Founders Forum - Winter 1998

It has been forty-eight years since I first decided that I wanted to learn a wonderful art known as karate. I joined the United States Army so I could travel to the Far East and search out a qualified teacher. Fate was kind to me when I was accepted as a student of Doctor Tsuyoshi Chitose, founder of Chito-ryu karate-do and one of the greatest karate teachers and practitioners in Japan. After leaving Japan and returning to the United States it was to be thirteen years before I would see my teacher again during 1967. I saw him again when my wife, four students and I traveled to Japan in 1971. I had my teacher flown to the United States during 1973 as the guest of the United States Chito-ryu Karate Federation and a national tournament was held in his honor. The last time I saw O-Sensei (as we fondly refer to him) was in 1982 when he made his last trip outside Japan to Canada and the United States. On June 6th, 1984 I received a telephone call from Shihan Higashi of Canada. He, with deep sadness in his voice, informed me that O-Sensei had passed away.

I had been a student of Doctor Tsuyoshi Chitose for thirty-two years, now he was gone. During the past thirty years (1954-1984) I had only seen him for an average of one day per year. The total time equals 30 days X 24 hours a day = 820 hours. Considering we trained every day (which we did not) for six hours not counting breaks we now have 30 X 6 hours a day = 180 hours. Counting at least 2 hours of breaks per session we now have 30 X 4 hours of training which = 120 hours. Considering a week has 168 hours, I had less than one week of training under O-Sensei over the last three decades that I was with him. What to do?

I trained and learned when and where I could find such training. My goal was to learn, learn, and learn. This learning would, I was confident, make me a much better Chito-ryu karate teacher as would broaden my understanding of all karate in general as well as Chito-ryu. As I trained under many Sensei, I learned to respect them for their dedication to their style and karate-do in general. I also learned to respect the genius of my teacher; Doctor Tsuyoshi Chitose, and appreciate his style of karate more that I would ever have if I had not made the comparisons.

As the world quickly prepares for the beginning of the next century and the next millennium we must accept the truth that the only thing which will never change, is change itself. O-Sensei is a product of the 19th Century; I am a product of the 20th Century. I ask the many wonderful Chito-ryu students of all Chito-ryu organizations to dedicate themselves to help spread Chito-ryu well into the 21st century. It is true that as time progresses, our art will gradually change. The most important aspect of our Chito-ryu is not technical conformity but the seeking of spiritual and physical excellence. As Basho the Buddhist monk once said, "Do not emulate the old teachers, but seek that which they sought."


William J. and Barbara E. Dometrich
Co-Founders U.S. Chito-ryu Karate Federation