Nobuaki Kanazawa and Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa

Yesterday, eight of us, representing the the senior members of the NHPC Karate Ministry, had the chance to attend a training seminar taught by Shotokan legend Hirokazu Kanazawa and his eldest son, Nobuaki. It was a great fellowship, shared by our sempais, along with senior Shotokan practioners from throughout Oahu.

The younger Kanazawa led us in great, extensive warm-up routines which really “stretched” our abilities. We practiced the basic tsuki – gyaku, kisami, oizuki, under his guidance, then a series of maegeri/yoko-kekomi geri combinations that challenged our balance. We spent the rest of the first half of training doing two-man punching drills.

For the second half, we were divided into two groups, one led by the elder Kanazawa, the other group, led by his son. Us “middle-aged black belts (which included most of your sempais, haha) got the opportunity to learn kata from Kancho, while the younger black belts and brown belts got personal kata instruction from Nobuaki (SKIF World Champion). Needless to say, much was learned by each of us there (my personal thrill was getting to go over the first half of the little known kata, Nijuhachi).

The training hall at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce is one of the finest dojo anywhere and we all enjoyed being able to work out and learn in such beautiful surroundings, devoted to the learning of the martial arts.

However, what struck me the most, wasn’t the beauty of the dojo, the special kata training, drills, great warmups, nor the knowledge and abilities of the famous master and his son. Instead, it was the humble, quiet and mild countenance that both men exhibited. At an age when most men are far into their retirement years, this seemingly tireless teacher moved with the energy, speed, flexibility of a man half his age (Kancho’s in his late seventies). He teaches Shotokan to karateka throughout the the world, and one can tell he doesn’t do it for the money nor fame…. he possesses an obvious love for people everywhere. Some of us were aware that he had actually been ill in recent days and had only been cleared by his doctors to travel here, to join his son, just before the seminar. His love for Hawaii (where he first taught, in 1960, as a young All-JKA Champion), people, and the art of karate-do truly showed in everything in he did. It was a great reminder of what we owe to all such humble teachers over the years, and of our own responsibilities to others we meet both within and outside of dojos (halls where The Way is taught) during our lifetimes.

NOTE from Kohai Donna: Visit the photo gallery to see photos from the seminar.