Just a quick note – If you access the following site: http://www.theshotokanway.com/interviewlinks.html , you’ll see a long list of interviews. The site is from a JKA style Shotokan group in England and is chockful of good karate information. Over the last few years, I’ve enjoyed reading interviews with a great many senior Shotokan instructors on the site, including many of the masters from the old JKA in Japan. Anyways, the most recent interview (2 parts) is with a very familiar instructor…Shihan Kenneth Funakoshi. I think most of you know that for many years, Shihan Funakoshi was the primary instructor for Sensei Wayne, Sensei Peter and myself. While we have trained with different sensei’s over the years, much of what we know about the art was first learned directly from him. Back in the 1970’s when we were young black belts, he led the grueling training for our special Yudanshakai group at the old Puck’s Alley dojo. We all trained directly under him throughout that decade in his special flavor of advanced and kumite conditioning. Later, in the 1980’s, we were additionally blessed to revist and strengthen our basics and intermediate techniques under his tutelage at the Mililani dojo. In fact, [...]

Well, 2010 has just flown by and July’s here already, which means it’s already mid-summer and we’re finally grandparents (just call me Gigi, haha). Yes, we are now blessed with a little grandson that my wife can spoil and dote over. When I look into his cute little face (I’m not kidding, he really is cute!), he seems to encapsulate facets of so many of us whose DNA is intertwined with his own. I am jazzed, just like I was jazzed when his mother was born. Unlike the first time I ever saw and held our own children as newborns however, this time I’m not overwhelmed by the mantle of responsibility of his young life…rightfully so, that mantle belongs to his mommy and daddy. Instead, I experience feelings of continuity and tradition, also seeing in him, the many faces of those who preceded us. Looking at other family members gathered in the crowded Post-Partum room to welcome the newest addition, I wonder if the other relatives feel the same. Whether we know it or not, each of us lives in our own little world, shaped by our own perceptions, our own memories, our own huge bag of experiences. For most [...]

Let’s face it, one of the major legacies that one leaves behind after one is gone is…our offspring and their descendants. If you can pass on anything to them besides your DNA, you have the chance of beginning or continuing what, over time, becomes a real family tradition. One obstacle to continuing old family traditions in America is that the very process of immigration into the U.S. often meant that various traditions were lost or cut off in the huge move to this country. This is especially true when one considers the language barrier between our grandparents from the “old country” and the third, fourth, and later generations. The fact that our first generation (Issei) Japanese/Okinawan forebears came from a culture that didn’t talk much, coupled with our Nisei parents becoming “Americanized” within one generation, and the flow of information and tradition naturally trickles down to nothing. I can’t tell you how many hours I have questioned my dad about our family history over the years, and how many times he’s said, “I don’t really know, my parents didn’t say much and I never thought to ask.” I’ve mentioned before that the one tradition my dad passed down to me [...]