No.12 JIKC Karate Camp Training at the North Shore

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).

No.11 Naseba Naru

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