By Raymond Ikeda

 

           I started karate with HSK with my 5 year old son and wife because my son wanted to take karate with his older cousin who had started with Sensei’s first karate class.    After starting I was soon “hooked”.  My son stopped after a year and my wife stopped after a half year later due to physical problems. 

           Karate has been a great stress relief from work for me.  When you train, you forget about all the problems and issues at work because you have to fully concentrate on trying to memorize all the new kata moves and learning how to do all the new karate techniques.  After training, although physically exhausted, you feel at peace and there is a sense of satisfaction that you have tried your best.  I am amazed that over the course of time, I have been able to learn and remember all 24 of the katas.  Starting with Saisho, the 5 Heian katas and Tekki, the 6 first level black belt katas, the 6 2^nd level black belt katas, the remaining 5 higher level black belt katas.

           Karate has been a life changing activity for me.  It has been great at helping to build my self-confidence.  Being a very quiet, shy, and reserved person, karate has helped to build my self-confidence as I progressed through the ranks.  The increased self-confidence from karate carried over to work and my home life.  I was able to speak in front of large audiences at work and successfully supervise and lead a number of large IT related projects for the State.

          I enjoy working with the karate students and am pleased to watch their development and progress through the ranks.  I have made life long friends at karate who share the same values and who enjoy the same hobbies such as golfing, fishing, attending UH football, etc.

           31 years after starting karate, I now look at karate as a way of life.  I hope to continue to train and teach well into my 70s and 80s as long as I am physically able to do so at a proficient level.