Welcome to New Jersey Dojo
ニュージャージー支部
JKA of New York / NJ Branch
Japanese ChildrenÕs Society, Inc. (Gym)
8 West Bayview Ave., Englewood Cliffs,
NJ 07632
Tel (212)799-5500
ニューヨーク育英学園（体育館）
道順はこちら how to get there
◎NEW 2007 Autumn
Tournament Video clip
目次
○本部 New York Dojo
○指導員 Instructor
○稽古日 Class Schedule
○問合せ Information
○紹介 About
○空手の祖 Founder of Karate
○船越義珍 G. Funakoshi
○空手二十箇条 20 Precepts of Karate
JKA of New York
(Head Quarter)
ニューヨーク道場本部
American Japan Karate Association
Inc. / JKA of New York
PDF file is here
Mailing Address: PO box: 368 Closter, NJ
07624
Tel (212) 799-5500 Fax(646)224-8703
www. jkany.org E-mail: jkanewyork@yahoo.com
INWOOD HQ Dojo:
108 Cooper Street, B1, NEW YORK, NY10034
MAESTRO Dojo: 48
West 68th Street, B1, New York, NY 10023
MMAC Dojo:
248 West 60th Street, 1F/B1, New York, NY 10023
New location: PDF file is here
森正隆 師範、八段
松濤館空手道インターナショナル(JKA・SKDI)会長、ニューヨーク道場顧問。
Masataka Mori 8th
Dan
Chairman, JKA Shotokan Karate-do
International / JKA of New York
The New York Times
artcle on Masataka Mori
刈谷博 五段 Hiroshi
Kariya 5th Dan
当支部での指導に１９９１年より従事。
当初、全日本空手道連盟の土谷秀男師範（早稲田大学・国際修道館館長・少林流)に師事。
１９７７年渡米、高橋周先生に遭遇、日本空手協会に入会。２００４年夏、森正隆主席師範の下で指導員教育(甲種研修生)Aクラス卒業。日本空手協会公認：審査員C級、審判員B級、指導員B級を取得。当支部と併行し本部道場、コロンビア大学支部などでの指導に従事。
Begun teaching at JKA of NY/New Jersey
dojo, since 1991.
In 1970, joined Karate under master Hideo
Tsuchiya: (Waseda University,
WUKO hq (now WKF), Shudokan International, Shorin-Ryu).
1977 Moved to USA, then joined JKA Brooklyn,
under sensei Shu Takahashi.
2004 Graduated Instructor training
course (class A). JKA licensed: Examiner C,
Judge B, Instructor B. Teaching at JKA of
Columbia University and JKA of New York
Headquarter (New York main dojo).
稽古日
毎週・木曜日午後５時〜６時３０分 夏期休暇：７月〜８月末迄
Every Thursday 5:00PM~6:30PM
Summer school brake: (July~August)
お問い合わせ
森 正隆 M. Mori
(201)767-7484日中
(212)799-5500 伝言
刈谷 博 H. Kariya
(718)450-5103 伝言をお願い致します。
入会
登録料 Registration $30 Initiation fee 初回のみ
欠席料 Absence Fee $5 for 1 month absence 一ヶ月欠席の場合（毎月分）
年会費 Annual Fee $10 Every beginning of
the year 毎年度初め
指導料（月謝）Monthly Fee
子供 Child
$75（３ヶ月払い）3 Month payment $210（~18 younger)
大人 Adult
$85（３ヶ月払い）3 Month payment $240
About Japan Karate Association
日本空手協会
社団法人日本空手協会とは、昭和33年4月10日文部省認可（委社第180号）の空手道公益法人です。日本国内はもとより、世界各国での空手道の普及と指導に従事。「日本から生まれた独自の武道文化を、正しい姿で継承発展させること」を責務、目的と考えた活動を行っております。English
活動状況の紹介
社団法人日本空手協会は、昭和23年５月結成以来、今日まで一貫した空手道の指導普及に務めております。当初より独自の教育課程を終了した専門指導員を養成し、空手道指導及び技術に対する揺るぎない基盤の確立をその目的とした活動を行っております。
また、厳しい日頃の鍛錬を通じ自らの人格完成を図っていこうーという教育理念が大きな特徴で、国内外での学校の正課に採用される等、青少年教育にその評価と信頼が築かれ続けております。
総本部道場には20余名の専門指導員が常務。国内をはじめ、世界各地からの修行者の指導に当たるとともに、世界各地からの派遣要請などに応えております。
