Unfortunately, the video of Nakamura Sensei's Osaka demo that I posted earlier seems to not work. It was linked to my facebook video but it does not open.
Fortunately, someone was so kind to post an identical video on Youtube.
His techniques are beyond fast; they are invisible due to the speed. It was reported that the photographers could not capture the moment of the impact, saying that his hand disappeared.
This has to the best thing that happened to this blog yet. Someone was kind enough to upload the first official demo of Kendokai karate that took place in Osaka back in 1987. The video includes speech by Nakamura sensei, some intense training footage (kihon, kata, kumite both jiyu/yakushoku kumite), and of course the demo itself. Amazing demonstration by the famous Kuramoto sensei is at around 18:44 mark. His segment was widely seen on Youtube previously. Kata demonstration by Ishiyama sensei who is the current president is seen at around 23:47 mark. Of course, the highlight is the great Nakamura sensei's demo at around 26:03 mark. Sincere thanks to the person who uploaded this video!
Below is a video highlight from 2013 All Japan Korean School Karate Tournament. As I've written earlier, Nakamura Hideo sensei was born in Pyong Yang had deep ties with North Korea. So it's little surprise that the ethnic Korean schools in Japan (Chong Ryon specifically, with ties with Pyong Yang. They use the traditional name for Korea, Choson) follow the Kendokai dojo curriculum.
Just from casually observing, I could tell these kids have put in long hours of hard work. They are at or near their physical peak. I though the group kata performance was quite impressive, moving in unison with precision and speed. Kumite featured full-protection helmet with mask, which allows face punch but of course they are not beating each other into submission; it's still point-based kumite. I don't see any problem with it since kendo does the same thing; full protection gear and points awarded for decisive attacks. All in all, I thought the performance was not too different from most traditional karate, such as shotokan and shito ryu.
Here's "Dragon" Kata of Kendokai Karate. Opening sequence looks a lot like Kanku Sho kata of Shotokan, with the inside-out block (uchi uke) to left, right, front, followed by lunge punch (oizuki) followed by retraction. And then a series of knifehand strikes, multiple punches from back stance, a little similar to Heian Godan kata. Nice thing about punching from back stance is that it seems to utilize squeezing of the pelvis rather than hip rotation, which is good for close-range fighting. The kata also offers double punch (punching with both hands simultaneously), which may not work so well in sparring but a good tool for close-range self defense nonetheless.
It took me a little under 2 minutes to perform this kata. It's physically challenging, but definitely beneficial for karate training for anyone.
I love to watch children practice karate. In this day and age of smartphones and computer games, it's so gratifying to watch the children discipline their body and mind through karate.
Kendokai dojo is the official (or most popular, I'm not sure) karate of the Chongryon, the ethnic Koreans living in Japan with ties to North Korea. Founder Nakamura Hideo was originally from Pyong Yang and he was in a leadership position within the Chongryon organization.
Below is a video from Osaka dojo, led by Sensei Tokchu Kim. Osaka has the largest Korean community in Japan, regardless of their SK or NK affiliation. The children are practicing one of the basic kata which looks similar to heian level kata of shotokan or other shorin-ryu based karate system. One difference I noticed was that their front stance looks a little narrow, which puts mobility and reach over stability, from my view.
Notice the Korean sign on the background. Translated: "We will shine our place of learning with our very own hands." The set-up looks a little similar to North Korean schools replete with mottoes and yes, propaganda.
A Kendokai karate sensei in Ehime was so kind to send me a DVD of Nakamura sensei. Below clip is from the DVD, of Nakamura Sensei's breaking demo filmed in 1990. He would have been 77 years old then. Notice just how quick and crisp his techniques are. It looks like one of the technique he used was "Tora-Guchi", or the "tiger's mouth". The striking area is the space between your thumb and the index finger. The amount of conditioning necessary to pull this off would be astounding. The last punch he executes looks like a short-range punch thrown in kokutsu dachi (back stance), similar to the punch in Heian Godan kata.
It came to my attention that 3 of the videos I had posted somehow failed to play. I've fixed the problem on those posts AND I'm listing all 3 of those videos on this post for your convenient viewing. An apology for the confusion I may have caused.
