There are plenty of stories about James Mitose, seminal figure in Hawaiian Kenpo/kempo history. One 'historical tidbit' that gets brought up is his status as '10th dan and remonstrant of aikido for all america'. There's a featured article at: www.kempojutsu.net that delves into the mystery of his aikido rank, citing a letter by the person who gave it to him. Please read and comment. Matt
mitose This is a first.I've read that he may have trained in Kodokan Judo a little but never Aikido.Sounds like bull to me.
i think the point of the article was that he didnt train aikido, he just kinda got a 10th dan in a very dishonorable way.
this very common unfortunately.some high profile martial artists tend to get 'honorary ranks' and it gives recognition to the art.B.S if you ask me.
I guess that article was too generous Reverend Kensho Furuya has offered his recollection of the events. The article is at: http://www.aikidocenterla.com/2004/9/22.html or you can go to: http://www.aikidocenterla.com and then click on Sensei's Message, and on September 22nd. It paints an interesting picture. Matt
It was all b.s.. He got by conning the head of aikido at the time. Fortunatly or unfortunitly rather, he was sent to prison before he could do real damage. Mitose was a conman and criminal his whole adult life. He ran numbers and was enforcer along with the cons he pulled. I have the utmost respect for him as a martial artist, but as a human being I find him falling short.
I didn;t mean to imply any style was not good or legitimate. I'm sure Jimmy Swaggert actually got some souls saved :Angel: False founders can found true styles. Isnt that an interesting paradox. I wonder what it says about the concept of a "style".
no, I didn't... but the defenders of Bruce (not Lee) are ubiquitous and defensive and I didn't want to start another discussion about him and his organization.
wow Wow thanks for the link...I never knew much about Mitose to begin with but he's obviously a piece of crap after reading that crap about him.