Kuro-Obi (Black Belt)

Ryan van LeentOBJECTively: Connecting Australia & JapanNational Museum of AustraliaFriday 8 March 2019

This is my Black Belt – hard earned from more than 30 years study of Shotokan Karate, it embodies my connection with Japan – a country, a people and a culture that I have a deep fondness and admiration for.

I’d like to start by explaining that practitioners of Karate wear a white canvas Kimono, which we call a Gi. The Gi jacket is fastened around the waist by a coloured belt, which also serves to denote rank. In Shotokan Karate we have 10 ranks below Black Belt (known as Kyu grades), and 10 Black Belt ranks (known as Dan grades). The colour belt system was introduced about a hundred years ago, prior to which Karateka wore only a White or Black Belt. Grading from White to Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple and Brown belts, gives students a sense of progression, until proficiency in the basic principles of the martial art is signified by a Black Belt.

When I received this belt at the age of 16, it had a silken black lustre that set it apart from the dull cotton used to fashion the various coloured belts I’d been wearing for the first 10 years of my Karate journey. Now, after more than 20 years of further training, the shine has faded, and the black silken threads are tearing away to reveal a white cotton core… The White Belt of a beginner!

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The relentless pursuit of unattainable perfection

- Kanazawa Soke(10th Dan)

In this way my belt reflects what love most about Japanese culture – the concept of Kaizen: the relentless pursuit of unattainable perfection.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me take you back to the beginning of my Karate journey... When I was 6 years old, my father and I saw a Karate demonstration at our local shopping mall. I remember thinking that the guys looked very tough, and more than a little bit scary. But my father was obviously impressed because he signed me up on the spot, explaining that he wanted me to be able to take care of myself. Having grown up in rough neighbourhoods, he undoubtedly would’ve been better suited to the rigors of Karate training – but I guess that was the point.

Whether as a result of being hit, kicked, manhandled or just plain shouted at, I ended up in tears almost every session, and I begged my parents for permission to quit on more than one occasion. They almost relented when, at the age of 8, I failed my Orange Belt grading for the third time. But it just so happened that we were about to emigrate to Australia, so they encouraged me to make one more attempt.

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Must endwith success

- AustralasianFighting ArtsMagazine (1989)

And so it was that I learned my first life lesson: whatever your endeavour, before moving on, first you must end with success.

Thankfully, I passed my grading on the fourth attempt and emigrated to Australia as an Orange Belt. Even better, we quickly discovered a club in Canberra that was practicing a similar style of Karate – a club that I joined as an 8-year-old student, but that I would eventually go on to inherit. The instructors were Sensei Tim Duffy, an Englishman with a wicked sense of humour and a natural talent for coaching exceptional athletes; and Sensei Kerrie Flynn, who would go on to become the first ever non-Japanese Shotokan Karate World Champion in 1988.

I remember the whole club fundraising for Kerrie Sensei to travel to Japan, by getting sponsorship for the number of kicks we could do without stopping or breaking form. When I approached my parents to sponsor me, their immediate question was: “so, how many kicks do you think you can do?”. I still don’t know whether they were impressed that I managed more than 200 kicks, or unimpressed about having to cough up more than $200 sponsorship!

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Anyway, along with joining a new Karate club, I had also started at a new school in Belconnen. Unfortunately, being a foreigner made me the target of bullying all through my Primary School years. Being trained in Karate, one might suppose that I got involved in a lot of schoolyard scraps, but actually it was quite the opposite. Karate is more than just a fighting art, and everything I had been taught had been presented within a moral and ethical framework of respect, discipline and self-control.

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There is no first strike in Karate

- Funakoshi Sensei(The father ofmodern Karate)

Indeed, the most famous of Master Funakoshi’s 20 Guiding Principles of Karate is: there is no first strike in Karate.

Unbeknownst to me, my Karate training was also going to help me in a more subtle way – with my academic studies. At school, kids are taught subjects (Maths, Science, English, History), but most aren’t ever taught how to actually learn those subjects. This was the case for me, and I struggled through my early years of schooling. That is until I intuitively started to apply Karate’s learning methods to my academic studies.

Before the advent of YouTube, Karate concepts were passed down from one generation to the next with the aid of Kata or Forms. These sequences of techniques develop in complexity from around 20 moves for a beginners Kata, to nearly 70 moves for an advanced Kata, and there are 26 such Kata in our syllabus. The most effective way of learning a new Kata is by breaking it down into parts, practicing each part repeatedly, and then reassembling the parts. By applying this simple method of problem-solving, I slowly improved my grades, and eventually graduated near the top of my class.

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Learning howto learn

- Kanazawa Soke(Style Founder)

Our style’s Founder, Kanazawa Soke, characterises this process as: learning how to learn Karate.

In 1996, my Karate instructor retired and handed over the club to me and my lifelong friend, Sensei Wally Dankiw. I was only 18 at the time, so Wally Sensei managed the business aspects, allowing me to focus on developing my skills as an instructor. Like most teenagers, I was impetuous and over-confident – made worse by the 2nd degree Black Belt wrapped around my waist.

In a Japanese story, a student asks “What is the difference between a man of the Way and a little man?” The Sensei replies, “When a little man receives his Black Belt, he can hardly wait to run home to tell everyone that he made his 1st Dan. Upon receiving his 2nd Dan, he will climb to the rooftops and shout to the people. Upon receiving his 3rd Dan, he will jump on his horse and parade through town”. The Sensei continues, “When a man of the Way receives his Black Belt, he will bow his head in gratitude. Upon receiving his 2nd Dan, he will bow his head and his shoulders. Upon receiving his 3rd Dan, he will bow to the waist and quietly walk alongside the wall so that people will not see him or notice him”.

