SKIF News: Sensei Murakami, I am certain that our readers will be very interested to know about your karate beginnings so please tell us how old you were when you started and what was the reason to choose karate and not some other martial art.
Sensei Murakami:: I started Karate when I was 9 years old. There was only one Shotokan Karate Dojo in my town, No Kendo, No Judo, No Goju, No Wado, etc.. Also at that time there was a boom of Bruce Lee movies in Japan so all of my friends were interested in Karate. The reason why I started is the same as others I think, I just wanted to be strong!! But from Age 11 to 15, I played baseball which is the No.1 sport in Japan, and started Karate seriously from 15.
SKIF News: Tell us something about your first teacher and about his training methods.
Sensei Murakami: My first teacher was Sensei Takaki Maruo who lives in Kyushu, Southern Island of Japan where I was born. His teaching was always Kihon and Kata, especially lots of Kata training.
SKIF News: Many karatekas stop the learning process too soon. When did you understand that Black Belt is just beginning of learning and not culmination: before you received your Shodan or after that?
Sensei Murakami: I think when I became an instructor. Of course, when I was a student in high school and university, I could feel it also. But that time, I had thought only myself to be strong, and I didn’t think about others much. After I became an instructor, I was disappointed that some students who had a very good talent stopped Karate before they understood the real meaning of Karate, or even before they got blackbelt. So this is one of the instructor’s jobs to teach to the students: our Karate-Do (road or way) is never-ending. I often say at the end of class at overseas teaching “Two hours is very difficult to teach many things in Karate, because even all of our life is too short to study Karate; but if we don’t start it, we cannot get anything.”
SKIF News: Did you love kata as much as you loved kumite when you were young student?
Sensei Murakami: I loved Kumite more, even now so. But I understand now that Kata is the essence of Karate and/or Budo. This is the same as food I think. If we eat just what we like, this is not healthy. Often the food we don’t like is important for proper nutrition, so for good health we have to eat it. The right balance is important. People can understand the truth and improve more when we face up to facts we don’t like. Therefore, training in both kata and kumite is very important, even if we do not like one as much as the other.
SKIF News: So tell us about your competitive career, from your first tournament to your 3rd World Championship title.
Sensei Murakami: The first tournament I won was the 1st SKIF All Japan tournament when I was 15, in the Junior High School Kata division. Before this tournament, I had never won a tournament trophy. I had received a small trophy when I was 10 or 11, which was presented to me for the honor of the most classes attended for a year at my Dojo. This gave me some encouragement at that time, and helped keep me motivated. So I give this type of trophy to some of my students at the beginning of every year.
I got 2nd place for the individual Kata and 1st place for the Team Kata and Kumite at the 3rd SKIF World Championships in Utsunomiya, Japan in 1988.
SKIF News: You don’t compete any more so you can tell us: did you have weak points in your technique and strategy and if you did why your opponents weren’t able to exploit it? Have you always felt mentally stronger then your opponents?
Sensei Murakami: Yes, I had lots of weak points when I competed. I was always nervous and scared before and at the tournament. I never felt I was mentally stronger than my opponents. But I always tried to pretend to be calm and composed. But if you want to do so at tournaments, it is important to also do so in your usual training and daily life. Even when we are tired, or get a punch at the face, or have a big problem etc., we have to try to keep our poker face, and don’t show our pain to others. Everybody has a weak point; everybody has a problem; everybody is the same!! So everybody has a chance to win!! Many people say “Kumite is fighting against the opponent, Kata is fighting against ourselves.” But I think Kumite is also fighting against the fear inside of ourselves.
SKIF News: Please describe to our readers how were the last two months of your preparation for World Championships? On average, how many workouts a day you were doing and what was ratio between physical conditioning and kumite training?
Sensei Murakami: I didn’t change my training much even before the tournament. For me, because of my job within SKIF, I was even busier during the last two months before the World Championships!!
SKIF News: When comes to physical conditioning, have you in your training used discoveries and recommendations of modern sports science or were you more oriented towards traditional karate methods?
Sensei Murakami: I never use weights, but everybody is different. Some people will get benefit from weight training. If you don’t have enough power, it is better for you to practice some physical (weights) exercise. You must know yourself first. For me, the traditional Karate methods are more important, especially Makiwara and Sonoba-Kihon (Basic exercise in a fixed position).
SKIF News: Tell us something about your diet during preparation for big competitions.
Sensei Murakami: It was also the same as usual. I remember I had a dinner with Kancho Kanazawa and others one day before the All-Japan tournament when I just joined the trainee instructors course of SKIF. I was drinking some weak alcohol drink and Kancho was drinking some Japanese Sake. Someone asked me to drink some Japanese Sake, but Kancho replied to him “Murakami has a tournament tomorrow, so he is drinking the weaker one, not Sake. It is OK. But if he does not drink anything, this is no good.” I didn’t understand at first, but I realized he was teaching me that I must always have some room (Yutori in Japanese) in my mind for normal things, not to be nervous or pre-occupied even I face something important. The tournament is on the road of our usual training.
SKIF News: Karate has many dimensions: mental, physical, spiritual, intellectual… Is there one of those dimensions that you value more then others?
Sensei Murakami: Karate makes me lots of thing. But I got “self confidence” from Karate; this is the most valuable and biggest one for my life.
SKIF News: Tell us something we don’t know about Sensei Kanazawa and describe your relationship with him.
Sensei Murakami: I have been always thinking that I want to be like him, technically and personally (as a Karate-ka and as a human being). For the last twenty years, I have been travelling with him and following him. Many people say, “Sensei Kanazawa is great, unbelievable and a superman, etc. etc.” I am now at the same lifestyle, in a similar position with him in my life. So I really understand maybe more than others that his life is very tough and irreplaceable.
SKIF News: You are graduated from famous Takushoku University, a place where Gichin Funakoshi taught Karate. How important for you is the fact that you received your education at this particular school and tell us something about Takushoku University Karate program?
Sensei Murakami: When I was in my hometown, I was the strongest in Karate so I had a lot of confidence before I joined the Takushoku University Karate Club. But all of the club members there were the strongest in each of their hometowns. So my confidence disappeared the first training day! But when I practiced there, even only Choku-zuki, I could feel I could be very strong in the near future. The training was very tough, but I have lots and lots of memories there. Those were my youthful days.
SKIF News: SKIF Organization is huge organization with membership of more than 120 countries and you are the person responsible for contacts with all National Federations. How demanding is your job and how does it affect your life and your karate training?
Sensei Murakami: Yes, SKIF is expanding very quickly and has become very big. This is a huge responsibility. In GHQ, I have to control overseas registrations or if there are problems I have to try to resolve the problem. Also I spend a lot of time travelling around the world. I get to go overseas to many countries, to see different cultures, different people and make lots of friends. So I am enjoying this job.
SKIF News: At last World Championship in Athens our (Serbian) National Team lost to Team Japan in quarterfinals; what is your impression about Serbian Karate Team?
Sensei Murakami: Very good!! Maybe next time in Australia 2012, you could be the finalist against Japan!
SKIF News: Sensei Murakami, thank you very much for taking the time to answer those questions. We hope we will see you in Serbia soon.
Sensei Murakami: You are welcome. I am looking forward to visiting your country one day in the near future.
OSS!!!
