jacob wrote:I only direct this question to Onyea due to the fact that I have seen the old photo's on his website but I'm sure some of you have valuable information..
I have had a short Wado life compared to most on this forum but during my research and talking to people one name alway crops up... Fujii Hisaomi sensei, Can anyone tell me a bit more about him, I am intrigued. Apparently he was very special, what did he have ? Most of the time you can find information via the internet, but Fujii Hisaomi sensei is very rarely mentioned, apart from one story...
mr. suzuki grew so annoyed at peter's fighting skills that he sent for the all-japan champion, hisaomi fujii, to come to britain and sort him out!
Hi Jacob,
I am unsure of what you are asking here, are you looking for some verification on the quotation or information on Fujii sensei, ?
The thing about Fujii sensei was He was everything one would expect a collegiate karate champion to be. Back in those days the collegiate championships were all styles and so his win in 1964 (I think) would have been a hard road.He was a gentle man and a gentleman who could fight with a razor precision and yet remain modest and intelligent when not in the dojo. As with every other sensei when they pointed at you for free fighting you knew you were on a pasting but in Fujii sensei’s case with instruction and advice littering the fight it was almost a pleasure, not quite, but almost because there was no edge to the man. Wado in the wrong hands can bring out the wrong qualities or highlight the more base human behaviour that give me pause about my involvement but then with sensei like Fujii Hisaomi who demonstrated all the attributes that martial arts are supposed to foster I felt it held the deeper meaning of integrity and spirit.
He returned to Japan after a few years to take over his responsibilities in his father’s business. I last saw him in Tokyo in the late 80s
As for the quotation – often attributed to Len Palmer a Judo guy with political aspirations - if you had been around in those times Jacob you would know immediately that this type of arrant nonsense was a political beat up with not a skerrick of integrity or truth in it. The Japanese sensei were all hard taskmasters teaching a particular form of their country's heritage so honour and fighting spirit had replaced any self doubt and fear was not part of their agenda. Had there been any concern about a particular western fighter, then just about any one of them in the first few years could have shown the fella all four corners of the dojo, especially one who had only started in 1965 and was given his shodan grade in 1966 along with a few others who looked like they might be good leader material in the near future.
This quotation is one that should have been highlighted on the myths and legends thread.
A few short years later Len Palmer lead a breakaway group in the UK, It was largely London-centric and Pete Spanton was one of those that left as I remember. Len Palmer sidled up all friendly like to me one time in London with an offer for my brothers and myself to join them in their breakaway from the Japanese sensei - but when I compared Len Palmer to Suzuki and or Shiomitsu or any other Japanese instructor who had the wado goods Len seemed to be lacking a few fundamental bits that make up a wado ryu sensei, integrity and loyalty not being the least of them. So my brothers and I declined. We have no regrets.
oneya