Shihan TAIJI KASE
Shihan TAIJI KASE (1929-2004)
Founder of
Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do
passed away on November 24, 2004 in Paris
But his legend will live on...
Shihan Taiji Kase
One of the last samurais of modern times belongs to history.
Following his father's footsteps, one of the greatest teachers of Shotokan Karate-Do primarily began to practice Judo when he was six years old and by the age of 16 he was 3Dan. At that time he saw Yoshitaka Funakoshi practicing Karate-Do in the Shotokan Dojo, which sealed his fate, making it crucial for him to chose Shotokan Karate-Do as his life choice. During W.W.II he was a trainee in the camp for kamikaze pilots. It was desitny's plan that he survived his kamikaze duty due to the fact that the day of his flight coincided with the capitulation of Japan.
After the war he was the first and the youngest holder of 3Dan, joining the JKA and wanting to fulfill his wish to be a fulltime karate instructor. In 1963, as one of the most qualified Chief Instructors of JKA he trained younger instructors (Shirai, Enoeda, Kanazawa) and led them to a world tour, on mission to spread Shotokan karate throughout the world. In 1965 he arrived in Europe and from 1967 until his death in 2004 he lived in Paris.
Though he was a member of JKA and one of the creators of the first competition rules, he never ceased to practice Karate as a Budo martial art. The modern development of Karate led to its separation from the Budo concept. His belief was that modern, sport development of Karate-Do, leads to its separation from Budo concept and that causes karate to loose its authentic soul.
He considered sport competition only one phase of development, due to the fact that competition is only a limited reality of Karate-Do. It is restricted by rules of competition and the referee's objectivity. In martial art's philosophy mind must be free with no limits. Therefore, there should be a level above the competiton and that is Budo Karate.
His deep affection towards japnese samurai's tradition and principles of the Bushido code, marked his approach to Shotokan Karate-Do, finally resulting in a distinguished line of Shotokan karate style that bares his seal, the Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do.
In his approach to the different aspects of practice (physical, mental and spiritual) he had only one aim, and that was to go beyond the limits, in order to reach a level beyond the technique and physical power.
Following his teachers ideas and tirelessly searching for ways of elevating his own abilities, he achieved the level of total energy control. His legendary breathtaking demonstrations cannot be logicaly explained, they are more like methaphysical phenomenon questioning the ultimate human abilities.
On the other hand he had a precise and personal choice, to teach Karate-Do free of any sport-political conditionment. He manged to preserve this attitude and survived many changes in the world's karate policy, which has often poisoned the international karate environment.
Taiji Kase Sensei embodied love towards Karate-Do, to which he had devoted his life to. The integrity of his behaviour, the loyalty towards friends and students and his deep humanity, made Kase Sensei a precise reference point for those who love Karate-Do above any logos. A Karate-Do that comes to us directly from Gichin and most of all from Yoshitaka Funakoshi. Today it continues to live as the
Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do.
Sledeci oceve stope sa sest godina je poceo da se bavi Judo-om, a u sesnaestoj je vec postao nosilac 3DAN-a. Susret sa Yoshitakom Funakoshijem u Honbu Dojo-u 1944 bio je presudan da Karate-Do postane njegovo zivotno opredelenje. Kao pitomac Mornaricke Akademije bio je u kampu za obuku kamikaze pilota. Sudbina je htela da ostane ziv jer se njegov let poklopio sa danom kapitulacije Japana .
Nakon II Sv. rata prvi je i najmladji nosilac 3DAN-a, a 1963 kao glavni instruktor JKA (Japanske Karate Asocijacije) priprema i predvodi mladje instruktore ( Enoeda, Shirai,Kanazawa) na promotivnoj turneji u cilju popularizacije Japanskog Shotokan karatea od Afrike preko Amerike do Evrope. Od 1967 godine ziveo je u Parizu.
Iako je bio clan JKA i jedan od stvaralaca prvih takmicarskih pravila borenja, nikada nije prestao da sledi ideju Budo karatea koju je nasledio od svojih ucitelja Gichina, i posebno Yoshitake Funakoshija. 1989 godine osniva WKSA (Svetska Karate-Do Shotokan Akademija) izrazavajuci negodovanje sa savremenim trendom razvoja karatea. Njegov stav je bio, da je odvajanjem od Budo-a karate izgubio dusu, sto je dovelo do njegove degradacije i udaljavanja od izvornog oblika kao borilacke vestine i zivotne filozofije.
Takmicenje je jedna od etapa na putu razvoja, ali se odvija u uslovima ogranicene realnosti; ograniceno je pravilima i sudijskom subjektivnoscu. U filozofiji borilackih vestina nema ogranicenja i svest mora da bude slobodna. Mora postojati nivo nakon takmicarskog, a to je Budo Karate.
Bio je opcinjen japanskom samurajskom tradicijom i moralnim kodeksom Bushido, sto se manifestovalo u formiranju njegovog osobenog pristupa razvoju tradicionalnog Shotokan karatea do te mere da se izdvojio kao poseban stil koji nosi njegov pecat : Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu. U svim aspektima vezbanja, fizickom, mentalnom i duhovnom imao je na umu samo jedan cilje: kako prevazici granice i dostici nivo koji je iznad tehnike i fizicke snage.
Vodjen idejama svojih ucitelja, ali i neumorno sam istrazujuci, uspeo je da dostigne nivo gotovo apsolutne energetske kontrole. Lakoca, eksplozivnost i efikasnost kojom je demonstrirao moc svog karatea cesto nisu imali logicko objasnjenje. Moze se slobodno reci da spadaju u red metafizickih fenomena ukazujuci na neslucenost ljudskih granica.
Cesti sukobi i promene na svetskoj karate sceni u zelji za dominacijom, nisu uspele da ga odvoje i pokolebaju u nameri da se potpuno i bez ikakvih sportskih ili politickih uslovljavanja posveti razvoju svog karatea. Taiji Kase sensei je do zadnjeg daha ostao dosledan svom zivotnom izboru, a njegova lojalnost prema sledbenicima i njegov humanizam ucinili su od njegovog lika legendu jos za zivota. Njegov zivot je uzor za sve one koji iznad svega vole Karate-Do koji vodi poreklo od Funakoshi i Yoshitake Gichina, a danas nastavlja da zivi kao:
Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do
