Interviuri

Master, where and when were you born?

I was born January 1st 1913 in the city of Kyoto

When did you begin your karate practice?

I began practicing Karate-do in 1931, I was 19 years old, at the Waseda University.

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What is the most important thing in the martial arts?

T.D. Breathing. What condition are you in below the navel? I don’t mean your sexual organs! I mean the hara, three fingers beneath the navel. The way to develop the power of the hara, to assemble all your energy there, is by right breathing.

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“You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.”

These words of instruction to a medieval samurai might be said to contain the essence of what Zen master Taisen Deshimaru would tell his Western reader. To practice Zen or the martial arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserves, as if you might die in the next instant. Lacking this sort of commitment, Zen becomes mere ritual and the martial arts devolve into mere sport.

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Stimate Domnule Dan Stuparu, cand si unde a inceput istoria Karate-ului Traditional?
Originea Karate-ului Traditional se afla cu multe sute de ani in urma, in Insulele Okinawa, unde formele locale de lupta cu mainile goale s-au impletit cu anumite forme de lupta din sud-estul Chinei. Numele specific era de OKINAWA – TE si cuprindea mai multe stiluri.
La inceputul secolului XX (prin 1920), marele maestru Gichin Funakoshi a fost invitat in Japonia sa sustina o demonstratie a acestei foarte eficiente si spectaculare arte martiale, ocazie cu care maestrul a schimbat denumirea acestei forme de lupta in Karate – Do, folosind ideograme japoneze.
In momentul in care aceasta forma de lupta s-a intalnit cu principiile zen-budismului japonez, a luat nastere arta martiala numita Karate-Do.

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Forty years have passed since I began to practice karate under Master Gichin Funakoshi. During those years, I have of course changed physically and mentally; in some cases, I became aware of the changes myself, but at other times they were pointed out by others. But always, I think, they were inevitable. Moreover, there have been great changes in the techniques and the kata during this period. My objectives in writing this book are to review the changes that have taken place in Karate-do for the purpose of casting a fresh light on what is important in karate training and to present the fundamentals to be practiced by the student.

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Master Takashi Kyooka was born in 1951 and is 41 years old (note: the article is some years old). His Karate training started when he was 18 upon his entry to Chuo University, Tokyo. He immediately became a devoted follower of the Shotokai School, dedicating himself completely, obtaining the fifth dan degree very fast, the highest grade obtained in Shotokai. He was secretary of the Nihon Karate-do Shotokai in Japan and worked constantly under close collaboration with Egami Sensei, founder of the Shotokai style and a longtime student of Master Gichin Funakoshi. He presents his view of Karate in this article:

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