Masauki Shima
This memory just popped out of my head this morning. Back
when we lived in Escondido California I took Karate lessons from Masauki Shima
for several years. He was the most powerful man I have ever met. Despite the
fact he was a gentle man there was an immense power he exuded that was palpable
anywhere within 10 feet of him. He had a degree in law and one in chiropractic
medicine in Japan, but trained students in karate in California. He was I
believe a third degree black belt in the style of karate which he taught and
his superior Minobu Miki (a fourth
degree black belt) while being a descendant of a Samurai clan and a
mean, haughty, rude man still gave deference to Shima.
Shima’s power and skill was unmatched. When he would
teach a new technique he would for some reason always pick me to demonstrate
the skill. Many times with newer students present he would have me attack him
from behind and in the blink of an eye he would grab my arm and flip me over
his head (I was 180 pounds back then) and drop me on a concrete floor, so
smoothly that I never felt an ache or pain. The next step in the technique was
to stomp a heel into the attacker’s solar lexis, which lucky for me he did not
actually make contact. There was another technique he demonstrated and taught
to the local police department which involved taking one’s arm while facing an
attacker and one swift motion the attacker would be face down on the ground and
his arm would be vertically behind his back with his wrist bent back, making
any sort of movement impossible. Great amounts of pain could be inflicted with
no effort on the part of Shima or a policeman using it on an unruly suspect. I
could never learn the move, but I wish I could. Though he used it demonstrating
the move on me many times he always knew how to make me immobile and showed how
easily great amounts of pain could be dished out but never actually hurt me.
Shima’s superior Miki, however took delight in delivering
some painful blows when he appeared on his rounds. It was sheer luck for me
that Miki always picked my friend Ralph to demonstrate his prowess upon. Ralph
was a handsome Italian tough ex-navy Seabee and I do not know why Miki always picked
him, but I thought better him than me. I could hear the thumps when Miki
punched or kicked Ralph in the chest. Miki did not use his full force, just
enough to show off his skills.
Shima encouraged his students to go to tournaments around
southern California and I went to a few, but never won any. Shima did a
demonstration at one tournament that I still remember vividly. He was to break
a concrete block with his bare fist. Now a person can build a house foundation
with concrete blocks so they are pretty tough. Shima was in the middle of the auditorium
to do the demonstration. He took a moment to concentrate. The trick to breaking
a board or a block is to deliver the blow with full force and at the same instant
pull back the fist. Should the timing not be perfect, the force of the blow
radiates right back up the arm instead of smashing the board or the block. I do
not know what spoiled Shima’s concentration, but his timing was off and his
fist became a bloody stump. Now for any normal man that would have ended the
demonstration, but not Shima. He knelt by the block for another minute and then
delivered a smashing blow that shattered the concrete block into pieces. I
cannot to this day know how painful it was to complete the task, but he did it.
One more brief story occurred one evening in our class.
Shima was teaching the class when a local gang walked into the studio. There
were I believe eight of them that came in the door. Shima turned the class over
to Ralph and walked over to where the eight were milling around. He placed
himself in the middle of them and just folded his arms, not even facing them,
but as I said his projection of power was palpable to anyone around him. The
eight were headed out the door in no time at all.
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