Shuichi Aragaki Okinawa Times May 2019

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.