History of Japan Karate Association
歴史
|
昭和23年5月 昭和30年3月20日 昭和31年4月 昭和32年4月26日 昭和32年10月20日昭和33年4月10日 昭和33年 昭和36年 昭和37年 昭和39年 昭和40年 昭和50年 昭和51年4月20日 昭和58年 昭和60年 昭和62年4月15日 平成3年 |
日本空手協会結成 船越義珍最高師範就任 日本空手協会総本部道場設立（東京都新宿四谷） 総本部研修生制度発足（第一期生入会） 船越義珍逝去88才 日本最初の全国空手道選手権大会開催（東京体育館）以後毎年挙行 文部大臣より社団法人認可（許可委社180号） 中山正敏首席師範就任 第5回全国空手道大会に皇太子殿下の御臨席を賜る 全国選抜空手道大会を九州福岡で開催、以後8回開催 東京オリンピックの為全国空手道選手権大会中止 第8回全国大会から日本武道館で開催 IAKF世界大会開催（米国）
以後2年毎に第4回まで開催 宮田実次席師範逝去60才 師範会主催全国合同合宿開催（日本武道館勝浦研修センター）以後毎年開催 松濤杯争奪世界大会開催（日本武道館）
以後2年毎に開催 中山正敏首席師範逝去74才 杉浦初久二首席師範就任 |
Successive Chairman of the Japan
Karate Association
歴代史 日本空手協会歴代会長氏名
|
|
代 |
Name |
氏名 |
就任日 |
|
1st |
初代会長 |
西郷 吉之助 |
Kichinosuke Saigo |
昭和30年3月22日 |
|
2nd |
二代会長 |
山崎 巌 |
Iwao Yamazaki |
昭和32年9月10日 |
|
3rd |
三代会長 |
益谷 秀次 |
Hidetsugu Masutani |
昭和34年6月 |
|
4th |
四代会長 |
田中 角栄 |
Kakuei Tanaka |
昭和41年6月 |
|
5th |
五代会長 |
益谷 秀次 |
Hidetsugu Masutani |
昭和43年6月 |
|
6th |
六代会長 |
小坂 善太郎 |
Zentarou Kosaka |
昭和47年6月19日 |
|
7th |
七代会長 |
飯塚 毅 |
Takeshi Iizuka |
昭和59年10月10日 |
|
8th |
八代会長 |
中原 伸之 |
Nobuyuki Nakahara |
昭和61年6月1日 |
空手の父祖
船越 義珍 日本空手協会初代首席師範
空手道の原点、唐手術を空手道と初めて改名、五々条の道場訓を定める。
明治3年
沖縄県那覇市の武士の家に生る、身体虚弱の為、唐手術に入門。
大正2年
沖縄尚武会長、
大正11年 文部省主催体育博覧会で初めて唐手術を公開。反響大きく
東京小石川に明正塾道場を開設。「琉球拳法唐手」著述。
昭和４年 唐手術を空手道と改名して今日に至る。
昭和11年 空手道教範の著者、同年10月同書天覧
を賜う。
昭和18年 空手道入門の著書。
昭和23年 日本空手道協会設立、最高師範就任
昭和29年 全日本総合武道大会において空手界最高功労者として表彰。
昭和30年３月 日本空手協会四谷道場開設に８６歳の高齢で出席。
昭和32年４月 ８８歳で逝去（２６日）。（敬称・敬語略）
Characteristics
心得：初めてのかたに
ÒThe ultimate aim of the art of karate lies
not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of the
participantÓ - Gichin Funakoshi,
founder of shotokan karate -
「空手道修行の究極の目的は、
相手を打ち負かすのでも、
または勝つためにでもあるのではなく、
修業を通じての人格完成に、
その意味を見いだすことにある」
船越儀珍
船越空手の特徴
稽古は、基本・組手・形の三つをもって一つとなす。
Training is usually divided into three
sections: 基本 kihon or "basics", 組手 kumite or "sparring", and 形 kata
(forms or patterns of moves). Shotokan techniques in kihon and kata are
characterised by deep, long stances which provide stability, powerful movements
and also helps strengthen the legs. Strength and power are often demonstrated
instead of slower, more flowing motions. The kumite techniques mirror these
stances and movements at a basic level, but progress to being more
"free" and flexible at a higher level. Funakoshi is said to have
found the traditional martial arts (such as sumo, jujutsu and kenjutsu) to be too focused
on combat, and he put more emphasis on health, breathing, releasing energy and
outstanding mind and body control.[citation needed]
Shotokan can be regarded as a hard and
'external' martial art.
