The late 1970s were a difficult time. To keep students, Kise found he needed to water down his art. The karate he was teaching was easier, less real, with much less contact – and it led students to believe karate was simple to learn. That was completely different from how I’d been taught in the early 1960s. But for him, the only thing important was the number of students he could recruit. He began to undermine SMOKA when he asked me to approve black belt ranks without ever seeing or knowing people’s ability. That went against everything I had been taught and against the teachings of my own dedicated students. Remember, these certificates had my name on them, along with those of Sensei Kise and Soken, and I felt rank for the sake of money was wrong.
When I confronted Kise, he agreed to teach a higher standard. However, in 1978 I received a call from a student in Pennsylvania, who told me that he had been promoted to sixth dan and appointed to the position of SMOKA East Cost Representative, and he had been given 50 to 100 certificates to promote others in the SMOKA name – all without ever notifying me.
That was the straw that broke my back. I confronted Kise again, and told him that I could no longer head SMOKA. I then notified all member dojos of my decision.
That was a hard and difficult thing for me to do, for I knew I was loosing my teacher. I hated to do it, but it was either give up what I had trained so hard for, or pretend that these changes didn't matter, that the students really didn't need to continue to train hard and learn the real and complete system. Kise was teaching just small parts here and there, teaching the katas differently each year, and replacing them with easier versions, all just for money. Of course that brought more students into the association and made it easier to get rank. Many individuals gained high ranks that had little or no additional knowledge, given or earned. Does this teach one to be able to defend oneself? NO of course not.
To me, Kise and Soken represented the highest standards of karate while I was on Okinawa. We had a very strong student - teacher relationship. But even more than that, during the years I was on Okinawa, I met their families, went to their homes, ate meals and went to bars with them, and even at times slept at their homes or dojos. Kise became like an older brother to me. I lived off-base with an Okinawan woman for almost three years, living the same way as the Okinawans did, eating the same foods, speaking the same language, and I became all but a family member to Kise. I felt very close ties to him and his family, and some of the other Okinawans as well.
It was hard for me to except the changes. At that time I couldn't feel their personal anguish, leaving behind their own love for the arts and honor just for money. However, I'm glad I choose the path that I did. I didn't compromise what I had. Instead, I was able to take my art to the next level, and continue to improve on what I was taught.
Today, there is little left of the karate that I learned in the 1960s. The need for realism is gone; karate is now play. People do not even block with power. When a student is asked to punch, they’re told not to make contact, or at the most, very light contact. Often there’s no face contact allowed during sparring. That kind of karate is no longer a fighting art. Now the testing include only one or two kata, some one-step fighting and, most of the time, no fighting at all.
My Dojo is a small one now, and the students that I have learn not just part of the system, but all of the system. There are no separate ranks for weapons - weapon training was and still is a normal part of the rank to be given. The classes are difficult, the blocks hard, the punches real. Students must spend years before they are taught upper level techniques. Realism is stressed.
In the past 47 years only a small handful of my students have reached the rank of fourth dan or above, but be assured that the ones who have reached the upper levels are real and have earned their ranks. I demand no less. Today, the students who are interested in the art of Shorin Ryu karate still have a teacher who is not afraid to work hard and continue to improve. And, yes, I still continue to strive to improve, and continue to train with the knowledge that I have been given over these many years.
