HarborTides

Posted in: News on 11/15/07 at 1:04 PM PST

Media Credit: Peggy Bacon

"I have been involved in Martial Arts for forty-five years", Sensei Yamashita begins. "Chuck Norris and I started a studio in Torrance in the sixties. After a few years, Bruce Lee came to America and joined us. We were just three guys, promoting martial arts, going to lunch together, talking about girls. Then Chuck and Bruce became famous movie stars in Hollywood, and I became teacher in community college."

Yamashita explains that "Sensei" means "teacher" in Japanese. Students are instructed to always address him as "Sensei", not Mister or Teacher. Respect is part of the philosophy of Martial Arts. In his classes, students are educated in all aspects: discipline, focus, breathing, stance, history, physiology, meditation, skill, philosophy, and attitude. Martial Arts are more than just hitting people, they are a lifestyle.

In 1942, Yamashita and his parents were taken from their home in Long Beach and placed in a Japanese Internment Camp in Gila Bend, Arizona. Conditions were difficult, there was inadequate food and medical atttention, the weather was 120 degrees fahrenheit during the summers and freezing cold in the winters, many internees died. Yamashita remembers that his parents were wonderful. His mother taught him to always be kind and dignified, she taught him the ways of life. She never complained about the harsh conditions they lived in. They were released from the camp in 1945 and had to rebuild their life and home as everything had been confiscated. She died when he was seven years old but she had already instilled in him the foundations of his career in Martial Arts and his philosophy of life.

Yamashita says, "Someone is looking up to you, wherever you are. You may not even be aware of them, but they are watching you and learning kindness and dignity from you. You can shatter them if you are seen behaving in some manner that is less than honorable. Life will be difficult at times, be always dignified. Be kind to everyone. When you pass away, many people will come to your memorial and say that they couldn't have made it without you."

"The philosophy of Martial Arts is Love." He explains that Martial Arts developed thousands of years ago as fighting techniques used by soldiers. Buddhist monks took up martial arts and changed the philosophy to controlling your opponents without trying to hurt them. He says, "If you don't do it with love then you are just street fighting. You lower yourself to the level of animals. Fighting is temporary. Your biggest enemy is internal fighting, self-talk and worry. I never worry. I teach and practice exercizes to not worry."

Continued...

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