Kokusai Butokukai
The Kokusai Butokukai is an international organization founded by the senior students and representatives of the late Master O´Sensei Dr.Richard Kim, 10th Dan Karate, 10th Dan Kobudo, Hanshi. The purpose of the organization is to preserve and promote the legacy of the teaching methodology, philosophy and Budo ideals as taught by O´Sensei. "Budo in daily life" - "Budo as a way of life" The senior teachers represent different Karate "styles", but are united in this purpose.
About us
General information about the KOKUSAI BUTOKUKAI
Meaning
KOKUSAI -
International
BU -
Warrior(s)
TOKU -
Virtue, Morality
KAI -
Federation
The purpose of the federation is to promote the teachings and philosophy of O.Sensei Richard Kim among his many students through out the world. To encourage the exchange of knowledge between these .students/instructors by hosting and promoting seminars, competitions, and social interaction.
Structure
The Badge
The badge that we use has differentmeanings for different people within our organization. But all meanings of the badge have one common denominator, O’Sensei Richard Kim.
The Kanji is Japanese for “Patience”. O’Sensei Richard Kim originally drew this particular kanji. One of O’Sensei Richard Kim favorite quotes was, “Patience is the ballast of the soul”. We use this philosophy as a corner stone of our organization.
The fifty-four
rays represent one half of one hundred and eight,
which is the number of vices or impurities in the Buddhist
world. O'Sensei Richard Kim
embraced the Buddhist
philosophy and was a practicing Shingon Buddhist
priest.
Traditionally the number of kata's within a
system of karate was often 54. An example of the importance
placed on the number can be found in the kata Gojushiho, or
"fifty four” which is still practiced within the
Shorinji Ryu Karate style and other Okinawa styles of
karate.
We of the Kokusai Budokukai embrace O'Sensei
Richard Kim's philosophy that learning many
traditional kata's expands the martial artists ability to speak
and understand the language of the martial arts.
The following
was written by one of O’Sensei senior
instructors Neville
Billormia with some editing by Rod Sanford:
In the
1830´s Matsumura developed a 54 kata system in the Shorin
styles of Shuri-Te Karate. The system of 54 kata in a
style is an ideal no longer rigidly held to and rarely
reached in this day and age.
Today not all
styles have 54 katas. It may be that the heads of
particular systems quit their instructor (Master) before
learning all 54 katas. Or the master may have died
before passing on all 54 katas to his followers. In other
cases the master of the system may have refused to teach or
pass on the entire system of
all 54 katas to his followers.
This may be because the master felt the
students did not meet criteria the master had set. For
example, Master Gichin
Funakoshi only passed on 16 katas
in Japan although he knew at least 54 katas, and
probably more. But for whatever the reason, today not many
schools in the United States adhere to the 54-kata systems.
And so you find many systems teaching much fewer katas,
sometimes only 7 to 20 katas.
Just because a
system teaches fewer than 54 katas does not mean that
the system is not legitimate. You will find
most Shito-Ryu styles with about 36 kata, most Shotokan
styles with about 20 kata, most Goju-Ryu systems with 18
kata and most Wado-Ryu with 10 kata. Other systems,
such as our system, have
expanded on the 54-kata systems.
There are many reasons for doing this. A
poor excuse for expanding on the 54-kata systems would
be following the line of thinking that, "More is
better.”
O’Sensei Richard Kim, master of our system
often said that, “Quality is better than
quantity.”
Then why did he teach more than 54 empty-hand
katas? O’Sensei
Kim taught more than 54 katas
to his senior students (or veteran instructors) to
increase
their knowledge of Traditional Karate. For example,
in our system O’Sensei
Kim passed on three versions
of Patsai Dai, two versions of Patsai Sho along with
the Matsumura and Oyadomari
Patsai katas. The average
student was not expected to learn all the variations
of the katas. But veteran
instructors were, thus increasing
their depth of knowledge of the art. If you look at
our list of over 80 empty
hand katas and deduct the
pinan katas and variations of the same kata you will
find that although you will
have more than 54 katas
you are coming close to a 54 kata
system.
But why
54?
A very brief and simple answer is 54 times 2 equals 108.
108 is a number associated with purity and
perfection
in the orient. On New Year's Eve the gongs of the
temple
are rung 108 times. Each time is to cleanse the old
year of one of its
defilements and to celebrate the
New Year's clean and fresh start. One hundred eight
is a symbol of perfection,
totality, and circularity. (Please
note that Yang style Tai Chi as we practice it has
108
movements for the same reason.)
