HIS Karate-Do

As you know, we don’t place emphasis on jyu kumite in our group, although, we do share the many jyu kumite kihon combinations that your sensei’s learned as part of the KAH syllabus. From the time we were white belts, we were immersed into the practice of free-style and tournament sparring. To a great degree, our parent organization, the Japan Karate Association was responsible for introducing jyu kumite and tournaments t the world, beginning shortly after the Founder’s passing in 1957. The 5-step, 3-step and 1-step pre-arranged kumite you practice were developed to gradually introduce students to gauging distance, speed and power in coordination with another student, versus the usual “air” training. As brown and black belts, over half of our usual training was devoted to some aspect of jyu kumite in the dojo. When we were young, we received most of our many minor injuries from this type of training. Since this has always been the sports aspect of the art and in order to avoid injury to our students, we have not made this a part of your training. Ironically, this is what most people associate with the art of Karate-Do. Since its introduction some 60 years ago, [...]

It’s Father’s Day weekend, so since I’m both a father and a grandfather, the kids/grandkids are taking me to bowl a couple of games and then eat the good food available at Aiea Bowl tomorrow.   I really enjoy such outings, but in the midst of the fun, I also reflect (not often enough) on fond memories of my own father Melvin, gone some seven years ago.  Above is a pic of dad from Father’s Day, 1965.  He had just returned from fishing and when he emerged from his shower, we surprised him with his favorite beverage (Primo) and a Father’s Day gift….a happy moment caught by a Kodak instamatic.  In memory of him and Father’s Day, I’m resending something I wrote for dad back in April 2011, before most of our active members ever joined our group.  I hope it honors both him and the special fathers in all our lives. Well, he’s left the building and gone on to new adventures, I’m sure.  He was one of a kind and had a winning smile that could light up the room.  My earliest memories of him are as a kind of Superman/Charles Atlas, able to carry me and five of my cousins; one on [...]

A few words about value.  Waaay back, in 1967 (over fifty years ago!) I was a young sophomore, spending my first year at venerable Saint Louis High School, located on the rugged slopes of Kalaepohaku Ridge in Honolulu.  I was quite happy attending public middle school, but my parents so valued the benefits of education that they were willing to spend the significant cost associated with private school as an investment in my future….a princely sum of $600 per school year back then.  Fast forward to 2018 and the annual cost of attending my old alma mater has risen to $16,400, an increase of about 27 times!  If only annual wages had risen that fast, haha.  Also in 1967, my parents made another important financial decision – they coughed up $550 to purchase…a brand-new color tv!  That old Motorola was almost as huge as a HI-FI stereo and dominated our living room.  We could roam the three channels, on which, certain programs were beginning to be broadcast in color.  Today, you can purchase any number of thin, Hi-Def, Smart-TVs (made in Asia) for under $200…roughly a third of our 1960’s Motorola (yes kids, “Hello Moto” still made televisions back then).  These intersecting lines of price inflation/deflation means that [...]