Before his students established the Japan
Karate Association, Master Funakoshi Gichin laid out the Twenty Precepts of
Karate,
which form the foundations of the art. Within
these twenty principles, based heavily on Bushido and Zen, lies the philosophy of Shotokan.
｢空手道二十訓｣船越議趁
Never forget: karate begins with rei and ends with rei
二 空手に先手なし
There is no first attack in karate
三 空手は義の輔け
Karate supports righteousness
四 始めに己を知れ而して敵を知れ
First understand yourself, then understand others
五 技術より心術
The art of developing the mind is more important than the art of
applying technique
六 心は放たんことを要す
The mind needs to be freed
七 禍は懈怠に生ず
Trouble is born of negligence / ignorance
Do not think karate belongs only in the dojo
九 空手の修行は一生
Karate training requires a lifetime
十 凡ゆる物を空手化せよ其要に妙味あり
Transform everything into karate; therein lies its exquisiteness
十一 空手は湯の如し絶えず熱を与えざれば元の水に換える
Karate is like hot water, if you do not give it heat
constantly, it will again
become cold water
十二 勝つ考えを持つな負けぬ考えは必要
Do not think that
you have to win, rather think you do not have to lose
十三 敵に因って転化せよ
Transform yourself according to the opponent
十四 戦は虚実の操縦如何に在り
The outcome of the fight depends on one's control
Imagine one's arms and legs as swords
十六 男子門を出ずれば百万の敵有り
Once you leave the shelter of home, there are a
million enemies
十七 構えは初心者後は自然体
Postures are for the beginner; later they are natural
positions
十八 型は正しく実戦は別物
Perform the kata correctly; the real fight is a
different matter
十九 力の強弱、躱の伸縮、技の緩急を忘るな
Do not forget control of the dynamics of power, the
elasticity of the body
and the speed of the technique
二十 常に思念工夫せよ
Apply the way of Karate to all things. Therein lies
its beauty.
Karate-do: My Way of Life, Gichin Funakoshi.
"Karate -- Yesterday and Today," Dynamic Karate, Masatoshi
Nakayama.
Japan Karate Association headquarter web site documents
●
MAKING IT WORK;
The Master Teacher
By
Christpher S. Wren (The New York Times)
Published: March 20, 1994
●
Weekend Warrior
; Learning That KarateÕs Blows Go Hand in Hand With Manners
By
Christpher S. Wren (The New York Times)
Published: June 11, 1999
MAKING IT WORK
by Christopher S. Wren,
New York Times, March 20, 1994
PAIR off with a partner and announce which
body part you intend to assault. Anopponent blocks your punch or kick and
retaliates with an attack to your face or solaplexus. Afterward, you bow
politely and thank each other.
The intricate etiquette that prevents karate
from degenerating into mayhem is vigorously enforced by Masataka Mori. He has practiced
karate for 44 years, achieving the exalted rank of an eighth dan, or
eighth-degree black belt, one of only nine such master recognized worldwide by
the Japan Karate Association. His black belt is so frayed it resembles the
white belt of a beginner. And while his students win tournaments, he espouses
perfection of character first.
