1.What motivated you to choose and practice Karate?
Osu! I’m a 43 years old ophthalmologist who recently opened my own clinic.
There are six people in my family, including my dear wife and four children.
Ever since I was a high school student, I’ve always thought of Karate as:
①A sport which allows practitioners to not only train their physical strength but also their spirit
②A tool for protecting oneself in time of needs
③A world-class martial art unique to the Japanese culture
Personally, I’ve always wanted to practice Karate. However, my experience of martial art stopped at the short training sessions at introduction schools when I was still a high school student. After marrying, the marriage life which requires balancing between work and parental care sapped me of my own free time.
As they grow up, my children became shy and withdrawn. Hoping to boost their confidence and support their growth in the future, I choose this period to begin learning Karate. Upholding my decision, I started looking for a school where I can learn the martial art.
2.Why did you choose the Karate school and personal lessons?
I believe personal lessons help to train practitioners better compared to group lessons.
At first, I found it exceptionally challenging to find the right school which could accept both me and my children. However, it was very fortunate for me to find the Daikanyama Karate School, which readily accept us for personal lessons.
Choosing to take on personal lessons allows us to adjust our lesson time. What’s more, it’s also encouraging to be able to take the lessons together with our children.
At the moment, the task of going to the Karate class on Sunday morning has become one of our family’s events.
3.What, do you think, have changed the most after you start taking the lessons?
Our children started enjoying Karate a lot, especially as they feel secured training alone with their family while learning from our teacher’s skillful instructions.
Our children’s school life also changed a lot. It seemed that the children have become more confident as well, seeing how they gave presentations on the parents’ observation day, and how they were chosen as the class’s presentative for the relay contest.
Although our children also cry sometimes as they couldn’t keep up with the strict, yet affectionate instructions from the teacher, I believe these strict instructions contributed greatly to our children’s growth.
4.What are your goals in the future?
Personally, I’m aiming to achieve the grade of black-belt, participate in, and bring back a trophy from competitions.
As for our children, it will be up to them to decide whether they want to continue practicing or not. However, I will fully support them if they choose to continue practicing the martial art.
It would be wonderful if our children can also achieve a black-belt.
5.A word from the interviewee
Our children always claim that:
“We really like our teacher! We truly like Karate!”