KIYOHIKO TOSA PARTICIPATED IN THE 7TH ASIAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (ON 21 AND 22 MAY AT MACAU) TO THE MALE KUMITE +80KG CLASS, AND ENDED UP TO WIN THE THIRD PRIZE.

INTERVIEW WITH A YOUNG WARRIOR INHERITING GENSEIRYU

“I have learned the fundamentals as a human being rather than techniques of Karate-do”.

“The style of Gensei-ryu Karate-do is achieving good results not only in the martial arts, but also in competition, which was proved in 1978 by Ryuji Sugita who became a kumite finalist in the +70 kg All Japan Championship. In my opinion these facts proof that the style of Gensei-ryu Karate-do has matured”.

This is an interview with Kiyohiko Tosa, the first son of Kunihiko Tosa. He is a member of the Japanese National Team and as such attended the World Karate-do Championship under WKF in October 2000 as a member of the kumite team.

PROFILE OF KIYOHIKO TOSA

Born on March 9th, 1977 in Asaka of the Saitama prefecture, first son of Kunihiko Tosa, who is the president of Genseiryu Butokukai. In his early childhood he started to learn Genseiryu Karate-do and moved to Iwate prefecture in his high school days thus leaving his parents.

During his high school days his genius flourished under the guidance of Kanji Sasaki sensei of the Shito-ryu. Later during his Economics and Law University days in Osaka, he was guided by Yoshiyuki Osada sensei and achieved good results, such as winning the first place in the plus 80 kg category at the 53rd National Sports Festival in Kanagawa as well as finishing 3rd in the 4th Asian Karate-do Championship. He has devoted himself to training to become an instructor under the Genseiryu Butokukai.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN THROUGH TRAINING GENSEIRYU?

Kiyohiko: I learned the fundamentals to become a complete human being strictly, before learning the basic techniques, as I started Genseiryu in my childhood. “The parents have an obligation to bring up their children to become respected adults”, my father told me over and over. This is the same thing at the dojo. I was strictly taught how to take off my shoes before entering the dojo, behaving myself not making any trouble for others, not breaking the rules of society as well as addressing other with propriety. These would be the first things one would notice when entering the dojo.

PLEASE EXPLAIN ABOUT THE TECHNIQUES OF GENSEIRYU

Kiyohiko: I have trained under many instructors after my high school days, but I learned Genseiryu until junior high school. Figuratively speaking, Genseiryu is my basic framework formed through the teachings of these persons.

Because of this being my background, I should not talk about the techniques of Genseiryu here. Through the little experience I have obtained, it is my opinion that of course there are differences between the various styles of Karate-do, but I have also experienced that the strictness while learning is the same in all the styles, just as Budo has been handed down gazing from teacher to student since the old days.

I believe that the process of a strict way to train oneself is the true way of devoting yourself into learning karate-do as well as putting it into practical use. Through thetraining of karate-do in this way, I believe that you can improve both your technique and your mentality.

WHAT ARE YOU AIMING FOR IN THE FUTURE?

Kiyohiko: As Genseiryu is an existing organization and thus part of this society, its condition at this point in time is important:
How should it be.
Where is should be aiming.
Which kind of role it should take on in order to make achievements.
What kind of persons are involved?

I believe that I have to be clear on these issues. The reason for attending a lot of tournaments is that this is one way to let the society know which kinds of ambitions or ideas Genseiryu has. I would like to bring the values of my experiences, which I have learned through my membership of the Japanese National Team as well as the World Karate-do Championship, on to the next generations. Personally, it was easy to set up my goals, as a lot of top-ranking seniors such as Marutani sempai, Sugita sempai, Motohashi sempai and Shimozono sempai, who had achieved good results at many tournaments, was training at the dojo. Even though it would have been a joke, it was good mental support when they backed me up and convinced me that I could win the World Karate-do Championship.

My personal ambition is to win the first prize as an individual player at the World Karate-do Championship.

PROFILE OF THE ATHLETES WHO ACHIEVED GREAT RESULTS IN THE PAST

Expanding the style of Genseiryu Karate-do is an issue, which Kunihiko Tosa has been concerned with since the early period after the break with his teacher. It was a difficult path, which lay before him, as the JKF was trying to expand their official qualification system in the world of karate-do under the JKF.

When examinations for dan-grades, was held under the JKF, the examiners had no knowledge of the Genseiryu Kata. This situation was very hard for the examiners, as they could not decide weather or not the player had enough ability to pass.

In the year of 1962, Kunihiko Tosa established his organization with only 3 dojos, but nowadays, it has expanded to 62 domestic branches and 59 branches in 11 countries.

There are so many athletes who have achieved great results during this period of time, but here we shall introduce only a few:

Yukiyoshi Marutani

1978
1978
1979
1980
1980

3rd Asian Pacific Championship Team Kumite 1st place
6th All Japan Championship Individual kumite excellent performance
1st Japan-France Goodwill Championship Individual kata 3rd place
5th World Championship Team kumite 4th place
1st World Games Individual kumite +70 kg 3rd place

Ryuji Sugita

1978
1981

6th All Japan Championship Individual kumite +70 kg 1st place
1st Japan-France Goodwill Championship Individual kata 3rd place

Akihiro Motohashi

1978
1985
1986
1987
1987
1988
1989
1989

6th All Japan Championship High school boys kumite 3rd place
39th National Sports Festival Individual kumite +75 kg 1st place
8th World Championship Individual kumite +80 kg 1st place
2nd Word Cup Individual kumite +80 kg 4th place
1st Japan-Brazil Goodwill Championship Individual kumite 1st place
7th Asian Pacific Championship Individual kumite +80 kg 1st place
3rd World Cup Individual kumite +80 kg 2nd place
8th Asian Pacific Championship Individual kumite +80 3rd place

Masashi Imano

1991

3rd Asian Pacific Junior Championship 18 years kumite 3rd place

Yuka Fukui

1993
1993
1993

High School Sports Festival Women’s kumite 1st place
21st All Japan Championship Women’s kumite 4th place
1st Asian Championship Women’s kumite +53 kg 3rd place

Yukiko Sasa

1996
1996
1996
1997
1997
1997

52nd National Sports Festival Boys & girls kumite 2nd place
3rd Asian Junior Championship 16 years kumite 1st place
High School Sports Festival Women’s kumite 2nd place
High School Selected Sports Festival Women’s kumite 3rd place
High School Sports Festival Women’s kumite 1st place
6th Japan Junior Team Into. Goodwill Championship 17years kumite 1st place

Kiyohiko Tosa

1997
1999

53rd National Sports Festival Individual kumite +80 kg 2nd place
4th Asian Championship Individual kumite +80 kg 3rd place