|
| Densho |
This is one of those videos that tries to re-cap a famous persons life, tell their story, and give some idea to the public what made that person tick. Before we get to the material of the video, let me take a little space here to explain the name of the video, as well as translate the Japanese writing on the cover so you know a little more about it.
The first two lines of Japanese characters are “Hasha” and “Tanaka Masahiko”. The term “hasha” is one that is best translated as “supreme champion” or “ruler”. Tanaka Masahiko apparently had no objection to being called by this title, and it is the first time that I have ever heard it used to refer to anyone outside of Emperors of old Japan.
Under those first two lines of the video cover we have three smaller characters, “kanketsuhen”, and the title of the video using two characters, “Densho”, at the very bottom. “Kanketsuhen” is best translated as “conclusive edition” or perhaps, “final word”. “Densho” is a word that has with it a lot of variation in meaning, and is best understood in some kind of context. The word by itself can mean “transmission”, “legend”, “tradition”, “biography”, “succession”, or even “commentary”. So, we can gather from these various contexts, and positioning it against the title of Tanaka Masahiko and the substance of the video, that the word “Densho” might mean something more like “Transmission of a Legend” or “Words of a Master for Posterity”, or some such thing. Please keep in mind that these translations are my own, and the errors therein as well.
At any rate, the video starts with some rather odd posturing of Tanaka-sensei and a karate instructor he uses frequently (this instructor's name escapes me at present, but he is the same one Tanaka-Sensei pounds on throughout his text Hasha Tanaka Masahiko no Kumite). The two men are standing around a blazing bonfire. You see the flames. You hear the crackling of wood. You see Tanaka-Sensei's hand zoom into the frame and punch very closely to his friend's head. Then you see Tanaka-Sensei crossing his arms and scowling from across the fire at you. Although I am sure that Tanaka-Sensei is a real fun guy at campfire cookouts, I wouldn't want to be the guy who tries to lead the group in a campfire sing- a-long of Kumbayah with him around.
The video is a collage of pieces and parts of Tanaka-sensei's career, interspersed with his accounts of doing karate in Europe, training when he was young, and his impressions of competing professionally and being undefeated. Some of his talk is quite interesting and it is neat to hear him speak casually about his experiences. In addition, the video has some need stuff of Tanaka-sensei demonstrating some good kumite technique and combinations. The guy is getting older, but he still moves very smoothly and has some real power on his technique. Whether or not he is still a “supreme ruler” however, that is another matter altogether.
One quirky thing about this video, and we see the same thing in his book, Hasha Tanaka Masahiko no Kumite (The kumite of supreme ruler Tanaka Masahiko), is that commentary is given by someone seemingly outside the karate world. In the video, after a few enthusiastic and glowing comments of Sensei Stan Schmidt of South Africa about the “samurai” status of Tanaka Masahiko, the producers of the video thought that it might be good to talk to the guy who runs the weight training gym in front of the dojo about karate. It was weird. In Hasha Tanaka Masahiko no Kumite (The kumite of supreme ruler Tanaka Masahiko), the foreword is written by Gary Player, golf pro, about how he is glad to hear that Tanaka-Sensei likes golf. Weird.
Anyway, the video gets kind of mixed review from me. If I were you, I wouldn't run out and get this video in a hurry. It is made for a Japanese audience and nothing is in English except for Sensei Schmidt and the gym guy. I think that you can likely find Tanaka-Sensei's championship video in some other production than this one. It is nice to hear the man speak, but unless you can understand the language, and can comprehend some what the man says in low, and at times undecipherable tones, you should spend your hard-earned yen on something different.
Mark Groenewold
| Videos Index | Site Home |