@@ChestofGold yes it certainly was and in some dojo’s still is . What we have now is very athletic and the WKF of ropes are athletes no doubt . What’s missing is the hardness and sheer toughness of the training I was involved in . Knocked down get up . Knocked out , lean you against a wall . When you regain consciousness, get up and train . Broken bones , nights in hospital, lost teeth , flattened noses , fractures . Anyone tells me it was pathetic Kumite then I’ll mention Brennan , Hall , Christopher , Trimble , Button , Beasley . The last two were not mainstream , but on par with the KUGB fighters . There were a lot of very excellent Kumite fighters back in the mid 1980-1990’s .

"I lost a back tooth in that kumite and sent two of the guys to sleep"? You didn't kill any of the boys? Well, then it wasn't spirited enough. Sometime in the 70's, Sensei Kase taught us to respect our opponent! And he taught us that the hardest thing to learn is the control not to hurt your opponent.

@@ecigorjan well you’ve clearly never been in that kind of hornets nest and I’ve trained with Sensei Kase and Shirai as well . It was a totally different training scenario . You have young Japanese university students and me at 25 having them try to rip my head off . What would you do .?? Both Sensei Kato and Sensei Kagawa were there to oversee it . I respect anyone but I also fight to survive and gaijin being shouted at you makes you wake up . You’re naive if you think that environment didn’t used to exist . It wasn’t WKF slap and tickle Kumite at all . Training in the KUGB wasn’t much different . I’ve been on academy course with Sensei Kase . I know that dojo world as well .!!! Also I didn’t kill anyone . I really don’t need a moral lesson for something that happened many years ago in my youth . Certainly not off someone I simply don’t know . I’ve never deliberately tried to hurt anyone , but in a heated exchange things can happen . I train differently now I am 56 . I still trained hard with Dirk Heene and Mark Steven’s as well as many WKSA senior grades . Sometime accidents happen . Sometimes Control is not there when fatigued and under pressure . If you get a group of young men together in a Competitive environment and it’s aggressive these things happen . It’s how karate has been in the university system in Japan for years . Remember 1990 is relatively along time ago now .

...so I tell ya what: that macho man attitude I did not saw in Japan. Anyway; your advantage and many that I see is that are very tall or big or enormous guys like new generations not the technique involved. To take an example in recent years; Ueda instructor of the Hombu dojo (JKA) normally lose many tournaments with big less skilled guys. When there is no any difference in height; the situations change a lot. The only possibility that I see when there is too much difference is to know how to take the first punch (like these new guys in MMA. That have more spirit than technique) to have the opportunity to enter to the big guy zone and just kick his leg and when falling just finish with couple of nasty things but that is not training that is self defense etc nothing that you do with partners training in a dojo. -Then you say " for things that when I was young..." well you needed to understood a bit more the dojo kun. Your emotions took you off

@@TheReverb1 dojo Kun !!! That’s so laughable . I’ve seen some of the top Japanese ignore a lot of that when it suited the spirit of training . If you want to be philosophical and prance around In your dogi then fine , you crack on . I’ll be busy making my way and it’s not for you to ‘educate me’!! I know plenty of people in the very top of karate who just train and don’t get wrapped up in fairy story piety of the dojo Kun . I’ll also explain that on the pavement arena , no one knows of it or cares about it . The dojo Kun is Ginchin Funakoshi’s Japanese etiquette rules . Karate in Okinawa didn’t have them . I can’t imagine choki Motobu even thought about it . He’d get on with the training . I understand you have to show respect for people in a dojo for the purposes of it not descending into chaos , but that a given . Hard training isn’t being unnecessary violent . It’s essential to test your abilities and place you under stress . The Japanese university dojos were notoriously brutal places. Takashoku was closed down for incidents of extreme violence to students by their seniors . They were not like lovely western dojos where people turn up in freshly cleaned and ironed dogi , bow incessantly for 2 hours and slope off home. They were bear pits . There is this myth that they are all Buddhist monks floating around with perfect control . It’s naivety to think everyone in Japan religiously follows the dojo Kun . I don’t think Yahara paid a great deal of attention to it and I’m sure Sensei Kase in his younger years at times wasn’t completely faithful to it . I have huge respect for him in particular, but this reverence of all things Japanese is hogwash . They don’t even follow it religiously and don’t think they do .!

What do you mean by that. Please?

