PROFESSOR HENRY SEISHIRO OKAZAKI PHOTO GALLERY

Transcription

1 PROFESSOR HENRY SEISHIRO OKAZAKI PHOTO GALLERY Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki was born on January 28, 1890 in the Date village in the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. He was the fourth son of Hanuemon Okazaki and Fuka Suenaga. On September 10, 1906, Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki moved from Japan to Honolulu where he worked in the Eva Plantation. After a while he went to work for the Paia Plantation in Maui where he got married. And finally in 1909, he settled in Hilo where he was examined by a doctor who diagnosed him ith an incurable tuberculosis. When relating the history of the disease to Professor Sig Kufferath, Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki tells how he began practicing Jujitsu: "With courage and despair I went to Master Yoshimatsu Tanaka and started training Jujitsu defying death". Whether or not to his devotion to Jujitsu, Professor Okazaki s tuberculosis healed and thanks to the training developed as Professor Okazaki said: "A strong body like iron." He belived he owed his life to Jujitsu and therefore had to spend the rest of his life teaching and spreding the Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. While in Hilo Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki learned several techniques that were taught in Yoshin Ryu, Iwaga Ryu and Kosogabe Ryu schools. He combined the techniques of these systems with Karate techniques from Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) and knife techniques from Escrima Filipino to form the Danzan Ryu Jujitsu school. "Danzan" is the Kanji (Chinese characters) that symbolizes de Hawaiian Islands, so Danzan Ryu Jujitsu means Hawaiian Jujitsu School. Acording to what Professor Sig Kufferath said, one of the most influential instructors of Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki was Wo Chung, who called Hawaii "Danzan", so Professor Okazaki used Danzan to honor Wo Chung. This teacher taught Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki "Mushi Jitsu" the art of boxing 1 / 5

2 with intent to kill. In 1917, he also studied the secret Hawaiian Art, known as Lua, under the tutelage of David Kainhee a native hawaiian. He also studied western boxing, wrestling and dagger launch from a Spanish. Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki incorporated all these arts to his system. Originally the system consisted of five and possibly a sixth list: Yawara, Nage No Kata, Shime No Kata, Oku No Kata, Shinin No Maki and possibly the sixth Shinyo. Lists and other techniques were added later. In addition to all these systems of martial arts, Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki studied all the resucitation arts "Kappo" and Seifukujitsu, the japanese art of restoration and adjustment. He was convinced that one of the great virtues of Jujitsu were the techniques to restore fatal blows. The Professor Okazaki s method of restorative massage was as the Danzan Ryu system, a hybrid. It was a system that used not only the hands but also the forearms, elbows and feet. Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki is best remembered as a martial artist, but during his life he was best known as a very skilled masseur. In September 1922, an American boxing champion, heavyweight named Carl "Kayo" Morris visited the islands and began to challenge the judo and other martial arts, saying that his boxing was superior to any Japanese fighting art. When the challenge was answered in Hilo Stadium for several martial artists, all were defeated by Morris. According account Kufferath, Okazaki then challenged Morris to a match. Okazaki suffered a broken nose in the first assault, after several failed attempts finally got him down and apply a dislocated arm, left arm Morris severely damaged causing excruciating pain that forced him to withdraw from combat. Okazaki won a great reputation from the moment and was presented with a gold watch, donated by the Japanese community to restore its honor. In September 1924, Okazaki left Hilo and returned temporarily to Japan. This trip lasted five months, three of which were spent in Japan and two in transit across the Pacific. During his stay in Japan, traveled extensively visiting over 50 dojos scattered between Morioka City in the north and Kagoshima in the South. About 675 learned jujitsu techniques to increasing its own Danzan Ryu. During this time he visited the Kodonkan and received a Sandan in Judo at the hands of Professor Jigoro Kano. In 1929, Okazaki moved to the island of Oahu, where he rented a house in South Street Hotel. The house was called "Nikko" was Japanese style. Years later Okazaki buy the house became the center of Danzan Ryu for the next twenty 2 / 5

