In the world of Budo, the most important thing is the student-teacher relationship. It might take fate for someone to meet a good teacher but respecting the one you meet and forming a strong bond with them is irreplaceable. We cannot learn and grow by ourselves. Having a teacher to teach and guide you will help you acquire a lot of knowledge and skills. The teacher who teaches you these knowledge and skills, they must also have had a teacher whom they trusted and learned from, haven't they?
Kaicho Royama also had a great teacher, Sosai Masutatsu Oyama. and have also learned from great masters like Sensei Hideo Nakamura and Roshi Kenichi Sawai. Kaicho Royama always faithfully conveys the teachings of these 3 masters when teaching us. It is not an easy feat to pass on what one has learned to their students. For Kaicho Royama to faithfully pass on their teachings to us, it's a sign that he must have had a strong trust and respect for them. It has been 45 years since I started learning Kyokushin Karate under Kaicho Royama. During that time, I was also able to receive guidance from Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, Sensei Hideo Nakamura and Roshi Kenichi Sawai, they have always taught and guided me with the same teachings that Kaicho Royama have taught me. I am deeply grateful for how Kaicho Royama managed to learn from these great masters and faithfully conveyed what he himself has learned from them.
These are the words that Sensei Hideo Nakamura left to Kaicho Royama, and I felt that these words have a deep meaning to them. Respecting their teacher and studying hard is not the only way a student should be, but it is also their duty to properly pass on what they have learned to the next generation. Teaching especially, is more difficult than learning. How do we properly impart what we have learned to our students? I have also learned through trial and error on how to properly communicate to the students. This is what leads to me learning when teaching.
You could say that it is by fate that you will meet a good teacher and leave it at that, but Sosai Masutatsu Oyama once said that in order to learn from a good teacher, you will need to travel to the other side of the world. However, a good teacher isn't necessarily an expert or a master. I think that a kind teacher that you are close to, who guides you is also a brilliant teacher. Eiji Yoshikawa, the writer who popularized the swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, also supervised the writing of Dojo-kun (Dojo Oath) left us with the words
If you have the heart to learn, a great teacher may one day appear before you.
