Modern History
Dirk Mosig Sensei (in the glasses) and Walker Sensei of the USKA viewing the funeral scroll presented to Roberta Trias Sensei, the inheritor of Shuri Ryu Karate. Also present at this SKSKI event were other chief instructors under Trias including Robert Bowles Sensei,
Jim Hawkes Sensei, and Pete Rabino Sensei. Juchnik Hanshi and Professor Young, with a group of SKSKI teachers and students at the 1989 Chicago Event. Pictured around Professor Young are George Santana Sensei (in the foreground to Young's left), Larry Kraxberger Shihan (directly behind Santana), and Pat Kelly Shihan, standing behind and between Young and Juchnik Sensei. |
The following information was given to Bruce Juchnik Hanshi directly by James Mitose Hanshi. It was later confirmed and ratified by Professor Thomas S. H. Young and others where were present in Hawaii during this period when history was taking place. These facts represent the actual truth about what occurred. Many misrepresentations about what occurred then have been made, including a recent article in the January 1996 issue of Inside Karate's Martial Arts Masters Magazine concerning the late William Chow. Questions or comments on this material may be addressed to Sei Kosho Shorei Kai directly.
James Mitose moved from Japan to Hawaii in 1936. He felt great respect and love for the United States and its people, who had treated him very well. On December 8th, 1941, the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the U. S. entered World War II, Mitose was the first person in line to donate his blood for the cause. He also promptly joined the Hawaii Territorial Guard, an outfit which was formed to aid in the defense of the islands against what then seemed to be an imminent invasion by the Japanese. He also began teaching basic martial arts in early 1942. The one who convinced Mitose Sensei to teach in Hawaii was Robert Trias. Trias Sensei was later the first man to open a karate school on the mainland U. S. Although Trias was not a student of Mitose Sensei, he often spoke with him and the two became friends. Thomas S. H. Young, who provided the information concerning Trias to Juchnik Hanshi, was Mitose Sensei's first real student. Mitose only taught in Hawaii for four years, from 1942 to 1946. Yudansha (Black Belt) certifications granted to students of Mitose's Official Self-Defense Club were awarded chronologically to Thomas Young (whose promotion by Mitose made him the first person ever to earn a Black Belt in Kempo west of Asia), Jiro Nakamura (promoted by James Mitose), Arthur Keawe (promoted by James Mitose), Paul Yamaguchi (promoted by James Mitose), William Chow (promoted by Thomas Young), and Bobby Lowe (promoted by William Chow). This information was provided by Thomas Young, and later confirmed by other pioneers of Kempo present at the time. James Mitose left the Official Self Defense Club in the charge of Thomas Young in 1946 when he stopped teaching there. Mitose moved to the mainland in 1954. From 1954 until 1977, Mitose taught only one student, Terry Lee, for a period of one year. During these twenty-three years, Mitose took many trips to Japan to further his martial studies. According to Thomas Young, he would often stop over to spend a few days with Young in Hawaii on his trips back and forth to Japan. Mitose and Young remained friends for many years. Late in 1977, Bruce Juchnik was introduced to Mitose by Juchnik's student George Santana. Juchnik studied with Mitose until the latter's death in 1981. Before he died, Mitose awarded Bruce Juchnik full mastery certification (Menkyo Kaiden and Inka Shomei) and gave him the "... power to do whatever (Juchnik Hanshi) thinks is good and right for God, for (Mitose), and for Kosho Shorei, true self-defense, true and pure Karate and Kempo" from that day forward. No other person received such certification. Some people did receive certification in the philosophical aspects of the art, and were asked to act as representatives, but no one else received certification in Kosho Shorei True and Pure Karate and Kempo, the martial arts aspect of the study, besides Juchnik Hanshi. This period in Kosho Ryu history is described completely in Juchnik Hanshi's second book, To Fall Seven, To Rise Eight. Professor Thomas S.H. Young and Juchnik Hanshi worked together, from 1982 until the death of Professor Young in 1995, to better connect James Mitose Sensei's early teachings from Hawaii in the 1940s with the new teachings transmitted to Juchnik Hanshi in the 1970s and 1980s. Mitose wished to see all Kempo students study the complete art of Kosho Ryu, including escaping and controlling arts along with the potentially destructive martial arts, healing arts, and cultural arts. Young and Juchnik both endeavored toward this goal. Thomas Young was an active participating member until his death in Juchnik Hanshi's organization, the Sei Kosho Shorei Kai International (SKSKI). The SKSKI was formed to preserve the teachings of James Mitose. In June of 1989, shortly after the death of Robert Trias who was Grandmaster of Shuri Ryu Karate and advisor to SKSKI until his death, three historical events took place in the Oakbrook Hotel, outside of Chicago, Illinois. SKSKI held a memorial service for Trias Sensei and presented a funeral scroll to Roberta Trias, his daughter and the inheritor of Shuri Ryu Karate. Professor Thomas Young was officially given Hanshi status by SKSKI, unifying Mitose's two top students from his early teachings in Hawaii and his later ones in California. It was at this meeting that the recording of history as it actually took place since the 1930s was transmitted by both Young and Juchnik to each other and to SKSKI. And, during the same landmark event, SKSKI helped form the beginnings of the American Oriental Bodywork Therapies Association (AOBTA). The event was planned and hosted by David Champ Sensei, the Bucho (Department Head) of the Healing Arts branch of the SKSKI. It was attended by Toro Namikoshi, world famous head of the Nippon Shiatsu Institute of Japan and author of many books on Japanese healing arts, Toshiko Phipps, personal physician to the Korean Royal Family and practicing healer for some seventy years now, and Doan Kaneko, who has had Anma massage in his family for over 400 years, among other world leaders in the oriental healing arts. Currently, Bruce Juchnik Hanshi teaches very popular seminars all over North America. He has also taught in Europe. He is booked for seminars nearly every weekend of the year. His school, the headquarters Dojo of Sei Kosho Shorei Kai, is located in Sacramento, California. |