In Memory of Miyazato Sensei

Now that Miyazato Ei'ichi Sensei's ten year memorial service is just a few months away, I wanted to take a moment to think about and share some of my memories of this wonderful teacher.

I can't claim to have known him very well, since I was only at his dojo for a couple of years and my Japanese was (and still is) terrible. However, he was very kind and welcoming to me and I am extremely grateful for the short time I spent under his guidance.

I first met Miyazato Sensei when I visited his dojo upon the introduction of Stewart Azuma. We all went out for dinner after the training session and Miyazato Sensei wanted to know about my experience. I told him that I had trained for about six years in a Japanese karate style and that I wanted to train in Okinawan karate while I was living there. He didn't know of the style I had practiced, but told me that I'd probably quit soon anyway, so I might as well try goju-ryu for a while.

The Jundokan environment at the time was 100% open-training (they have recently added some group training sessions), so I would show up every night at between 7:00pm and 8:00pm and stay until the dojo closed at 10:00pm. Miyazato Sensei would often be on the floor practicing or in his office upstairs when I arrived. Either way, he always made it a point to say hello as people entered and would come down to greet us if he heard us come in. In my case, he would assign someone to work with me, or if noone was there, he would watch me from time-to-time and give me correction as he saw fit. Every now and then, he'd review my kata and help me with some of the details. His question at the end of the training was always the same: ashita renshu? are you training tomorrow?

There are many people more qualified than I, however, to speak about Miyazato Sensei's impact on the world of karate. So instead I'll tell you my memories of the time we spent outside the dojo. We would often go as a group to eat and drink after the training. Sometimes Miyazato Sensei would join us for a short while, and for the most part he seemed happy to enjoy the company while everyone else talked, usually excusing himself after a brief while to go home. He also enjoyed the restaurants on the American bases and, since i had easy access, we would often all go to eat together.

I remember how he once took me on a trip to Ishigaki island for a competition. It was an international event, with athletes coming from all over the world and a couple of Japanese national team members in attendance. However, there were several countries, including the US, who did not send official teams. So instead, they rounded up some Americans living in Okinawa and invited us to compete. Needless to say, we all got pummeled in the first round by people much better qualified. I remember being happy at the time to be the only one who scored a point!! Anyway, this was relatively soon into my time at Jundokan and I didn't yet understand Miyazato Sensei's position in the world of karate. All I knew was that he was the head of my dojo and that he and all of his students, to my novice eyes, looked VERY VERY good. So this was the first time I had seen him among karate people outside his own dojo. He performed Kururunfa as part of the event and it was the first time I noticed how much everyone respected and looked up to him.

After I left Okinawa, I always looked forward to seeing him when I visited, and was deeply saddened to learn of his passing. I wish I had had more time to experience his kindness. There is no doubt that he successfully passed on his knowledge to the seniors of Jundokan, so I never have to worry that I will miss out on his expertise as long as I am a member of Jundokan under their care. Mostly I will miss the warmth and kindness that he showed all of his students and guests.

I hope that people reading this will take a moment to remember and pay respect to the legacy of a great karate teacher.