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Original Source: bppa.net |
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ttending the
celebration of Masami Tsuruoka Sensei’s life this past Sunday in Toronto made
me once again appreciate the indelible link between traditional martial arts and
the building of character.
Speaker after
speaker, voices forged through thousands of hours of hard core training, spoke
of things such as…honour…hard work…humbleness…honesty. Each speaker was
articulate to the bone. The millions of punches, the hours of kumite…what they spoke of and what they
had done was one.
As Sensei David
Tsuruoka says in Otousan, a documentary
of Tsuuroka Sensei’s life, in traditional martial arts there is no subterfuge.
What you see is what you get.
When we first walk
into an Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan training hall, we’re a jumpy
mixture of enthusiasm, ego, doubt and curiosity. From the first bow, we are
provided with a set of tools with which to rebuild ourselves.
The training hall
is the forge and we are the raw material out of which - after many years of
training - a combination of relentless fighting skills and the capacity for
deep compassion is created.
The traditional
Sensei or Sifu sets up the forge. We give ourselves up to the training. Then
the Sifu or Sensei turns up the flame. And believe me, it doesn’t take a long for the forge to become really hot.
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DVD available at tsuruokakarate.com |
Those who spoke of
Sensei’s life and training reminded the audience of mirrors coated with sweat,
of stances tested with the shinai. Once
again, I breathed the old sweat soaked air which we fed on. I heard the kiai coming from the long line of white
belt I was part of. I saw the snapping of the hips that drove the piston behind
every punch.
My Karate Sensei,
Monty Guest, referred back to an old Dojo sign: “Ninety- nine per cent perspiration;
one per cent inspiration”. There was, and is, no other way than perseverance.
And through perseverance, martial arts character is built.
At the end of every
speech, the audience shouted “Osu!”
in agreement. I heard once more Tsuruoka Sensei’s voice, like a low growl,
calling the hundreds of competitors at the 1967 tournament in Toronto to
assemble. That was Canada’s centennial year, and through hard work and
perseverance, Tsuruoka Sensei and his students had turned Karate into a strong
entity in this country.
Osu! is the music of character building. It signals the
ability to endure life’s hardships. It calls upon us to respect and to remain loyal
to those who come before us. It commands us to help and support through deep
friendship those who have undertaken the same journey with us. It prompts us to
make a positive difference in the lives of others and to make the world a
kinder place.
This is the soul of
the traditional martial arts, the heart and the mind beyond fighting.
Beautifully written and poignant piece. Thank you for sharing. I am sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteWow! Very very nice! Great reminder to us all what Bushido is all about.
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