Nakamura Sensei Demo in Tokyo

I actually have a link to this video on my first post, but I thought it's worth posting again. I believe this may be the best known video of his amazing karate demo, and also the longest. It took place in Tokyo in 1989.

You will notice how smooth his motion is. He even does Tai-Chi like prep move, with smooth flowing hand motion. His footwork also shows cat-like finesse. According to one of the commentators, the terminal velocity of his technique is terrifyingly fast, which is different from that of beginners and even intermediate level practitioners. "Since human hands and feet are not projectiles, initial velocity does not determine the terminal velocity at the moment of the impact. His technique looks quite relaxed in the beginning and accelerates before impact." I'm not sure about the whole science behind it, but I do remember reading somewhere that minimum deceleration upon impact is what truly separates karate technique from boxing punch.

Aside from technical mumbo-jumbo, Nakamura Sensei's karate is an example of true mastery beyond mere athleticism.

Importance of Posterior Muscle

I do follow a number of karate websites and channels and one of my favorite has to be KaratebyJesse. It is choke full of wonderful information about karate, and some of his articles are down right witty. If you love to practice karate and love to laugh, his website is the place to be.

In one of his article, he wrote about the importance of posterior muscle, or the posterior "chain." Here's the excerpt:

Humans have a big brain, right? We’re smart. But when it comes to fighting, we are physically weaker than many animals! Dogs, cats, ants, horses, rats… they are stronger, more agile, much faster and more athletic than a human will ever be. So let’s use our smart brain to study animals: Does a horse have abs? Nope. Does a dog have huge biceps or pecs? Nope. So why do humans insist on training these “useless” show-off muscles all the time? Animals have incredibly strong posterior chains (muscles on your back, hamstrings, glutes, triceps, lats etc.). Focus on those instead. That’s where beastlike power comes from.

Below is a rare photo (as I've stated previously, any information on Nakamura Sensei is rare and I'd say quite valuable) of Nakamura Sensei practicing karate. Notice his back musculature:



How did he get such a phenomenal posterior muscle chain? Did he lift weights? Calisthenics? Or practicing kihons repeatedly? I'd guess a mixture, or a partly genetic.

Interestingly, the "gi" pants he is wearing looks more like a Korean hanbok pants. He was from Pyong Yang after all so it's likely that he did not abandon his ties to Korean culture. More about this later.

Nakamura Sensei on Japanese TV

I really wish there were more videos like this. This is Nakamura Sensei on a Japanese TV show called "Ringu." This is the only video that I could find where he gives an interview. I could understand none of it except for the portion about how at one time he cured his own throat cancer by grilling his tumor with white-hot metal wire and gargling with a shot of whiskey. The doctor told him that the surgery could take away his voice, and he didn't want that to happen lest he not be able to teach again. You can tell that he does have raspy voice, likely as a result of that self-surgery. I can't conceive of how tough you have to be to do something like that. He said casually that either he had to kill the tumor or that it would kill him, and that he could not ignore a visible enemy (the tumor had grown large enough to be seen with his own eyes).

Luckily, there's also his famous breaking demo toward the end of the video. It's amazing how fast his hands are; it's almost like from another world. It's at a different level from just fast-enough-to-hurt-someone fast. When he does his prep move, right before the first break, his hand literally disappears.

Why Are You Practicing?

In his interview, Royama Sensei talked about one time when he and Nakamura Sensei held a rank testing at a dojo in Saitama. The karatekas performed the usual calisthenics, kihon, kata, and kumite. While observing, Nakamura Sensei asked Royama Sensei, "For what purpose are they practicing kata and kihon? Their techniques have no life at all."

It was a sharp rebuke to what Nakamura Sensei observed as a lifeless, nonchalant display of rote karate techniques, simply going through the motion. I do not feel that the students at the dojo were particularly lackadaisical by most people's standards. But it's obvious that in the master's eyes, their techniques lacked the "soul" of karate, the do-or-die determination that should be present in the martial arts. From this experience, Royama Sensei realized that his own practice of karate was little more than a "disco-dance", simply moving the body and feeling good afterwards. I suppose he is trying to be humble. Royama Sensei was a successful competitor prior to becoming Nakamura Sensei's disciple, and he had a strong reputation as a fighter. But still, in Nakamura Sensei's eyes, his and many other karateka's techniques lacked the true deadly intent of karate. This is why he had said to the stunned Royama Sensei, "You do not possess any karate technique." 