"Everybody who comes to karate in the
beginning thinks they're learning how to defend themselves and be good at
fighting," Mr. Mori said. "But I like to teach the moral aspect of it.
If I teach this, the technique and spirit of my students join together."
For a quarter century, Mr. Mori, 61, has taught his
fighting art in a complex of dance and gymnastic studios at 2121 Broadway near
74th Street. His dojo, or training hall, is a small but tidy room adorned by
U.S. and Japanese flags flanking a portrait of Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of
modern karate. Mirrors hang on one wall, a blackboard on another. At the back
are two makiwara, or padded boards for developing lethal punches.
Mr. Mori's dojo, the local branch
of the Japan Karate Association, is one of scores now established outside
traditional Asian neighborhoods. Martial-arts studios have been proliferating
around New York, as more and more people turn to karate for exercise,
self-defense or the sheer zen of it. Styles range from the classic Japanese
shotokan practiced by Mr. Mori to Okinawan shorin-ryu to Korean tae kwon
do, Chinese kung fu and a profusion of other competing schools that cultivate
different stances, blocks, kicks and punches. Some teachers push fighting and
board-breaking; others, like Mr. Mori, place a priority on discipline suffused
with tradition.
"A person who practices karate can
contribute to society," Mr. Mori said. "It's a way of life, not just
about kicking and punching."
Mr. Mori's classes are
authentically Japanese, with ceremonial bows, meditation and communal
floor-washing to wipe away the pools of sweat between classes. "It's the
combination of mental, spiritual and physical, which you don't find in a lot of
places," said Lisa Nakanishi, a New York lawyer and a first-degree black
belt.
About 115 karateka, or students, a large
number of them black belts, are enrolled at Mr. Mori's Broadway dojo.
"If I choose to watch TV rather than come and learn from him, I need my
head examined," said William Georgiadis, a sporting glove manufacturer and
second-degree black belt who commutes nightly from Hoboken, N.J. Loyalty is
strong.
When Mr. Mori moved his dojo from
the second to the fourth floor a decade ago, students pitched in to paint, fix
the wiring, and sand and finish the floor. "I started with him and can't
imagine going anywhere else," said Susan Volchok, a Manhattan writer who
came to Mr. Mori's dojo 13 years ago. She stayed, training through seven months of
pregnancy, and now holds a second-degree black belt. Tuition is about $85 a
month, $230 for three months. Mr. Mori takes his karateka, 20 to 30 a class,
through a rigorous drill of fundamentals (kihon), no-contact sparring (kumite)
and balletlike maneuvers (kata) against imaginary opponents. Afterward,
students kneel and recite a code of conduct that pledges them to respect others
and refrain from violence. Every three months, they undergo a grading that can
promote them up the ranks through two degrees of white belt, three of green
belt and three of brown belt. They are ready to aim for black belt after three
to five years.
"I want every beginner to make black
belt," Mr. Mori said, "but usually the guy who has talent doesn't
endeavor, and the guy who has no sports talent tries and tries. It's like the
hare and the tortoise."
Mr. Mori, who was born in 1932 in Kyushu, in
southern Japan, has lived the persevering life he preaches. He grew up in the
bleak postwar years when, he recalled, "there wasn't much food, no rice in
those days, only sweet potatoes." Even so, when it came to karate, he
said, "I practiced very hard." After graduating from Takushoku
University in Tokyo in 1955, he began teaching karate. In 1963, he was invited
to Hawaii, where he built a local team that defeated visiting Japanese college
champions.
"For him, failure means to quit,"
said Isami Shiroma, an Okinawan-born businessman and fifth-degree black belt
who sometimes instructs when Mr. Mori is away. "He's always rooting for the
Mets while they're losing," Mr. Shiroma said. "When they begin
winning, he loses interest."
