|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
continued ... |
|
 Initially,
Hanshi Arneil was lost in Japan – he couldn't speak the language
and knew nothing about Japan other than the name of its capital.
He somehow managed to get to Tokyo and found his way to the
Kodokan, the headquarters of one of Japan's styles of Judo.
Arneil trained at the Kodokan for a short while and received the
rank of Shodan (1st Dan) in Judo, but he was really interested
in studying karate.
|
|
At
first, Hanshi Arneil studied Goju Ryu karate under Gogen
Yamaguchi. (Yamaguchi, who lived from 1909 to 1989, was also the
instructor of So Nei Chu, under whom Mas Oyama trained in the
late 1940's.) He trained in Shotokan karate as well, but still
felt that something was missing. |
|
Shortly
after earning his Shodan in Judo, Hanshi Arneil met an American
named Don Draeger and asked him if he knew of this karate master
who "knocks bulls out." Draeger did, and he took Arneil to Mas
Oyama's dojo. Arneil saw the intensity of the training and the
discipline of the students, and he knew that this was where he
wanted to be. Draeger (who was fluent in Japanese) asked the
instructor if Arneil could train. The instructor told him that
if he were interested, he would have to sit and watch, since Mas
Oyama was in America at the time. |
|
For
about six weeks, Hanshi Arneil sat and watched, until one day
Mas Oyama returned. Using Draeger as a translator, Mas Oyama
told Arneil that he needed to come back and watch for a few more
weeks in order to really make up his mind about joining the
dojo. And so he waited and watched some more. After two weeks,
Mas Oyama gave Arneil his first karate gi (uniform) and said
that he would have to start from the beginning. He trained very
hard, and even though he wasn't Japanese, he was treated the
same as the other kohai (juniors). They started training at 6:00
PM and couldn't finish until Mas Oyama was finished, usually
four or five hours later. Along with the other kohai, Arneil had
to wash the dirty karate uniforms for the entire school and
clean the dojo and its toilets – including emptying the toilet
buckets. |
|
When
Hanshi Arneil tested for the rank of Shodan in Kyokushin Karate,
he learned an important lesson in life from Mas Oyama. At the
test, he thought that he did better than the others, but when
the promotion list came out, his name wasn't on it. No one told
him why, and he became very upset and stayed away from the dojo
for a few days. Finally, Mas Oyama came by and asked Arneil
where he had been, and he responded that he had been sick.
Arneil was depressed and wanted to leave Japan, but he didn't
have enough money to do so. Instead, he stuck it out and
continued to train. At the next promotion test, Arneil lacked
some confidence in himself, but he did what he had to do. When
the promotion list came out, he was finally on it as a Shodan.
Looking back on what happened, Arneil later realized that he
wasn't ready in his mind or heart when he first tested. If he
had earned his Shodan the first time, he would have left Japan
and moved on to something else, thinking that he had learned
enough. Mas Oyama later told him that he saw more in Arneil than
just a black belt, and he took the chance of losing his student
through disappointment. Arneil's initial failure eventually let
him develop the patience, determination and perseverance (Osu)
needed to master Kyokushin Karate. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
