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NEI-CHU SO, SHIHAN
When I was driven almost to self-ruin, Mr. So
Nei-Chu, an elder of my native province, rescued me from the crisis.
Mr. So, a thinker and master of karate, was a rare man of character
and confidence. Moreover, he was a devotee of the Nichiren Sect.
He preached to me that martial arts and religion are inseparably
united and taught me the scripture of his sect.
When I was at my wits' end as to what to do and
went to see him, Mr. So, after encouraging me, said, 'You had better
withdraw from the world. Seek solace in nature. Retreat to some
lone mountain hide out to train your mind and body. In three years
you will gain something immeasurable. As the proverb goes, "Temper
the heated iron before it gets cold, so train yourself in self
discipline before you grow older if you wish to be a great man."'
When I heard Mr. So's advice, I felt as if I had
been awakened and I suddenly understood the path to take. The Oriental
Confucian maxim is: 'First train one's self, manage a household,
and then reign of over a country.' It is essential to train one's
self if one wants to administer the affairs of state wealth.
To Mr. So, I shall forever be grateful for his
advice and instruction which made me what I am as a karate master.
I made up my mind to concentrate on the difficult road ahead. I
reviewed all the futile actions I had taken in the past and decided,
as advised by Mr. So, to isolate myself at Mt. Kiyozumi in Chiba
Prefecture."
Words of Masutatsu Oyama from his book "What
is Karate?".
So was a direct student of Gogen
Yamaguchi "The Cat". Masutatsu
Oyama was So's most noted student.
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