In 1968, Mr. Mori came to New York to
teach on a two-year contract. He wound up staying. As chief instructor, or
effective head, of the North Atlantic region of the Japan Karate Association,
he visits dojos as far away as Scandinavia and judges tournaments around the
world. But his base remains the Upper West Side, where he also supervises
classes at Columbia University. He teaches in suburban New Jersey and Long
Island, too, and is an associate professor of physical education at the State
University of New York in Stony Brook.
Mr. Mori often trains beginners himself,
unusual for someone his rank. Children are his favorite students. "They
can learn so many things," he said, "but you must teach manners to
children." He likes them because "they are going to be our
leaders."
He is less patient with the mistakes of more
advanced black belts who fail to maintain his strict standards; Mr. Mori reinforces
corrections with a bamboo stick. "It stings," said Mr. Georgiadis,
one of those who have felt corrective taps. "But it's controlled and done
for the specific reason of letting the nerves in the offending area tell you
that you should be doing it right."
Mr. Mori and his wife, who live in Closter,
N.J., remain Japanese citizens; their daughters are American-born. One went to
Yale and studies eye diseases as a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital. The other
works for the Consumer News/Business Channel, a cable station in Fort Lee, N.J.
Mr. Mori talks of retiring to Japan, but not
yet. "I haven't finished my task here," he said. "When all of my
students have become good citizens, then I can go home."
Photo: Masataka Mori, an eighth-degree
black belt, demonstrating a move at his Upper West Side karate studio.
(Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times) Chart: "MARTIAL ARTS: Fighting
Forms"
In Japanese, "karate" means empty
hand. Kung fu expresses the same concept in Chinese.
Here are some popular schools of unharmed
fighting. SHOTOKAN: Low stance, powerful blows generated through stomach
muscles and hips, developed in Japan from Okinawan basics. SHORIN-RYU:
Circulare sweeping style, from Okinawa. TAI KWON DO: High-kicking aggressive
fighting from Korea. KUNG FU: Originated many centuries ago with the monks of
Shaolin Temple in central China.
Learning That KarateÕs Blows Go Hand in Hand With Manners
WEEKEND WARRIOR
by Christopher S. Wren,
New York Times, June 11, 1999
I admit to having aimed a premeditated kick at the head of a
lawyer named Brent Stevens. He promptly hit me three times.
Afterward, we bowed politely to each other.
Our fight took place under the critical stare
of Masataka Mori, a director of the Japan Karate Association and its chief
instructor in North America. At the Shotokan Karate-do of New York, his modest
dojo, or training hall, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Mr. Mori teaches a karate as
classically Japanese as anything found east of Okinawa.
Sweating for an hour or so under the tutelage
of Mr. Mori, who holds a stratospheric eighth-degree black belt rank, is like
visiting Japan without having to buy an airline ticket.
Before each class, lawyers, police officers
and teachers fall to their knees to mop the floor with damp rags. The commands
are given in Japanese. Classes begin and end with meditation and ceremonial
bows. A late arrival must kneel, awaiting Mr. Mori's eventual invitation
to join the class. And black belts who perform sloppily may feel the chastening
sting of Mr. Mori's shinai -- a swordlike bamboo stick -- on the offending foot or
arm.
For Mr. Mori, karate is not about
mayhem, but about balance, focus and proper breathing. Karate's roots, he said,
lie in the same Japanese traditions as kendo, the art of sword fighting, or
ikebana, the art of flower arranging.
''This is the philosophy of karate,'' Mr. Mori said. ''It stresses
manners, sincerity, modesty and courage, truthfulness and respect. I do not
believe you will find these in all other sports.''
Yasunobu Ohama, a lightning-fast young black
belt who learned his karate techniques at his father's dojo in Osaka, said
traditional masters like Mr. Mori were getting harder to find, even in Japan.
''He is a Japanese samurai,'' Mr. Ohama said respectfully.