This story made me realize how long and winding the karate journey is. Even the simplest technique deserves our utmost attention and effort.

 

Amazing Demo by Kuramoto Nariharu Sensei

A Link to the Demo

Above is a video of Kuramoto Sensei's demo. He is one of the most famous students of Nakamura Sensei and it's easy to see why. The thing I like about this demo is that he shows karate in all ranges - kicking, punching, and grappling. I've also heard that he's an expert in "Ura Waza" (Back-Technique, literally), which is karate's "dirty tricks", or such moves that are far removed from sport karate and extremely effective for no-holds barred self defense. I suppose it would include pressure point attack to the eyes and the throat.

His breaking demos are simply amazing, especially the clay sewer pipe. It would be impossible without tremendous amount of conditioning and blinding speed. Also, Nakamura Sensei's trademark rafter breakings are shown as well. Like his Sensei, Kuramoto Sensei is an extraordinary exponent of "real-karate". His power and devastation remind me of one famous manga character, Raoh, from "Fist of the Northstar".

"You Are a Nice Guy."

As I've mentioned earlier, information on Nakamura Sensei is quite scarce, which makes creating this blog somewhat challenging but more interesting. I've had to gather what I could from Japanese, Korean, and even some French and Russian websites, and use the Google Translator whenever necessary.  Fortunately, Hatsuo Royama Sensei's time with Nakamura Sensei is an invaluable source for us who would like to learn more about this master.

I do not know his name, but one of Royama Sensei's junior black belt karateka (Kyokushin) was fortunate enough to train with Nakamura Sensei for a time. This is what Nakamura Sensei told him:

"You are a nice guy. Your kindness can become your weakness. You may not be able to kill anyone."

That statement made quite a bit of impression on this karateka. Obviously, Nakamura Sensei wasn't challenging him to kill anyone. But this statement is a profound statement to all of us who practice karate. When it comes down to it, karate is not a sport. It is for self-defense where your very life may be at stake, or that of your loved ones. Do you have the stomach to kill someone with your karate if you had to? Will you do whatever it takes to survive? Of course, this is not an easy thing to answer. But we need to remind us that karate is not a game; it is a struggle for survival, where a moment of hesitation could be deadly.

More Amazing Breaking Demo by Nakamura Sensei

In general, any material on Nakamura Sensei is hard to find. I was fortunate to find this video, posted by a karateka in Japan who trains with Kuramoto Sensei who was Nakamura Sensei's top student.

Link to the Demo

The first punch he throws is so fast it seems to disappear. Also notice how short some of the rafters are. To break something like that, speed and focus of one's technique would have to be extraordinary.

Rafter?

I'm guessing most people don't use the word "rafter" much in their everyday conversation, unless they are into construction. Basically, a rafter is a thick piece of wood that supports the roof, and is similar to a thick wooden tent stake. In Korean, it's called "서까래" and in Japanese it's called 垂木. 
There are many materials that are used for karate breaking demonstration, such as roof tiles, bricks, ice, wooden boards, stones, etc. Wooden board is the easiest and most commonly used. It's probably the easiest because you are hitting along the grain of the wood so the wood naturally splits. On the other hand, a rafter is quite difficult to break because you would be attempting to break the wood against the grain. To give you a perspective, one blogger barely managed to break a rafter by stomping on it repeatedly, wearing heavy hiking boots. Even a sledge hammer couldn't break the rafter in one strike. The thing that is so amazing about Nakamura Sensei's breaking demonstration of a rafter is that it's not so much a "break" but rather a "slice", as with a sharp knife. 

Notice the smoothness of the rafter broken by Nakamura Sensei. It's like a sliced block of cheese. It isn't jagged. I don't know much about material science, but I think under most circumstances a wood like that would break from a stress or a strain placed on it, and its own leverage would play a big part. The rafter looks to be around 60 cm (12 inches, 1 foot). That means Nakamura Sensei's breaking is a result of a superhuman speed, and not the leverage of the material being broken.

Ancient masters have said in karate, one's hands and feet must be considered as swords. Nakamura sensei's karate is truly at the level of a lethal weapon.

