Shinobu/Nin Oct 2009
There are masters in title and then there are masters in heart. Master YAGI Meitetsu is a master in the heart. Every since a toddler, he witnessed his father (YAGI Meitoku Dai Sensei) lead a life of prestige as one of Okinawa’s premier Karate masters. Dai Sensei is revered for his unwavering loyalty to Okinawa and its cultural distinction within Karate-Dou. In 1952, Dai Sensei was the first student of Chojun Miyagi to open a dojo officially under his own identity known as the Meibukan. Today its president, YAGI Meitetsu, recognizes the challenging task of filling his father’s shoes.
It is a summer evening and we are drenched from the strenuous training of Master YAGI and his son YAGI Ippei Sensei. The master calls us in to sit and gather around for session in philosophy. Out of respect, most of us sit in seiza – a kneeling position unnatural for those of us in the west. He tells a personal story of someone he knew in his early years who seemingly had everything going for him. His peers had high hopes for him in the future. Nevertheless, with such a gift of potential, his life was unexpectedly cut short. Tragically, the youth had taken his own life. Out of this unfortunate experience, Master YAGI had realized that while training to be physically strong is important for one’s health, so should the mind be equal in strength.
“We must endure.” Master YAGI concludes. “If something is too unbearable, just think to yourself that it is a challenge that God has found you worthy to overcome. If God believes in you, so should you. This shall give you strength.”
Our Master continues to explain the Kanji known to us as “NIN – 忍” or endure. He points to it as being 2 separate characters combined. The top one is of a knife and the bottom is heart. To endure feels like your heart is being pierced with a knife. As the son of Dai Sensei, he has witnessed his father experience many instances of NIN. Combined with his own, Master YAGI is very aware of what it takes to rise to the top within the world of Karate. The ability to endure hardship is one trait of a leader and anyone recognized as being great has always had to endure and overcome unimaginable challenges. Our teacher passionately shares these lessons with us in the pursuit of contributing to a better world.
Master YAGI is a Hanshi. He is a teacher of teachers and must also be exemplary in his role as the patriarch of our system. He embraces that challenges of his role as his destiny and takes to heart the lessons that he teaches us. He also wishes to be true to his father’s legacy. His lessons teach us of the silent battles that we must all overcome to help deal with the challenges in our daily lives. Even though we are all human and mistakes happen, we must remember that we have an opportunity everyday better ourselves.
He leaves us with the message, “Endure. Always endure.”
Somehow sitting in seiza doesn’t feel so difficult after all.
