Masaji Taira
| Masaji Taira | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1st December, 1952 Kume Island, Okinawa, Japan |
| Residence |
 Naha, Okinawa, Japan
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| Style | Gōjū-ryū Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Eiichi Miyazato |
| Rank | 9th dan karate |
| Website | http://www.gojuryukenkyukai.com |
Masaji Taira (Taira Masaji 平良 正次?, born December 1, 1952) is a leading teacher of Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Do, and head of the Okinawa Gojuryu Kenkyu Kai. His teacher was Eiichi Miyazato, a student of Chojun Miyagi and the founder of the Okinawan Jundokan dojo. Taira's karate is that of his teacher and the Jundokan, with the addition of his novel approach to the application of the kata.
Taira is best known as a researcher and practitioner of the bunkai of the Goju Ryu kata. He is unusually open in his teachings, feeling that the techniques and learning must be shared, for their preservation and to test their effectiveness.
Taira was raised on Kume Island. His family were farmers, growing sugarcane and rice. In his third year of high school the family moved to Naha, where Taira finished his schooling.
When he was young on Kume Island the kids all used to do Okinawa Sumo. They would go to the sand pit when they were in school and do that during break times. There were always Okinawa Sumo competitions and tournaments between the different villages.
At age 16, Taira started training in Goju ryu karate at the Jundokan dojo of Eiichi Miyazato. There was a break in his karate training when he joined the Japanese police force. He has trained continuously at Goju ryu karate since he was 21.
He joined the Japanese Police Force when he graduated from High School. As part of his riot police training he was required to learn judo. He achieved his judo black belt in 3 months, when 6 months was more common. He attributes this to his childhood Okinawa Sumo training. He is currently 4th dan in Judo.
His day as a member of the riot squad ended at 5pm whereby he would make the journey from Gushikawa City where he was stationed to the Jundokan in Naha where from 6pm to 10pm every night he would pursue his karate training with an equal dedication under the guidance of Miyazato, founder of the Jundokan and heir to Chojun Miyagi.
While in his early years at the Jundokan he met a senior in the Dojo called Shinko Gima. Gima was a very wiry, extremely strong man whose kata exudes power. Although a slight man, he was formidable in his speed and execution of technique. Realising they were on a similar path the two men teamed up and spent their time in the dojo training together. Both hating to lose there were many battle scars received on both sides. After the dojo on many occasions, taken by the spirit of perfecting their technique, they would make their way to the hills of Madanbashi approximately an hours walk from the Jundokan. There they would spend their time training until sunrise on some occasions. Being the hills and given Okinawa's tropical climate, the mosquitoes were always in abundant supply giving them all the more reason to keep moving.
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Wikipedia