1 2 3 Calligraphy by Tsutomu Ohshima: “Filial piety" 4 Congratulations on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Maryknoll Karate Club! Most members of the club know the story of how we started to practice karate at Maryknoll. One day in 1963, John Teramoto asked me, “I heard that you know martial arts, can you teach us?” I answered, “No!” John asked, “Why not?” “I know you guys will quit right after you start”. John replied, “We won’t quit.” I said, “No” to him two more times. The third time John brought petitions with signatures by the students’ parents asking me to teach them. I said, ‘OK!’ I never thought you would continue to practice hard for 50 years. When I was teaching Japanese at Maryknoll, I wanted to see all my students become confident Japanese-Americans. But I realized that Nisei and Sansei still had traditional Japanese virtues in their hearts and that they truly loved and respected their parents. In the 1970s I asked you to accept responsibility for the Nisei Week Karate Exhibition. Sensei performing Hangetsu (2000) Since then, you have continued to conduct the Nisei Week Karate Exhibition every year. It is the oldest annual exhibition of Karate outside of Japan. I am proud of you who have, through the last 50 years of hard traditional martial arts practice, built and sustained the Samurai spirit in the United States of America. I would like to express my deep appreciation to Sister Bernadette, Father McKillop, Father Witte, Father Richard Hoynes, the Maryknoll Brothers and Sisters and your parents who supported us for all of these years. Sincerely yours, Tsutomu Ohshima. Sensei instructing Paul Tabe 5 It all started with about sixty boys from the sixth through the years. Senior members volunteer their time and efforts; hard work and self-sacrifice eighth grades sitting on folding chairs in the back of the characterize the spirit of the dojo’s senior and junior members alike. Fifty years is indeed Maryknoll auditorium as Ohshima Sensei talked about a milestone; but it is only a marker on a very long road. Today’s occasion is momentous; karate. He explained that the purpose of karate practice but it is already a part of the past. I hope as we continue to deepen our appreciation was to polish ourselves as human beings and that it was for all that made today possible we constantly remind ourselves of the future that lies not just for fighting. Sensei stressed that if we used what ahead. We must dedicate ourselves to passing this tradition on to coming generations. he taught us for street fighting he would give us “a punch on the nose” and kick us out! Thus began our instruction Sincerely, in Budo. I saw some disappointed looks. He said most John Teramoto of us would quit before long and that perhaps only six or seven boys would remain. I believed he was wrong and that most would continue; but, of course, he was right. It took a long time for me and my schoolmates to realize just how fortunate we were and how fateful it was to meet Mr. Ohshima. I can honestly say, though, that even when we were quite young we never took Sensei and what he taught us for granted. It is heartening, as I look back, to see that we never outgrew that instruction. Instead our understanding and appreciation of the art has continued to deepen as we mature. I am sure that everyone who practiced — including those who were unable to continue — will agree that the instruction we received from the very beginning was of the highest quality and integrity. In trying to instill in us the key principle of training hard while facing ourselves strictly and honestly inside and outside the dojo, Ohshima Sensei not only gave us his precious time, he taught us—and thankfully still continues to do so—to see the spiritual relevance and physical benefit of karate practice to our lives. Of course, the dojo exists today because of those who never quit practicing — stubbornness is a positive quality in Budo. But something begun by elementary and high school students would not have survived without the support of parents and other relatives who put up with our schedules, chauffeured us, and helped in so many other ways to make our practice possible. We also owe a great debt to the school teachers and especially the pastors and priests from Fr. Michael McKillop, Fr. Clarence Witte down to Fr. Richard Hoynes who made the facilities available to us and who have endured our loud practices over the years. We are especially thankful for Fr. McKillop, who supported the founding of the club, John Teramoto leading Heian Shodan at Nisei Week (1971) and for Sr. Bernadette, who would not accept Mr. Ohshima’s refusal to come teach at Maryknoll School. And, of course, we will always be grateful to Mr. Sadaharu Honda, Mr. Yasunori Ono, Mr. James Sagawa and the late Mr. Shoji Okabe, who trained us rigorously in the early years of our club when Mr. Ohshima was out of town. Happily, we are not just commemorating the founding of the karate club. We are also celebrating the fact that the dojo is vigorously entering its fiftieth year. Many of the men and women here today have been crucial to sustaining practice over 6 7 clearly the small exceptions to the amazing consistency, the genuine genius of practice, Maryknoll Karate After Fifty Years: and how it has been passed on to us by Sensei. Whenever I returned to practice after a (How) Have We Changed? long absence I was never caught completely off guard, just very sore and tired. Certain individuals’ belts would change, but the practice would always greet me like a long lost I am very honored and privileged to offer this letter. I am friend, ever willing to take up where we left off. an original member, but I have not practiced in all of the fifty years. I could not even tell you how many of these Ohshima Sensei to Tad to Kei and José to James and Frank: a perfect flow chart many years I did actually practice. that has endured and allowed us to flourish for fifty years, the result of commitment and dedication of the purest, most honest kind. To be a part of this is a great fortune, This very regrettable actuality, nonetheless, has given me something precious like a diamond, something akin to family and blood. a somewhat unique perspective of our Maryknoll Karate Club. I have been struck by how practice has changed, how it has evolved over fifty years. But more importantly, I see how it has stayed the same--exactly the same. We still line up the same; mokuso and rei, then kihon, kata, and kumite like there’s no tomorrow! Yes, I was there when Maryknoll Karate Club had sixty white belts and there was only one godan in SKA (actually, at that time, I think it was called Southern California Karate Association), and we all called him Sensei. I had no idea that it would still be here fifty years later. At that time I thought it was about the coolest thing in my life, but I discovered cars, guitars, and girls, and well, I lost my way momentarily, off and on… In that original group of sixty, only Tad (John) had the vision, the awareness, of what we could learn from Sensei. Even as a few of us senior members (as teenagers) progressed to brown belt, only Tad seemed to be really grasping what practice was all about, as if he had mysteriously grown far beyond the rest of us. And, without a doubt, he truly had. Our practice flowed through him, from Sensei through Tad to us. Only in the past few years have I come to realize that he made the most progress not only because he is the baddest of the bad, but because he practices the hardest and the smartest. He always has. Tad’s influence on Shotokan Karate - Maryknoll, is considerable, even though he lives two thousand miles away. We look forward to his visits. But this is not to diminish what Kei and José, James and Frank, and their immediate juniors, the people who have We are privileged to be a part of this. We have been lucky beyond belief! Lucky that carried on in Tad’s absence, have accomplished in their own right. What might have Sister Bernadette was at the wedding where Sensei was the master of ceremonies. been (or not been) if there were no one willing and able to run with the ball when Tad Lucky that John Tadao Teramoto doggedly persisted in asking Sensei to teach us karate. made the handoff? (He always loved playing tackle football!) Lucky that Kei and José, James and Frank, have faithfully carried the club to where it is today. Lucky, yes, but the real luck is that we are here to bear witness to the incredible So, what changes have I seen since my return to practice? Oizuki has changed the dedication to the art of karate that Ohshima Sensei has so generously shared over most, to me. It has become more dynamic, harder for me to execute, more penetrating. the last fifty years. And he continues, quite amazingly, to share with us (remember the The side up-kick is very different, much easier for me to execute and really feels like a audible gasp at the practice for Black Belt Convention when he demonstrated the healthier body movement.