HIS Karate-Do

Speaking of exams, remember that I once mentioned that the very first time I saw karate in person, I was watching two “white belts” (actually two brown belts from other schools testing for rank in the KAH) taking an exam and being blown away by their “beginner skills”?  The fellow who invited me to watch was my good friend’s older brother; a KAH black belt named Dennis.  Separately, he had gotten Sensei Wayne interested in joining and you all know that, in turn, I persuaded Sensei Peter to join up with me.  Dennis also had interested my old SKC partner Sensei Paul along with a large number of other UH students (mostly from Pearl City and Waipahu) to give it a try.  I guess he was a natural karate recruiter, planting the seed of interest among our friends and many subsequently joined.  Later, Dennis graduated from UH, received his commission into the U.S. Army, and left for his assignment; never returning to regular training.  While his karate experience ended after 4-5 years, Dennis did leave a lasting legacy…us, haha. , Over fifty years later, we four old-time karateka that he talked into joining, are still involved in the art. Anyways, [...]

Happy 2023 Everyone! Wow, 2023 marks twenty-two years since we started the HISKarate-Do Karate Foundation! Somehow, placing on our gi’s and practicing karate at the Momilani Community Center, time may seem to stand still. Yet, outside of the dojo; in the world, in Hawaii, and in our own personal lives, time keeps on ticking and change keeps on happening. Much like how we measure progress and growth for the students (and instructors) in the dojo, we should all be striving to better ourselves and those around us in our daily lives. It is also important to savor and appreciate every moment that we are blessed to enjoy with family and friends. In that context, I thought about how much had changed in my own family since we created HISKF. I dug through old photos and was able to find one taken of the Nakamoto Family as we were, back around when the club started in 2001 and we just took one earlier this week. Today, some twenty-two years later, it’s no surprise that our family has grown. Where once, there was one household, now there are three. Comparing the two photos, I could hear my Dad solemnly proclaiming, “Time…waits for [...]

Can you believe that it’s been over 21 years since our karate group held its first practice? The kids that were in our earliest classes must all be in their thirties and forties by now. Going further back to the early 1970’s, the kids that Sensei Peter and I taught at the KAH Pearl City Dojo (we were assistant instructors) would be in their sixties by now! HISKarate-Do students always seem to be a never-changing cast of parents and children training together, but realistically, over time, the actors gradually change, in and out. Kinda like that old 1939 movie classic, “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, the host of young students that Headmaster Chipping (“Chips”) taught for over six decades seemed changeless to his tired old eyes until it was pointed out that some were actually grandsons of the boys he mentored as a young teacher. Beyond nostalgia, going deeper into the philosophical, there’s a saying from the old Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “No man ever steps into the same river twice. For it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” The implication is that the seemingly constant river is actually an illusion, consisting of moving waters that change with every [...]