3 years. Okazaki was here opened the "Seifukujitsu In" or clinic setting and Restoration, which was eventually called the Nikko Restoration Sanitorium. It is said that even President Roosevelt passed through his hands to be treated and offered him a position in the White House as his personal masseuse, but Okazaki declined. By the summer of 1931 his massage business was fully established, now the only thing it lacked was a dojo, a place where he could begin training students. Right in the back office massage had a cement patio of 20 by 40 feet, Hachiro, his older son, remembered as the Danzan Ryu began in Oahu: "I was watering one day the Japanese garden, while my father was looking at me and said," Make a fall. "I look at the grass on which he was and said," Je! Not enough space. "And he said," Not on the grass, on cement. "I looked at him and said," No mat ". I cry, saying:" Out on the street going to tell a guy wait until I get a tatami?. "So I had to make a Sutemi because I was an obedient son and wanted to impress him. I could feel all my bones creaked on the concrete". Concrete backyard that became the place where Okazaki and his students practiced during the early years. The initial group consisted of a small group composed of Hachiro, a Japanese boy named Oscar Kowashima and a boy named Benjamin West Marks. Finally a couple of years later bought a mat and the number of people increased. Ironically no one was injured practicing on the concrete as opposed to on the mat in which there were more injuries. Okazaki was one of the first teachers to break the tradition of teaching only Japanese martial arts, which cost him serious reprimands from their instructors. Despite this went ahead, Okazaki believed that everyone should have the opportunity to learn jujitsu regardless of where it came from. His first class consisted of six students Honolulu: his son Hachiro, Kiyoshi Kawashima, Benjamin Marks, George Harbottle, William and YS Simao Kim. In 1932 Richard Rickerts, Curly Friedman, Charles Wagner, Harold McLean, Bob Glover and Tantra Muggey Kodenkan joined. In 1936, all graduating with diplomas Instructor. Okazaki also formed an organization first called the American Jujitsu Guild (AJG) and later renamed the American Jujitsu Institute (AJI). On December 7, 1941 forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy executed a surprise attack on military bases in Ohahu and the United States entered the war against Japan. What followed for island residents was martial law for many Japanese were arrested and detained at Sand Island military base. Many reports indicate that Okazaki was also arrested. Recent taken by the Department of 3 / 5

4 Justice of the United States by the Freedom of Information Act do not reflect that Okazaki was detained. Probably the best source of information leaves the children of Okazaki, Imi his youngest daughter remembers that her father visited at least twice in a prison camp. Also, some sources indicate that the Kodenkan Dojo was closed for a time, being later reopened. Ironically, it was during the war Okazaki helped to develop a U.S. Army field manual for combat (FM ) and also taught many military art of Jujitsu. One of the dreams of Okazaki was to have a Danzan Ryu school in every state in the union, which is becoming a reality today. Okazaki used Kyu ranks (for ranks below black) / Dan (black belts) to Danzan Ryu system. He also used the traditional certificate, awarding the Mokuroku (Roll Instructor) for reaching black belt level instructors. These rolls average of 2 to 3 meters, handwritten in Japanese and contained much of the philosophy of Okazaki Jujitsu history and a catalog of techniques of Danzan Ryu. Those who received the scrolls were considered officers of Danzan Ryu teachers and black belts were not allowed to teach or organize their own classes until they received the roll of attendance. The rolls were usually obtained when students received their second dan in Danzan Ryu. "We practiced six days a week and Okazaki had a special class on Sunday at his home that you could only attend by invitation," recalled Professor Sig Kufferath. The other was the traditional certificate or Kaidensho Menkyo Kaiden (certificate of mastery), which was a handwritten diploma in Japanese. This diploma certifying that the person named was a master of Danzan Ryu and had learned the entire system. Kaidensho was given to students after receiving personal instruction from Okazaki all the secrets and Okugi (inner mysteries) of Danzan Ryu. Sig Kufferath, Marion Anderson, William Ah Moo, Wally and Bernice Jay, Steve Byzek, Richard and Esther Takamoto, Carl Beaver, Jack Wheat and David Nuuhiwa, received a special kind of Okugi in February The curriculum included the advanced kata Kiai No Maki, Shinin No Maki, and Shinyo No Maki, Shingen No Maki as well as technical command and fatal shock and resuscitation. The ranking is completely February 22, 1948 where each of the graduates received a Kaidensho and the title of Shihan. In addition to this special class aimed at bringing together all the instructors together to update their skills with the latest teachings in Danzan Ryu. Okazaki had planned to repeat this class every ten years, but this never happened. In December 1948, Okazaki suffered a heart attack that left him partially paralyzed. This seriously affected his ability to teach and lessons were done by 4 / 5

5 Powered by TCPDF ( Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki Bio his instructors. In 1950 he suffered another stroke that left him in the hospital. At 16:00 on July 12, 1951, Henry Seishiro Okazaki died of a third attack. People who knew him emphasized that the greatest gift of Okazaki was his desire to help others. Okazaki died in 1951, but his work has continued, both Danzan Ryu Jujitsu system as its restorative massage Seifukujitsu are now followed by a large number of people around the world. Copyright (c) 2007 Club Jujitsu Alberic Valencia. All rights reserved. 5 / 5