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I was not yet a man of the Way, and I made a lot of mistakes, and our club lost a lot of students as a result. What turned it all around for me was observing the behaviour of my idol, Kanazawa Soke. Soke was a formidable athlete in his youth, and famously won the 1st All-Japan Karate Championships in 1957 while nursing a broken arm! I’d long admired his technical brilliance, and was delighted to have the opportunity to sit next to him at dinner one night after training. This is the story he relayed to me…

I was young and in peak physical condition when I was assigned to escort Master Funakoshi (who was then 80 years old) from the Airport to the Dojo for training... On the way, a thought occurred to me – What would he do if I attacked him now? “Kanazawa-san, what’s on your mind?” he said in his characteristically slow manner. “Absolutely nothing at all Sensei. No, nothing whatsoever.” In that moment I couldn’t help feeling that Funakoshi Sensei had read my mind!

This story was being gently imparted for my personal benefit. And so it was that I began to appreciate the wisdom of Kanazawa Soke and to follow him, not only as a Karate instructor, but also as a life coach. I could not have picked a better role model. In 2012, Soke was inducted as the 12th ever (and only surviving) Meijin or Grandmaster of the Martial Arts.

What had the most profound impact on me was observing how he conducts himself outside of the Dojo… Always the guest of honour at any formal gathering, Soke often shares a table with dignitaries of the martial arts, as well as government and corporate executives. Sometimes during dinner he’s approached by an apprehensive youngster seeking an autograph or a photo, and on every such occasion I’ve witnessed Soke turn away from the VIPs at his table to give the child his full and undivided attention.

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The way of harmony

- Kanazawa Soke(Grandmasterof the Martial Arts)

In this way, Kanazawa Soke practices what he teaches: the way of harmony.

Soke explains that… “First, you must train to develop harmony within yourself as an individual: your arms must move in harmony with your legs; your left side must move in harmony with your right side. Then, you should train with others to develop harmony with your opponent, for example by matching and breaking their timing; in this same way you can develop harmony with other people in your life. Finally, when you train you should push your head up to achieve harmony with the ground; and so we should strive to live in harmony with our environment and with the Earth. Making harmony with the principals of the universe and nature is the philosophy of Karate-do.”

Kanazawa Soke is retired now, but I’m fortunate to have graded 3 times under his watchful eye: to Sandan in 2000, Yondan in 2004 and Godan in 2009. Stewardship of the Shotokan Karate International Federation has since passed to Soke’s first son, Nobuaki Kanazawa – Kancho. Being closer in age to Kanazawa Kancho, we’ve developed a strong friendship over the years, and I was delighted to be asked to present the English translation of Kancho’s address at the Shotokan Karate World Championships in Jakarta.

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Here’s some of what he had to say… “When Soke began travelling overseas to teach and spread Karate around the world, there was still much bitterness from World War 2. As a result, the world felt very large, with great distances between countries. Today, both positive and negative effects of politics and economics are soon felt in other countries, and the world seems to be much smaller now than it ever was before. When I think about the great efforts that Soke made contributing to peace through Karate as public diplomacy, I realise how important it is for me to carry out my activities with a great sense of mission.”

It’s ironic that I almost didn’t make it onto stage to deliver that message of peace… Moments before, the Vice President of Indonesia had opened proceedings and was now seated on stage, waiting to hear and see what Karate was all about… Kanazawa Kancho was at the lectern, waiting patiently for me to join him… Delegations from 52 countries were waiting… Unfortunately, no one had informed the Vice President’s security detail that I was to present the English version of Kancho’s speech, and as I had approached the stage, I was arrested by a thickset man with an assault rifle. Luckily, Kancho spotted the commotion and waved me up onto stage. Karate or not, I wasn’t going to argue with a man with a gun!

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Oss!

- Ryan van Leent

My hope for today is that in sharing these few anecdotes, I might’ve conveyed to you just a small portion of my experience, learning and passion for the art of Karate. A common misunderstanding is that attaining a Black Belt marks the end of one’s Karate journey – I’ve discovered that Black Belt is only the beginning.

Of course, it would be remiss of me to talk about my own Karate journey, and not advocate for others to join me on the road… We all are assembled here because we share a mutual admiration and respect for the people and cultures of Japan and Australia. As Australians, we live in a richly diverse multi-cultural society, so it’s vital that we and our children develop an appreciation for cultures other than our own. This is the value I hope to instil in every man, woman and child that enters my Dojo – irrespective of whether they train for only one session, or if they make it to Black Belt and beyond.

If you do decide to come along, you’re likely to hear something that might confuse even the native Japanese speakers among you – the utterance: Oss!

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“Oss!” is somewhat akin to the Western military slang “Oo-rah!” and is used pretty much the same way – to mean anything and everything, except “no”. You can use it to say “hello” or “goodbye”, to say “I understand” or “thank you”, or just to convey respect. You might be surprised to discover that the phonetic transcription of “Oss” yields the Chinese characters representing “pushing” and “suffering”. But if we consider these characters as symbolising the qualities of effort and perseverance, “Oss!” makes a whole lot of sense in the context of Karate!

Thank you. Oss!

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