O´Sensei Dr. Richard Kim, 10th Dan, Hanshi
(1917-2001)
Suureksi surukseni minun täytyy ilmoittaa teille, että O-Sensei Richard Kim, 10. Dan, Hanshi, nukkui pois 8. marraskuuta 2001. Hän oli kuollessaan 83-vuotias. Taistelulajien maailma menetti taas yhden suuren mestarin, ja ehkä viimeisen linkkinsä menneisyyden mestareihin.
Puhuessaan mestari Kimistä on vaikea päättää, mistä aloittaa. Puhuako hänestä soturina, tiedemiehenä, akateemikkona, pappina, runoilijana vai filosofina? Hänen kaltaistaan kulttuurien välistä "siltaa" tullaan tuskin koskaan näkemään.
Kun minua pyydettiin muutama vuosi sitten kuvailemaan O-Senseitä, vastasin hänen olevan herrasmies ja tiedemies. Näin hänet muistan. Toiset saattavat pystyä paremmin keskustelemaan hänen elämästään ja historiastaan, itse voin kertoa vain henkilökohtaisia muistoja hänestä
Alunperin aloitin kirjeenvaihdon O-Sensein kanssa 80-luvun puolivälissä koskien tiettyjä näkökulmia karaten historiasta, katan alkuperästä, bunkaista jne. O-Sensei vastaili ystävällisesti lopulta kutsui minut kansainväliselle leirilleen Kanadaan.
Organisaationsa ulkopuolella O-Sensei tunnettiin ehkä eniten kirjoistaan "The Weaponless Warriors", "The Classical Man" ja "Kobudo - Okinawan Weapons Series 1-3" -sarjastaan. Hänen kolumniaan "The Classical Man" julkaistiin vuosi Karate Illustrated -lehdessä, kuten muitakin hänen lukemattomia artikkeleitaan lukuisissa muissa lehdissä. Mikään edeltävistä asioista ei kuitenkaan valmistanut minua hänen ensimmäistä oppituntiaan varten! Se oli kuin olisi hypnnyt lastentarhasta suoraan yliopistoon
O-Sensein tietojen ja kokemusten syvyys ja laajuus oli uskomaton! Myöhemmin kysyin häneltä, miksei hän ollut laittanut tätä kaikkea tietoa kirjoihinsa ja artikkeleihinsa. O-Sensei selitti, että perinteisen opetusmenetelmän mukaan kiinnostuneen oppilaan tulee ottaa seuraava askel itse, koska vain "interaktiivinen opetus" voi tuottaa tuloksia ja tällainen opetustapa on itseasiassa siihen tarkoitettu.
Domo arigato gozaimasu, O-Sensei
André Lafond
Biography
Some may
find the history of O'Sensei Richard Kim of great interest. The following is
only a brief glimpse of the life of O'Sensei Kim.
O'Sensei Kim was born
on November 17, 1917, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He began his study of the martial
arts with Judo at the age of five in the early 1920's under Kaneko Sensei. At
about the same time he began a study of Karate. He studied under Arakaki
Sensei
(a disciple of Yabu Kentsu) and Tachibana Sensei. Before World War II he
traveled to both China and Japan. In China he spent many years studying the
internal arts under Chen Chen Yuan and Shorinjiryu under Choa Hsu Lai.
At
the
Nobori Butai he continued his study under a number sensei. As a young man he
gained entrance into the Dai Nippon Butoku-kai in Japan. It was then that he
was
taught the Budoju Happan, the eighteen arts. While in Japan O'Sensei studied
Daito-Ryu under Yoshida Kotaro and actually lived with the master for seven
years. He became proficient in Japanese weaponry including the sword, spear,
tanto and bo as well as in Okinawan weaponry including the bo, jo, sai, tonfa,
tecchu, and kama.
In 1959 O'Sensei Kim arrived in San Francisco and
began
to teach there on a permanent basis. Throughout the years that followed he
taught in San Francisco and Sacramento. He traveled extensively throughout the
United States, Canada and Europe teaching the martial arts. As well as
teaching
the physical aspects of the martial arts O'Sensei taught the philosophy,
history, strategy and spiritual aspects of the arts.
He was an excellent
lecturer and a story teller second to none.
O'Sensei wrote a monthly
column for "Karate Illustrated" magazine and wrote a number of
books including:
"The Weaponless Warriors." "The Classical Man." And a
Kobudo series. He was
named Karate Sensei of the Year and later inducted into the Black Belt Hall of
Fame. He was the Director of the American Amateur Karate Federation and Vice
President for the International Traditional Karate Federation. As a
testament to
O'Sensei's achievements, at his memorial service Master Hidetaka Nishiyama of
the International Traditional Karate Federation presented O'Sensei Kim with
the
rank of Judan.
Although O'Sensei Kim is not physically present, his
spirit will be with us always.
Quotes And Lessons From O'Sensei Richard
Kim
"Do you see what you see?"
Those of us that
trained with
O'Sensei probably heard this one sentence more than anything else. O'Sensei
taught that most people see and hear only that which they want to see and
hear.
There is a huge difference between hearing and listening, seeing and
understanding. One of the goals of the martial arts is to "See It As It
Is!"
This refers to what we would call
mushin.
"Patience"
"Patience is
the ballast of the soul." In the Japanese language patience
additionally means
perseverance and indomitable spirit. He would say that perfection demands
time,
patience and persistence.
"Ichi go, ichi i."
One
moment, one life
time. This second is the only second, right now! When you clap your hands, you
can never get that moment back. Therefore, O'Sensei would say that each moment
is the most important moment of your life. Take care of now, and the future
will
take care of itself. Live each moment of life to its fullest.
Along
with
this O'Sensei would say that we can not control our birth or our death. The
one
certain bet in life, is death. And since we can not control this fact then we
should not waste our time running from death, but should concern our self with
living life, one hundred percent, to its fullest! In our journey from the womb
to the tomb we can not control our death, but we can set the conditions of our
life. As a side light, one of my black belts who is a sailor said, "I
can not
change the wind, but I can set the sails." This does a pretty good job of
explaining O'Sensei's meaning. O'Sensei would give this example. If you
place a
seed in a dark, cool drawer and leave it there for a month, you will only
find a
seed when you open the drawer. But if you take that same seed and plant it in
fertile soil and give it water and sunlight it will gown into a beautiful
plant.
The soil, water and sunlight are the conditions. We can set the conditions of
our own life and greatly influence the end result.
Each day, O'Sensei
taught, we can choose to live in plus one or minus one. It is our choice. We
might call this, "Waking up on the right, or the wrong side of the
bed." If you
think good thoughts, you will bring good results. It is simply the power of
positive thinking. The power of the mind is incredible, never forget
it!
Going along with this is another of O'Sensei's favorite
quotes:
Watch your thought, they become words.
Watch your words,
they become actions.
Watch you actions, they become
habits.
Watch
your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes
your
destiny.
Some other favorites:
Wealth is lost, nothing is
lost.
Health is lost, something is lost.
Character is lost,
all is
lost.
The greatest compliment that you can give another is that they
are
trustworthy.
We should treat others with the common dignity and respect
respect that one human being owes to another. After all, we are all members of
the same tribe.
True character is doing the right thing when no one
else
is looking.
If it is to be, it is up to me.
If you make a
mistake,
don't make an encore.
There are no mistakes, there are only
lessons.
The only mistake is to not learn the lesson.
To the
true
martial artists the words "try" and "impossible" do not
exist.
"Letting
Go."
And as O'Sensei would often say, "Take my word for
it!"
Rod Sanford, Hanshi, Kokusai Butokukai