appreciation
Consideration
Unity

These have been the basis of the character of JIKC for over 40 years
with little change.

By Souke Kiyohisa Hirano.

*Translator; Thomas Muraoka
Karate 3dan Since1982

1. Ka Chu Ten Shitsu:

"Ka Chu" – Literally means Big Whirlpool. It is a commonly
used phrase which means "being in trouble (big trouble) or
in chaos".

"Ten Shitsu" – Literally means "Get Out or Get Away."

"Ka Chu Ten Shitsu" – Is a Japanese saying that people use
which means, "If you find yourself caught in a "Big Whirlpool",
get out of it."

So in other words, "If you find yourself in trouble, get out of
the situation that is causing you the problems."


2. If you find yourself in the place of "Ka Chu" don’t stay
there. There is no law that says you have to remain in the
place of trouble or be stuck with many problems. Just get
yourself out of there. Sometimes other people create the
situation that makes trouble for you. Sometimes you create
the situation that causes the trouble not only for yourself
but also for others. When others create situations that
makes trouble for you, it doesn’t mean that the person is
purposely doing so. Just by the fact that we are all different,
problems simply arise. It is just the natural functioning of
this Life.

3..When Nature creates "trouble", there is some necessity for
this occurrence. It is almost like it is a solution to
something. This just lets us know who or what we are and
that the Earth is not dead. It is a living thing. In other
words, the Earth is only one small part of the Bigger Life
(the Solar System, the Universe). The Solar System is one
small part of the Universe. The Earth is one part of the
Solar System. We are only one small part of the Earth.

4. We have to remember who we are and our position in the
whole scheme of things. We humans like to think that we
are the Center of the Universe. We think that we can
control or at least have a big influence on the whole thing.
But the Truth is we are just a little piece of the Earth,
which is a little blue ball wandering around the Solar
System, which is one of the countless solar systems in the
Universe. The real Truth is, in the whole scheme of things
we cannot really affect much at all.

5. There is no end to Human Desire.
There is no end to looking up or looking down. We are
never satisfied with where we are at.
There is also no end to comparing with other people. There
will always be someone above you and someone above that
person who and so on.
And there will always be someone below you and someone
below that person and so on.

6. If you don’t know how to be satisfied right now at this
moment, how can you expect that you will feel satisfaction
in the next? If you are like this, you will never be truly
satisfied.

7. True Satisfaction is not complacent. You are happy right
now. You are happy from the inside. You are not happy
because of what you have or what you have experienced.
You are just happy. True Satisfaction/True Happiness is
not dependent on something outside of yourself. In fact,
you can always feel grateful because all you have to do is
remember that, "At least you’re alive. And you have to
appreciate the time that you have because sooner or later,
really in just a blink of an eye, this Life will be gone. And
you will be no more…forever."
Also, no matter what happens in your Life, whether you
are up or down, smallest or largest or all over the place, you
can remember that you are at the center if it all. So in other
words, you actually are the "Center of the Universe
(yours)". And again you must appreciate this and be happy.

8. When you feel happy from the inside, you can do anything
you need to do with a good feeling and good spirit.

9. The Three Stages of working with something:

a. Hate to.
b. Have to.
c. Happy to. (Like to/Love to.)

10. If you don’t know how to be happy now, tomorrow will
be the same.
For Example:
If a person who is from Japan and is unhappy (unsatisfied)
here so they want to go back to Japan. What they don’t
understand is that when they go back, they still will find
themselves unhappy.. Most likely the reason they came here
in the first place was that they were unhappy in Japan to
begin with.

Or For Example:
A person who doesn’t like Kata because it is not "real
fighting." When they do Kumite, they many times hate it
because they get busted up.

11. Today is the foundation of tomorrow.
We are the product of yesterday (our past). When we see
this point we can learn something from our past.

Then today we can act upon the lessons that we learned
from yesterday.
For tomorrow (the future) there is always the hope for
something good.

12. The Past, the Present and the Future are an inseparable
Trio that continues on forever.

13. The most important thing is that you are happy now and
carry with you the spirit or heart of appreciation and that
you learn from what is happening right now. Then Souke
says, "Next day, next day and next day…same forever!!!"

14. Because of this way of seeing Reality, Souke says that
people might have a hard time with him. He is not functioning by
the standard, conventional way of looking at things.

15. As an outside observer, it seems to me that Souke is
functioning according to Reality just as it is. Many people,
if not most, function according to their concept of Reality
rather than Reality itself. They are functioning from their
conditioning that is based on many years, and in fact
generations, of misconceptions.

16. We have to know Reality. We have to know how to
discern what is Real. This means that we have to know our
place in this Reality. We are just a part of this Earth. Just a
little speck in the Grand Scheme of Things.