Master Nakayama
Masatoshi (1913-1987)
Carrying On the Spirit and Tradition
of Funakoshi Gichin's Work.
Master Nakayama Masatoshi had
martial arts in his blood. Born in April 1913 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, he was a
descendant of the Sanada clan, in the Nagano region. His ancestors were
highly-skilled instructors of kenjutsu (the art of swordsmanship).
Upon entering Takushoku University in 1932,
Master Nakayama immediately joined the university’s karate club, studying under
Master Funakoshi Gichin and one of the master’s sons, Funakoshi Yoshitaka.
Deciding to devote his life to karate, he traveled to China after graduation
for further study and training.
When he returned from China in May 1946, he
got together with fellow Shotokan practitioners from his university days to
revive the Shotokan karate tradition with Funakoshi Gichin as Supreme Master.
Together, in 1949, they established the Japan Karate Association. In 1955 a headquarters
dojo was built at Yotsuya in Tokyo. It spurred the building of JKA branch dojo
all across Japan.
The efforts of the Japan
Karate Association to embody and promote the spirit of karate-do were highly
regarded by the Ministry of Education (now Ministry of Education, Science,
Sports, and Culture). In 1957, the Ministry granted the JKA exclusive legal
recognition in Japan as an official association of members for the promotion of
the way of karate.
During that time and over the
next several years, Master Nakayama made immeasurable contributions to the art.
He developed, together with his fellow JKA instructors, a new, rational method
of teaching that was tai-lored to the level and goals of each student: karate
as a physical development tool, karate as a method of self-defense, karate for
matches, etc. He also emphasized the necessity for each aspect of training to
be physically and kinesthetically practical, and he scientifically analyzed how
to make them so.
Moreover, to ensure that the
true essence of karate-do was being passed on correctly, he and his disciples
established a two-year specialist instructor training program, which is still
the only specialist instruction system in the world of karate. And the training
never ends; the JKA is, and always has been, the only karate organization whose
full-time instructors continue to get together every day for joint practice.
Through this program, JKA instructors constantly endeavor to refine and perfect
their karate.
Master Nakayama also invented
karate’s first match system: the first ever JKA All Japan Karate Championship
was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in October, 1957—and was attended by
so many participants and spectators that the venue was filled to capacity.
His adaptation of kata and kumite for the
match system was a huge success; the 5th JKA All Japan Karate Championship in
1961 was even attended by His Majesty the Crown Prince of Japan (now His
Majesty the Emperor of Japan). Karate was growing increasingly popular
throughout the world.
Master Nakayama valued the spiritual aspects
of karate that his teacher Funakoshi Gichin espoused especially the virtue of
modesty and the spirit of harmony. He never tired of teaching, by his example
more than his words, that to demonstrate these qualities requires not only a
deep sense of propriety, but also a constant remembrance that “there is no
first attack in karate.”
In actual practice, Master
Nakayama insisted that each technique should demonstrate one’s powerful and
wholehearted personal best. He also emphasized that it is crucial to study the
inseparable trinity of karate kihon, kata, and kumite as one. And he
continually reminded everyone to keep in mind that “the way of karate we pursue
is a bare-handed martial art which we practice with an unwavering heart in a
state of emptiness; it is a way of developing the personality.”
In his later years, he
summarized all his techniques and philosophy in the famous 11-volume series
entitled “Best Karate.”
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