masami tsuruoka Archives - Barrie Ryusei Karate Club

Senior practitioners of Chito-ryu karate live under long shadows. First there is enormous shadow cast by founder Tsuyoshi Chitose, a martial arts virtuoso who studied under many masters and synthesized what he learned into his remarkable art.

Then there are the shadows cast by the pioneers who introduced Chito-ryu to their countries and amassed impressive organizations. In North America these larger-than-life figures include Masami Tsuruoka, the Father of Canadian Karate; Shane Y. Higashi, head of the Canadian Chito-ryu Karate Association; and the late William Dometrich, founder of the United States Chito-ryu Karate Federation.

As longtime adherents of this karate style, most of ask ourselves at some point, What we should learn and emulate from these impressive examples?

This picture was taken shortly after I joined Higashi School of Karate, in 1969, at the age of 12. I’m sitting in front at the far left. Beside me is Betty Tunicliffe and in the back row, far right, is her husband, Ernie (both sadly dead now; two of the nicest people I have known). I forget the the names of the rest of the group, except for Paul, second from left, standing in the back.

The dojo was in Tor0nto on Eglinton Avenue East. The space was originally a bowling alley. As you can see in the picture, the gutters were boarded over when it became a karate school.

In those days, Higashi-Sensei was not far removed from his competitive career, so his training was intense and sometimes over the top. Classes never ended on time and involved hundreds and sometimes thousands of repetitions of techniques and calisthenics. One week we did so many pushups that my friend Eric couldn’t lift his arms. So to eat, he got an old arrow shaft and tied a fork to the end of it. That way he could feed himself from his plate while keeping his elbow on the table.

Chito-Ryu: The Next Generation

Discovering the pain of practice in 1969

Tuesdays & Thursdays