"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.