54 is half of 108. Traditionally there are 54 shrines in a Buddhist temple. Each shrine has a significance. Each kata in a 54 kata system also has a significance. The martial artist views his kata system with the same reverence that a Buddhist views his shrines.Thus it only make sense to have 54 kata in the system, as there are 54 shrines in a Buddhist temple.
Most systems with 54 katas also have a kata named Gojushiho or Useishi (54 steps). The number 54 is used by the kata because the number has significance. Numbers have significance within the Book of Changes (I-Ching) and other Chinese Classics. And most old masters, including O'Sensei Kim were very much into the Chinese Classics. The use of math and thus numbers within the Martial Arts such as Pau Kua and of course the Chin-variation of the Yang form are significant and meaningful for those of us who trained with O'Sensei.
We used this crest until after O'Sensei's death in 2001. Since we no longer held an affiliation with the old Japanese organization we decided we would drop the use of the 108 lines to differentiate our crest. Thus we adopted the 54 lines (Half of 108) which has a greater significance to the primary art, Shorinji-Ryu Karate, that was passed on to us by O'Sensei Richard Kim.
Sho-Go
SHO-GO is the masters title-system set up by the Dai-Nippon Butoku-kai (greater Japan Budo Encouragement Federation established in 1895 in Kyoto). It consists of three ranks, Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi.
The ranks awarded by the Kokusai Butokukai will consist of the three similar ranks and are therefore classical ranks/titles similar to Samurai titles given under the auspices of Japan's Imperial Family during feudal times. The award of sho-go is based on each individual's knowledge, teaching ability and the outstanding development of character through the study of the martial arts. Therefore it is important to realize that in the modern approach to karate, these titles/ranks are much more difficult to achieve than the conventional Dan grades and are not automatically assigned with rank or seniority. The holder of these titles must also have made significant contributions to the karate community at large.
The title/sho-go may or may not be awarded on application, or may be
awarded at the discretion of the technical committee. The three titles
awarded as previously stated are:
1. Renshi
which may be awarded to 5th/6th Dan and above, holding Shihan
(Teaching) Degree, over 35 years old. And a thesis (or teaching
seminar). A subject concerning technique, tactics or philosophy
(minimum 800 words). If you pass the thesis, you will be asked to
demonstrate practical skills/applications from your thesis.
2. Kyoshi
which may be awarded to 7th Dan and above over 48 years old
and 6 years after 7th Dan and 6 years after Renshi. And a thesis. A
subject concerning technique, tactic or philosophy (minimum 1200
words). If you pass the thesis, you can demonstrate aspects from the
thesis during a teaching session.
3. Hanshi
which may be awarded to 8th Dan and above over 58 years old
10 years after 8th Dan and 10 years after Kyoshi.
The meaning of the sho-go titles.
The character "Ren" means "polished, tempered" and "shi" means "person". Thus Renshi indicates a "polished instructor" or expert. Renshi may be awarded to the modern rank of 6th Dan or above.
The "Kyo" in Kyoshi means "professor" or "philosophy". Therefore, Kyoshi equals a "professor" capable of teaching the philosophy of the martial arts. Kyoshi may be awarded to the modern rank of 7th Dan and above.
The "Han" in Hanshi means "example, model" and indicates "a teacher that can serve as an ideal model for others", or a .senior master.. Hanshi may be awarded to the modern day rank of 8th and above.
Kokusai Butokukai Branch Chiefs - Representatives
Hanshi Jean Chalamon 8. Dan Butokukai Europe, France, Chambery
Hanshi Rod Sanford 8. Dan Zen Bei Butoku Kai, U.S.A., California
Sensei Joe Fournier 6. Dan Butokukai Canada, Welland, Ontario
Sensei Robert Lafond 5. Dan Butokukai Canada, Saint-Lambert, Quebec
André Lafond 7. Dan Kyoshi Kokusai Butokukai Finland, Honbu Butokuden Kaskinen
Renshi Max Bouton 5. Dan Butokukai France, Paris
Renshi Stephan Peitz 5. Dan Butokukai Germany, Karlsuhe
Sensei Pawel Czarzasty 1. Dan Butokukai Poland, Sopot
Sensei José Manuel García Nieves 4. Dan Butokukai Spain, Santiago de Compostela