The other day, I attended a tournament organized by Sensei Narita of I.K.O.N. Several competitors from IBMA Kyokushin Kaikan Masuda Dojo also took part. There, I had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Masanaga Nakamura, the head of I.K.O.N. and the son of Shihan Makoto Nakamura.
My first impression of Mr. Nakamura was that he is a very intelligent man. I also felt that he was a straightforward and sincere person. He told me many things, including the story behind the establishment of I.K.O.N.
As for me, I was the same as ever. Perhaps a little too honest, I began telling him about my memories of Shihan Makoto Nakamura.
This is what I told him.
When I was around twenty-one years old, I was living in Osaka. At the time, I was serving as an instructor at the Osaka South Branch. It was shortly before the Third World Open Karate Tournament.
Around that time, I once went to train at Shihan Makoto Nakamura’s dojo in Amagasaki. Shihan Nakamura welcomed me warmly.
As I remember it now, there were only three of us training that day: Shihan Nakamura, Nishiyama, and myself. At first, I did perhaps three to five rounds of kumite with Nishiyama. After that, I sparred with Shihan Makoto Nakamura.
For many years, I had remembered it as one-on-one training with him. But recently, my memory came back to me: Nishiyama was there as well.
After training, Shihan Nakamura even treated me to dinner at his older brother’s yakiniku restaurant.
At that time, he said something like this to me:
“You’re the only one, Masuda, who comes here carrying his karate gi.”
I no longer remember his exact words. But that was the meaning of what he said.
I believe it was Shihan Nakamura’s way of giving me a compliment.
It may seem like a small memory. Even so, I remain grateful for that kindness to this day.
I later competed in the Third World Open Karate Tournament myself. I believe I was still twenty-one years old. It was my first appearance in a World Tournament.
I fought Michel Wedel, the European champion, and Yasuhito Ohnishi, the All Japan champion.
I also remember Shihan Nakamura at that tournament.
Although he was already a world champion, he seemed completely untouched by pressure.
I remember seeing him eating anpan while watching his opponents. It looked to me as though he was calmly studying them and thinking about how he would fight.
Of course, perhaps he was not thinking about anything at all. Perhaps he was simply eating anpan.
But for me, knowing that I would soon have to face one strong opponent after another, there was no such sense of ease.
To tell the truth, I was almost entirely on my own at that World Tournament.
I had no second in my corner. I did not know how I should eat between matches. I did not even know how I should rest.
There was only one thought in my mind:
“I absolutely will not lose.”
Looking back now, it was almost madness.
Let me return to the present.
Mr. Masanaga Nakamura is already in his forties. He is at an age when he has accumulated substantial experience while still possessing physical strength.
From now on, it will probably be people of his generation who lead the karate world.
There is no need for an old man like me to remain at the front forever.
Yet, as Shihan Masutatsu Oyama and so many of the senior masters of the past have passed away, there is something I often think about.
I did not personally experience the earliest days of Kyokushin Kaikan. However, over the years, I have listened to many stories from my seniors. I was also fortunate enough to meet and learn directly from many of them.
Because of that, I sometimes find myself wondering:
What would Shihan Masutatsu Oyama think if he saw Kyokushin today?
Of course, someone like Shihan Oyama might simply dismiss the thoughts of a person like me.
Even so, there are things I would want to tell him, even if I had to risk my life to do so.
That is no longer possible.
Yet the desire remains within me.
Perhaps I am simply the kind of person who is difficult for organizations to deal with.
Perhaps my role is no longer to stand at the front.
Even so, there are still things I want to pass on.
This time, I considered saying nothing.
But Mr. Masanaga Nakamura was such an easy person to talk with that I decided to tell him just one thing.
If this idea could be understood not only by those involved in Kyokushin Karate, but also by people who love full-contact karate as a whole, I believe the nature of karate competition itself could change.
That is what I believe.
Of course, each style and organization should preserve its own culture.
Each should also be free to maintain its own competitive style and identity.
What I am proposing is not that everything should be unified into a single system.
Rather, groups with different cultures should share standards that are more fair and more universally valid.
Then, under those shared standards, they could stand together in solidarity.
If such a model could be realized, I believe the value and significance of Kyokushin Karate would grow even further.
Kyokushin Karate is often classified simply as one form of combat sport.
But it could become something respected not only as budo, but also by the wider world of sport.
I believe that possibility exists.
At the end of our conversation, I said to Mr. Masanaga Nakamura:
“I hope you will continue to maintain a relationship with us.”
I also mentioned that Shihan Narushima and I had once been teammates.
Mr. Nakamura replied:
“Shihan Narushima helped me a great deal. Please give him my regards.”
That made me feel that he is someone who values human relationships and connections.
The coming generation has its own role to fulfill.
And I believe that our generation still has a role as well.
It is not necessarily to stand at the front.
Our role is to pass on what we have experienced and entrust it to the next generation.
There is still a dream that I have not been able to let go of.
If people wish to call that foolish, then I do not mind remaining a fool.
But if that dream can somehow connect with something in the next generation, then I would like to continue speaking about it for just a little while longer.
