The following is a translation of an interview with Shuichi Aragaki which appeared in the Okinawa Times May 2019 as part of their weekly feature on karate. There's some interesting information about the time he spent training with Chojun Miyagi.
Shuichi Arakaki (90) = Urasoe City = who is a direct pupil
of Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953), the founder of Okinawa Karate Goju-ryu, inherited
the teachings of Chojun's later years and handed down Goju-ryu. The saying of Miyagi sensei was do not hit
people and do not be hit by people. "The important thing about karate is humble feelings and
kindness."
Mr. Arakaki was
born in Taiwan in 1929 and returned to Okinawa with his family in 1947 after
the end of the war. His grandfather, Ryuko
was Chojun's first karate teacher. When Mr. Arakaki became interested in
karate, Mr. Ryuko said, "I will guide you to Matsu (childhood name of Mr.
Chojun)."
He became
a disciple of Chojun Miyagi when he was 22 years old
At that time, Mr.
Chojun had no disciples other than Mr. Anichi Miyagi, but when his first
teacher, Mr. Ryuko, visited him, he thanked him and immediately allowed him to
become a disciple. In 1951, Mr. Arakaki was 22 years old and Mr. Chojun was 63
years old.
As soon as I
finished my work, I started going to Mr. Chojun's house in Mihara, Naha City. At
first, I wasn’t allowed into the house, I just took care of the surroundings such as
cleaning the garden, drawing water from the well, and chopping (chopping wood?),
but in reality, this is also part of the training. It is said that Mr. Chojun
was dressed up and sat upright, watching the situation. I can't say " please tell me". If
you ask a question, you will be told, "you don't have enough hardship". He was quiet and polite, but it was tough
when it came to training. Mr. Arakaki is still in awe.
During the
Sanchin practice, he was allowed to enter the house. Mr. Chojun looked at the
movement of his legs and how to use his muscles, and gave guidance by hitting
the bad points by hand. The struck shoulder would swell, and the thighs are
squeezed during training. The size of the clothes didn't fit and I was in
trouble.
Life and
practice
Many dojos now
have a fixed date and time for training, but at that time life itself was
training. When passing through the stone wall road of Tsuboya, I struck the
rugged rock surface with my bare hands to train them. I still remember the
teaching that "if you take a day off, it will take three days to get it
back."
On the other
hand, when the training was over, he also showed a gentle side, saying,
"Eat dinner." Mr. and Mrs. Chojun, Mr. Anichi, and Mr. Arakaki
surrounded the table on a daily basis. I was told about karate, and before I
got home late at night, I was told, "Walk in a bright place even if you
take a detour at night."
Three years after
the introduction, Mr. Arakaki moved to Tokyo to go on to higher education. It
was a month later that Mr. Chojun's news arrived.
Mr. Arakaki says,
"I've been taught not to tell people that I'm doing karate" because people
started fights to test my skills and the number of enemies increased. In any
situation, I faced it with karate, which was placed in the center of my mind
and body, saying, "This is karate."
Guidance
around the dojo
In Tokyo, he
taught karate to fellow students and children in the neighborhood, and later
served as a teacher at the dojo of Mr. Chojun's eldest son, Kei. When he returned to Okinawa in 1972, he
taught Mr. Anichi and his juniors. “I started to go around the dojo and teach
because I thought that it was one of my responsibilities to spread what I
learned from Mr. Chojun”.
Based on Mr.
Chojun's teaching, "The important thing in doing karate is socializing. Don't
contend with people. The important thing is humble feelings and kindness.
"
Karate became an
official event at the Tokyo Olympics to be held next year, but Mr. Arakaki
said, "Karate is a way to protect yourself. You have to go back to the
starting point. It looks like karate is from Japan, but it's Okinawa." He
also said that there are many anecdotes left in Okinawa Karate, and he said
with a gentle expression, "That's interesting."
Shuichi Aragaki at Kei Miyagi's
dojo.