Every karate dojo assumes the personality of
its sensei, or teacher. Mr. Mori preaches perseverance, arguing that in
defeat lie the seeds of future victory. ''There are people who become trapped
in their daily tasks, who do not strive beyond their routine,'' he said. ''If
they were to train in the rigors of karate, I believe they would be able to
overcome this situation.''
His gospel of constant striving attracts
serious black belts along with white-belted novices. ''I think the idea of
trying to make yourself better with every technique and every move makes you
realize your continuing imperfections,'' said David Eng-Wong, a teachers' union
representative who was promoted recently to san-dan, or third-degree black
belt. ''And Sensei Mori is always good for keeping you humble.''
For the likes of Brent Stevens and me, karate
becomes our way of sweating away tension and cleansing the mind of the week's
accumulated frustrations. ''It's a stress reliever for me,'' said Mr. Stevens,
who drives in from Montclair, N.J., to train under Mr. Mori on weeknights and
Saturdays. ''If I go three days without training, I get uptight.''
I took up karate to improve my coordination
for rock climbing and skiing, two sports that I try to keep up when I escape
the city. On evenings or weekends when I can't get away, karate has become a
satisfying solution for cross-training.
Even before I earned my black belt, I became
engrossed in a martial art whose shadowy roots extend back at least eight
centuries to the fighting monks of the Shaolin temple in central China. Their
self-defense techniques migrated to other parts of Asia, notably Okinawa.
According to tradition, after the island's overlords banned the carrying of
weapons, Okinawans refined their unarmed combat.
Gichin Funikoshi, an Okinawan expert born in
1869, exported karate to the rest of Japan in the early 20th century. Before
his death in 1957 at the age of 88, he helped found the Japan Karate
Association and promulgated shotokan karate as a sport and a way of life.
Shotokan means ''Shoto's dojo.'' Shoto was the pen name Mr. Funikoshi used for
his calligraphy, said Isami Shiroma, a fifth-degree degree black belt from
Okinawa who helps teach when Mr. Mori is away in Japan.
Mr. Funikoshi's portrait hangs reverentially
in the dojo, flanked by faded Japanese and American flags.
While just about everyone claims to know what
karate is, not many have seen it done correctly. Karate, meaning ''empty hand''
in Japanese, employs a devastating combination of punches, kicks and elbow or
knee strikes. It generates dynamic power by contracting and expanding the body,
adding torque by rotating the hips. Its kime, or focus, unleashes maximum force
against areas like the solar plexus where an opponent is most vulnerable.
''It requires explosive power at the moment
of focus,'' Mr. Mori explained.
He made us maintain shotokan's distinctively
low stance, which strengthens the leg muscles. Constant kicking and punching
work the cardiovascular system as thoroughly as any aerobics class. Extensive
stretching beforehand minimizes injury.
''Karate involves training the entire body,
not just one part,'' Mr. Mori said. Sometimes his classes end with situps
or pushups, but he frowns upon lifting weights. ''The movement of your body and
the kicking or blocking techniques become slower,'' Mr. Mori said. ''Because your
muscles are tight, you will not be able to move as quickly.''
He led us through the typical Japanese
curriculum of kihon, or fundamentals; kata, or balletlike drills, and kumite,
or sparring.
Kihon involves learning to make weapons of
the body's hard surfaces. A leg, for example, can be employed quite differently
to deliver a snap kick, a thrust kick, a roundhouse kick or a back kick.
Kata is a vigorous sequence of blocks and
counterattacks against imaginary opponents from all directions. Each kata must
be memorized and may number as many as 65 moves, some so subtle that even
experts debate what they mean.
Kumite is the fighting itself, taught in
stages to prevent students from hurting each other or themselves. Mr. Mori does not let anyone
progress to free-fighting without grasping the basics. Even here, punches or
kicks must be controlled, stopping just short of an opponent's face or stomach.
In the heat of a tournament, of course, kumite can turn rough.
The belt grading creates an incentive to
improve. The Japan Karate Association recognizes two grades of white, three
grades of green and three grades of brown belt. It takes three to five years of
constant training to reach basic black belt.
