When I hold seminars in South America, I stay completely on the physical level, mainly because of the language barrier and the fact I have to use an interpreter. I cannot gain access into what the people are actually thinking. There probably is interest in the philosophy, but there is no time for it.

“As the 1973 Black Belt instructor of the year, do you have opinions on what qualifications an individual should have before attempting to teach others martial arts?”

I am a traditionalist. I believe that if a person wants to teach and is totally in charge of the teaching, not under a senior, he should be at least a fourth dan (degree Black belt). This is because the fourth dan is a turning point in traditional karate. When a person is fourth dan, he can teach wherever he wants; he doesn’t have to teach under the supervision of somebody.

It seems, however, that a fourth dan in one organization can be drastically different from a fourth dan in another organization.

Just as 12 inches is 12 inches everywhere, and 100 pounds is 100 pounds in any country, so should the criteria for martial arts be consistent, but is not because of so many different styles. The basic criteria should always be the same. If it is not the same, you will always have politics involved where a person gets a dan level through favor and not merit. If this problem was only confined to, say, the Japanese martial arts it would be an easy goal to overcome. But if you include the Korean and Chinese styles, their criteria is different. There will always be a controversy regarding ranks, because each country has caused standards to be different. The best way to judge the basic standard is to judge the time put in. The shodan (first degree black belt ) is the hardest dan to get because before a person can get a shodan in Japanese karate system, not only is technical efficiency a requirement, but character is also important. The dan is given on character, so there should be a minimum requirement in my opinion. Although some people in one year can be just as skillful as a person who has taken karate five years, the former character may be lacking. For any sensei to really know a student, he has to have the student for at least three years. I saw recently that a seven-year-old girl got a shodan. That is impossible because she has not matured.

From my viewpoint, in the Western Hemisphere, outside of Japan, the finest karate instructor is Hidetaka Nishiyama. He is second to none. I have worked with Nishiyama Sensei and have watched the man in action. He is purely Japanese in his mentality. In my opinion, on a technical basis, Nishiyama Sensei is the best in Japanese karate. Teruo Hayashi of the shitoryu style is also an excellent teacher. As a demonstrator, he is almost second to none. His demonstrations are spectacular. Even now, when I am talking to Nishiyama and the JKA people, they say that as a demonstrator, Hayashi stands on top. Yagi Meitoku is an excellent goju ryu specialist. Also, I have to mention (the late) Gogen Yamaguchi. Another person, who is not too well known in the Western world, is Kinjo Hiroshi. He is second to none as a historian. For sheer physical power, not for karate the art itself per se, I knew Mas Oyama when he was in his prime, and I think he stood at the top in that area.

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I personally know Chuck Norris; we performed together in Paris. He is an excellent instructor in his style. Not only is he an excellent instructor, he is also a gentleman, with an emphasis on the word gentle. That is the reason why he is so successful in the movie industry. He overcomes any lack in technical ability with sheer perseverance, and I’ve always had a high respect for him. With respect to Steven Seagal, I’ve never met him; I’ve only seen him in his movies. From what I I’ve heard, he trained in aikido, and from what I’ve read and if the accounts are correct, he must be skillful. It’s hard to judge from the movies.

I will give Bruce Lee this credit: without him, the martial arts world would still be relegated to the background. He focused the world’s attention onto the martial arts. That’s probably his greatest contribution. Unfortunately, in my opinion as a martial artist, he never reached his potential. He died too young.

The word “sensei” was originally two Chinese characters. Sen means “ahead” and sei is “life”. So a sensei is a person who has been on this earth longer than you, and so you follow his path. In the Orient, anyone who is educated and is ahead of you and teaches you something, he is a sensei. A sensei is a professional. He is a father figure. He is everything all rolled into one. He has gone through the minefield of life and so you follow him. He knows how you have suffered, for he has suffered the same himself. When we enter the dojo and perform the rei, the sensei goes down first and then, according to ranks, each person kneels down because the junior respects the senior. When the senior goes down and sees the junior go down after him, he has compassion, for he knows what it was like and he has been through that path. So the compassion and the respect meld together. A sensei is a leader, he is a professional. A sensei maximizes his knowledge. He realizes that he can learn something from every person he meets. He never stops learning. That is why the martial art sensei is the most difficult profession. The martial art sensei’s learning never stops until to the beyond and meets God. Until that time, he is always trying to bring people along with him on his journey. That’s a real complete sensei.

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