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75-year old sensei Harada
visits Abo KDS at Åbo Academy University. ”Karate is a life-long
process”.
He is 75 years old but doesn’t
look a day past 50. His gaze is clear and has a touch of humour.
He moves softly and laughs a lot when he speaks. He is energetic
but still surrounded by a sense of calm that is contagious. He
is one of the really great karate gurus in the world. He is
Mitsusuke Harada, the man who has developed KDS (Karate-do
Shotokai) – the karate that has been taught by the developer of
modern karate Gichin Funakoshi.
He is Japanese, but born in China, has studied economy in Japan,
has worked at a bank in Brazil and been a professional teacher
of karate in many countries, among others France, Sweden,
Belgium and Morocco. At the moment he is settled in southern
Wales, near Cardiff.
Harada: -I am not really
Japanese. I am a cosmopolitan, a vagabond, smiles the
man whose first karate-dojo (dojo is the hall where karate is
practiced) was destroyed by American B-52 planes during World
War II.
He is in Åbo to teach during an international karate course for
clubs that practice his KDS-style. In fact, many Japanese karate
instructors are of the opinion that sensei (master) Harada isn’t
Japanese. This is because he doesn’t force his western students
to subordinate to rules that originate in Japanese culture.
Harada:
-Why would one try to copy a foreign
culture? I am of the opinion that there is no point in that. It
is very important for an instructor to know the cultural
surrounding he is working in. The physical practice can be the
same as in Japan, but there is no point in trying to copy the
culture.
Mitsusuke Harada started to
practice karate 60 years ago.
Harada:
-I was a 15-year-old schoolboy at that
time. I started at a private club but didn’t practice there for
long before the club was bombed.
But after the war, 1948 that
is, the young sensei started to study economy at Waseda
university.
Harada:
-I was lucky. There was a club at the
university that practiced according to the same style that I had
practiced earlier. This club exists to this very day. |
Every Saturday the founder of
modern karate, Gichin Funakoshi, visited the club.
Harada: -He was 83 or 84 at
that time. I am proud of that I actually got to practice with
him.
Karate was so important for Harada that he didn’t quit even when
he finished university and got a job at a bank. In Japan all
hobbies are very often done with when you start to work. But
sensei continued to practice, that is because there was a group
that needed a coach in Sao Paolo, Brazil, where he often
travelled because of his job. So sensei became a coach and
slowly started to develop the style that today is called KDS all
over the world.
Harada:
-My boss wanted me to stop doing
karate. He demanded that I would start to play golf with him. So
I moved to Paris where I became a professional coach, laughs
sensei Harada.
In karate there are today
numerous different styles, and new are developed all the time.
Sensei Harada doesn’t want to comment on any of the other
styles.
Harada:
“Everyone has their own little
playground; people choose the style they are attracted to”.
Styles are changed to be more appealing to the public. But not
KDS. This style develops all the time, too, but not to appeal to
as many as possible.
Harada’s KDS-karate is about
softness. The rigid, military style one often thinks of when one
hears the word ‘karate’ – Harada demonstrates a stiff
haaiiiaa-stance and looks like some instructor from an old
karate movie – doesn’t belong in his KDS.
The key element is to have soft joints, says Harada and
demonstrates a punch and a block.
Harada: -The muscles are not
supposed to be totally loose, but the joints are to be soft. If
you are stiff and tense you only look strong.
If you are soft karate becomes both effective and relaxed. This
takes time to learn. Especially in the west.
Sensei Harada smiles:
Harada:
-In west the students want to see quick
results. But this style of karate is about life-long learning. I
come here, hold a course, show a basic punch and the students
say: we know that already, teach us something new.
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Sensei Harada smiles again.
Harada: -Then I usually say:
I’ll teach you the next technique when this punch actually
works!
Harada often says: it is not
practice that gives results. It is perfect practice that gives
perfect results.
- Karate is not something a person learns in a few years. It is
a life-long process.
In KDS there are no competitions.
Why not?
Harada smiles again, with all of his face, and uses his arms
when he explains. His eyes sparkle, his whole body is alive.
Harada: -If you compete your
time in karate will be short. Then you only practice according
to the rules concerning competition. Your practice will be
limited. There is a limit to what you can and what you can’t do.
You practice to have a career in karate competitions and after
that it is over.
Harada is no greater fan of karate competitions. He calls them
“unfair, subjective beauty competitions”.
Harada: -A person is not allowed
real contact, just to indicate a hit and that means it is up to
the judges to decide who is winning.
In Harada’s karate the karate gets better by the year.
That has to be right. Sensei Harada is living proof of that his
point of view is sound. How many 75-year-olds can still fully
take part in their sport? And improve?
What about the self-defence?
In west many start to do karate to learn self-defence. How
important is self-defence in karate?
Harada: -I am of the opinion
that a person should avoid situations in which violence might
occur. If you see a dangerous situation or a situation that
could lead to violence: avoid it!
In reality it is impossible to defend yourself only through
blocks and techniques if attacked. Then the best defence is
offence. And then one can ask oneself: was it really self
defence? And what do the police think of the matter?
Conclusion: avoid violent situations at all costs.
I can’t resist posing a silly question. Many think karate is
about breaking rocks. What is Harada’s view on this?
The answer is once again a big smile.
Harada: -I know a man who is
very good at breaking rocks. He hasn’t practiced karate a single
day of his life. He is a chef.
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