Unlike some other styles of karate, the Japan
Karate Association has the advantage of accrediting dojos around the world.
This gives the belts earned international status and lets you train on business
trips and vacations at dojos in other cities or countries.
Because it is potentially lethal, karate is
controlled by strict etiquette. Even on a dojo floor glistening with sweat, Mr.
Mori demands that courtesy prevail, and his glare is enough to chastise
anyone stepping out of line.
He exhorted us to concentrate on our
opponents, release the tension from shoulders and arms and breathe lightly.
''Breathe through your navel,'' he said. The celebrated kiai, or explosive yell
that accompanies a punch or kick, has the purpose of focusing power as well as
startling the opponent.
''If fear makes your breathing erratic, if
you tense your shoulders or open your mouth while breathing, you give away your
breathing to your opponent and you are no longer in the dominating position,''
Mr. Mori said. ''Breathing has to be natural, like weeping willow branches
in the wind.''
Under Mr. Mori's persistent tutelage,
we practiced maximizing the power of our punches by pulling back one arm as the
other shot forward, and our kicks by snapping back the leg like a whip. He had
us slide forward without stomping by pushing off with the back foot. He
tolerated no timid or indecisive moves, insisting that each blow be focused
before proceeding to the next block or punch. He even nagged us about keeping
our fists clenched tightly to avoid fracturing knuckles or fingers.
Mr. Mori is no easy taskmaster, but his
insistence on perfection has earned scores of trophies for his students in
tournament competition. Most other karate teachers give prominent display to
their tournament trophies. At Mr. Mori's dojo, they sit crammed on a back shelf
of the men's dressing room, stored under plastic sheeting to keep from
gathering dust.
Winning, Mr. Mori told us, should be
apparent in his students' demeanor. We concluded every class by kneeling to
recite after him the dojo kun, or traditional rules of the Japan Karate
Association: ''Seek perfection of character. Be faithful. Endeavor. Respect
others, and refrain from violent behavior.''
The quality of a dojo is reflected in its
attention to beginners. Every black belt, after all, started out as a white
belt. Mr. Mori has achieved one of the highest ranks in the Japan Karate
Association, but is unusual in liking to teach beginners himself. About
one-third of them sign up for self-defense; the others, he said, seek karate to
improve themselves.
Mr. Mori, who moves with a grace belying his 66
years, saw no reason why anyone should quit. ''In Japan and other countries,
the elderly will not stop training,'' he said. ''They will concentrate their
heart and soul on the spiritual aspect of karate.''
Clearly, karate has another advantage.
Richard Roach, a retired Wall Street stockbroker in his 60's, has been training
with Mr. Mori for years. Leaving a bar one night last year, Mr. Roach was
accosted by four muggers. He fought back until his assailants fled, leaving him
with his watch and wallet -- and a broken hand.
''For years Sensei Mori kept telling me to
keep my fists closed,'' he confessed with chagrin. ''Now I know why.''
Getting a Start
Masataka Mori's dojo, the Shotokan
Karate-do of New York, is on the fourth floor at 2121 Broadway, between 74th
and 75th Streets, in Manhattan, (212) 799-5500. In Brooklyn, Shu Takahashi, a
sixth-degree black belt instructor for the Japan Karate Association, teaches at
565 Fifth Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, Park Slope, (718) 768-9345.
Photos: Mr. Mori demonstrates blocking
with his assistant Isami Shiroma. Masataka Mori, a karate master with
eighth-degree black belt ranking, leading his students in Manhattan.
(Photographs by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)
Sources:
JKA of New York: Information about the dojo, 2007
Karate-do: My Way of Life, Gichin Funakoshi.
"Karate -- Yesterday and Today," Dynamic Karate, Masatoshi
Nakayama.
MAKING IT WORK; The Master Teacher
By Christpher
S. Wren (The New York Times) Published: March 20, 1994
Weekend Warrior ; Learning That KarateÕs Blows
Go Hand in Hand With Manners
By Christpher
S. Wren (The New York Times) Published: June 11, 1999
2009
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