Rude Awakening of Hatsuo Royama Sensei

As I've mentioned earlier, Hatsuo Royama sensei is one of Nakamura sensei's famous student. I was fortunate to find some information from Korean websites regarding his experience with this extraordinary master.

I feel that it's important for all of us to have a rude awakening from time to time, and realize the need to improve. Unless we receive a little shock to the system, we may end up in a same spot for years. Constant progress.

One of the thing Nakamura sensei said to Hatsuo Royama, then a 19-year old with quite a bit of karate experience under his belt (and as a student of Mas Oyama), is this:

"YOU DO NOT POSSESS ANY KARATE TECHNIQUE."

Ouch.

That must have been quite a bit of shock to someone used to knocking people out in kumite. Not just a little improvement, but a complete overhaul was needed. 

This is a reminder to us that the road to karate mastery is a long and winding road. There is always room for improvement, and even the simplest technique is worth a life time of study.

A Brief Bio on Nakamura Sensei

1913 - Born in Pyong Yang, Korea (Name: Kang Chang Soo 강창수)
            Receives martial arts training from uncle at age 9

1927 - Moves to Japan alone

1930 - Enrolls in martial arts college (I haven't found much info on this)

1937 - Graduates from Kyoto University Law School

1943 - Awarded 6th degree from Dai Nippon Butokukai (This is an umbrella organization of all martial arts in Japan. I'll have to do more research on this.)

1947 - Starts a construction business in Yamanashi Prefecture, Kofu City. Opens a karate dojo.

1957 - Starts a karate association in Yamanashi Prefecture. Becomes a chairman.

1966 - Awarded 10th degree from Dai Nippon Butokukai (Highest Degree)

1983 - Opens Kendokai Karate Dojo (According to one sensei, it wasn't him who started Kendokai Dojo but his disciples.)

1987 - Kendokai Karate Demo at Osaka City

1997 - Promotes Ishiyama Kei as the leader of the Kendokai Karate Dojo and retires from direction instruction

2013 - Dies from Pneumonia at the age of 99. Reportedly continued to practice karate to his last days on earth.

Fist Conditioning by Nariharu Kuramoto Sensei

Nariharu Kuramoto sensei is one of Nakamura Sensei's top student who is said to have had some real fight experience. He has a dojo that trains people in true combat karate. I'll post more in the future.

In the pic above, he is punching a sandbag. Notice the sandbag is fixed to a wooden frame so it does not swing away like a boxing punching bag. I think this will discourage the puncher from "pushing" the bag which is not what you want in karate. I've tried to make a similar tool by filling a leather bag with sand but finding a good sturdy structure to attach the bag has been difficult. I'm sticking with makiwara for now.

Hatsuo Royama's Time with Nakamura Sensei

This is a translation from an interview with Hatsuo Royama sensei (in Japanese with Korean subtitle). The interview itself was in three parts and I'll be posting more excerpts from the interview later on.


"One of the training I received under Nakamura sensei was hitting the "suna bukuro" or sandbag. I was told to hit the sandbag 1000 times with each hand and foot, for the total of 4000 strikes. The next morning, I urinated blood. I was a little unnerved so I went to a urologist but there was nothing wrong with me. When I told this to sensei, he replied, "such things are quite normal. One must not be dismayed nor discouraged. It was simply weakness leaving the body through tanren (conditioning, or hardening) so one must overcome such difficulty with a strong mind."

Almost no information exists in English language about this great karate master, Nakamura Hideo. It's been said that he does not enjoy self-promotion of any kind, and that maybe the reason he is much lesser known than more "visible" karate masters of the past, such as Mas Oyama.

Two of his former students are quite well-known in the karate community: Hatsuo Royama and Nariharu Kuramoto.

Here are some of his quotes:

"Karateka's true value emerges at age 50. At that age, one's physical strength starts to deteriorate so the karateka who has only relied on his physical strength cannot continue to improve. On the other hand, a karateka who has trained correctly and consistently only gets better after age 50."

"It's a shameful thing to be injured in karate. If one trains and conditions the body consistently, there will be no injury."

"Every move, every action in karate must come from the heart."

And this quote epitomizes his karate philosophy the best:

"Each and every punch and kick must have the intent to kill."