I’ve trained with Kagawa and I guess that by today’s standards of expectations he could be seen as abusive. However , she also didn’t train and commit as she should in preparation for an Olympic Games . She took advice from the cancel culture element around her and vilified a man who walked away from the situation . Why ? Because he no doubt realised that what he was involved in was a joke . He’s Japanese . The olympics are in Japan . He’s honourable and wanted to play his part in preparing the national squad to do well . She wanted to party , train away from the squad gatherings in her own local dojo and didn’t conform to the traditional Japanese way . He admonished her . She’d been trained by him one to one for along time and never moaned . She clearly found external advice from some where . As for using the Shinai in training , well so what !!!! He did it with me and I got out of the way . I also stood opposite him and was his test subject for techniques . He threw me all over the place and kicked me . Did I moan … no !!! Did I try my best to kick a hole through him … yes !!! It’s called karate !!! That’s the problem here .. WKF is NOT karate . It’s a balletic performance of athletic individuals who want to win medals and glory . They don’t see the other side of it . The need to be prepared for the reality of life challenges . I’ve had major traumas in my life , all of which I’ve dealt with better because of the training I received . I didn’t get upset because I it was too hard . I’m glad he’s out of the charade and as for Miss Uekusa , I’m sure she’ll do her best in her dancing .

Then she should've just taken ballet classes or gymnastics...hes teaching real karate ..pansie ass millennials can't handle it

@@markwalker4142 100% agree!. I trained under sensei yataka yaguchi, as well as sensei Okazaki senior and junior, sensei David Jones, and sensei woon a tai When I heard sensei kagawa was resigning for the reason of being abusive I was appalled. That man is one of the most decorated karate-ka in the world. Trained numerous world champions and Is fully aware what it takes to build a world level competitor. It would be an honour to be in his classes and if you find him “abusive” then maybe karate is not for you. I have taught shotokan karate for over 15 years now and year after year all I see is the art becoming more concerned about feelings and emotions rather than what it was intended for, self defence,discipline,focus,athletics, and yes sport but it seems the emphasis the last while has been mainly the sport aspect…it’s sad. Thanks for your input man, the fact you got to train with kagawa is truly amazing!. OSS from Canada

@@rahulchannan6794 much appreciated Rahul . I haven’t trained with Sensei Kagawa for some years as I ended up with Sensei Kase and Shirai’s Kase -Ryu system for a long time . I’ve now moved to train with Sensei Simon Oliver in Nottingham , UK . I’m very lucky here as I have access to Sensei Aiden Trimble , Sensei Asano etc …. If I wish to . There ware a lot of very high quality dojos in this area . I’m a bit if a ronin now and train where I wish - if they will accept me - and I train hard with whoever I go to . I was influenced a lot by Sensei Steve Cattle who mentored me and became a great friend . He passed away in 1995 . You’ve clearly been training with people of pedigree . I’m hoping to train again with Kagawa once covid is over . He’ll recognise me I’m sure . I once sparred with him at my prime and he educated me .!! Very fast back in 1990 when I had a week intensive training with him and his university club . I come from a rough area and headbutting is something that is natural to me . He thought it was hilarious whe. I grabbed one of his students in a Kumite and stuck one on him . Controlled of course .!! 😉 He called me brawler . !! Flattered of course . So 40 years after starting Shotokan I’m still training . I’m just recovering from hip resurfacing, so not training again until may at the earliest . Old men with a history of extreme training suffer these things I’m afraid . I was chatting with Richard Amos recently and he’s had his hips down as well . Look after yours Rahul . Yoku tamotsu 🥋

@@markwalker4142 Your point is right with this comment. I do not know about exactly what happened in that situation; like how he damaged her eye etc but no doubt that Karate Shotokan is no more Karate. Never was for self defense actually but was powerful now is to try to get more new kids to keep with the Association going. Main problem there is that whatever can have sho kyu or sho dan without any good foundations; no kime; no good dachi; no idea of maai; never punched makiwara; no bag training; no shadowing; only train speed; no doubt that many are lightning fast but only on the sports side of the equation. Even the Okinawan styles are diluted now; of course there are still few dojo that are great but unfortunately are too far away from most. I abandoned Karate for more than 15 years due to Life and that did not have a dojo or club to train anymore, near. Few years ago I can returned but with a damaged body and in a low level poly sports club...I am at about 250km of a dojo. Anyway; still trying

... happy you! I think if you had been beaten much more often, you would be much smarter too?

We clearly experienced a very different 1980’s and 1990’s then !!! There were some major joke dojo’s in the 1980’s - cobra Kai bullshit - and also in the 1990’s. The uk shotokan scene was very very strong . KUGB , SKI were loaded with talent . Brennan , Hall , Trimble etc .. sensei Kato’s association was strong . They were tightly run associations and that’s where the politics became an issue . The standard changed when WUKO took prominence and it became the WKF . It then morphed into what we have today . It’s a very very different karate . Not what we see here in this video which is only a little sample of what it was really like .