Akinora Hosaka

 

Interviewed by Carl Fisher on 18 February 2001

Carl Fisher: Can you tell me your current position within the BJC?

Akinora Hosaka : I am technical advisor and chief examiner.

Carl Fisher : What is your current grade?

Akinora Hosaka : I am Kodokan 7^th Dan graded in 1985.

Carl Fisher : When did you come over the England?

Akinora Hosaka : October 1962 I came to North Manchester.

Carl Fisher : And who sent you over here?

Akinora Hosaka : Trevor Leggett, who is my guarantor. At that time I was in Japan teaching Judo and helping the police for 2 years. I was then asked by Trevor to come to Manchester. I was involved with British Judo Association for 3 years and eventually I didn't go back - I just stayed.

Carl Fisher : So what grade were you when you came over to the UK?

Akinora Hosaka : I came over at 24 years old and I was 5th Dan.

Carl Fisher : Where in Japan do you come from?

Akinora Hosaka : North Japan an area known as the Akita Prefacture. There, I was Junior Champion and after high school I went to Tokyo and attended the Nihon University and studied law. Then I was fighting for the University and training a lot and I had four years training in Kodokan, the same amount of time as I was a student at the University.

Carl Fisher : What was it like training in the Kodokan?

Akinora Hosaka : It is based on Randori, which is practising all the time but that is only a small part of what we do at Nihon. We went from morning to night, almost training all the time.

Carl Fisher : Do you think that they could handle it now?

Akinora Hosaka : No, No.

Carl Fisher : What did a typical day training consist of?

Akinora Hosaka : Well we'd get up at 5.30 and start running at 6.00am. Do warming up and jogging about 5 or 6 miles come back then we'd do all the exercises like sit-ups and push-ups. Then we'd have breakfast, which we'd make ourselves - making Japanese food. So every day 3 students would have to cook, your turn comes round every 2 or 3 weeks. Then the underground travel takes nearly 1_ hours to get to University, so you start to study at 10.00 and finish at 3.30. So 3.30 to 5.30 we do solid fighting Randori at the University, 100 students together. When finished, we go to police dojo club, we do 1 hours ground work. Then from 6.30 we go 1_ hours to Kodokan - again, Randori fighting non-stop. So when we get to our lodgings it would be about 8.00 or 9.00 pm. Then eating, having a bath and things like that, it comes round to ten o clock.

Carl Fisher : 7 days a week?

Akinora Hosaka : 6 days a week (1 day off) but almost always there was a competition on Sundays.

Carl Fisher : Did you pick up a lot of injuries?

Akinora Hosaka : Oh yes, it was very hard - so many students start the first year and then they run away. They cannot stay because they are mentally weak, do you understand?

Carl Fisher : Yes I understand.

Akinora Hosaka : At my time about forty students got together when studying at University, at the end, there was five of us.

It must have been a very strong team?

Akinora Hosaka : They were like my brothers you know. For example, I have been to the USA because four of them from my time at the boarding house now live in the US. New York, New Jersey. They have a lovely Judo club, so I stayed there.

Carl Fisher : What are their grades?

Akinora Hosaka : Firstly Yonezuka, a Kodokan 8^th Dan, he has a Judo club in New Jersey - beautiful. He teaches Judo, Karate, Thai-boxing and is also the President of Sumo in USA. He is National USA Judo Coach and still goes on the mat and fights against top Judo players. We are very close friends. Shimamoto is also 8^th Dan and we are close friends; he has a dojo in New Jersey I believe.

Also Kanakogi is married to a woman who is president of New York Judo Club, her name is Lusti Kanakogi.

The next is Shina, very small, a lightweight; he had a brilliant Judo career. When I was into the first year and a black belt I was 18 years old, he was a 3rd Dan this man. He used to throw me all over the mat, very small but powerful at Judo.

Carl Fisher : What is the difference between Kodokan grade and a UK grade in Judo?

Akinora Hosaka : I am very proud to be a Kodokan grade because the requirement of standard is very hard. So you have to have a result of a competition and also you have to be competent and good standard of Judo, also a good personality. These are all included so I am proud. I think UK grading is based on just competing. The requirements are different, Kodokan are fully examined properly.

Carl Fisher : Can you tell me about your competition achievements?

Akinora Hosaka : We were Tokyo Championship winners as a team in 1958/59. When I finished University I was Japan Police Coach in North Japan, I entered All Japan Champions twice, I was North Japan Champion twice in 1961/62. Then I entered the All Japan Champions but it was not a good result - I lost, but then I came to this country in 1962.

Carl Fisher : So you are into the coaching side now?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes that is right.

Carl Fisher : What are your aims and objectives now for the next couple of years?

Akinora Hosaka : I am a great believer in the philosophy in Judo; Kodokan is created by the philosophy of Jigoro Kano. I think the BJC can help UK/British Judo very much - first we want standards that are high, wide support not just winning medals. You can win with one technique in a contest, you don't need many but to support Judo we need a wide range of techniques, and as I am chief examiner I would like people to be taught not only one technique but many and develop them young. Within the BJC, it is our job to create Judo and also good discipline for everybody, it doesn't matter who they are or what their standard is. So physically and mentally, we try to improve them - this is our job.

Carl Fisher : Will you be holding any seminars here?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes I do go round the area, we do a coaching seminar and already the bookings are coming in and we won a coaching award based on our teaching. To become a coach you study safety and first aid, they are all included. So in England we now have up to 400 BJC Coaches; they have passed the qualifications 1 and 2.

Carl Fisher : Going back to the University; was it very competitive?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes, very competitive, I'm talking about 1959/60 - now its 2001 so its been changed but it is still team against team and still competitive. I went to Japan 2 days ago and our University won and so did all the boys.

Carl Fisher : What was your favourite technique?

Akinora Hosaka : When I was young I was doing hanigoshi and when I got older it didn't work so I changed to taiotoshi and eventually I used to win with an ouchi/kouchi combination.

Carl Fisher : Do you have a favourite technique on the ground?

Akinora Hosaka : I liked to strangle on the ground.

Carl Fisher : Do you believe in Kata in Judo?

Akinora Hosaka : It is quite important.

Carl Fisher : Would it be good for children?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes because kata helps and is vitally important for children because it teaches them all basic Judo. It depends on the coaches and how they introduce it to their students.

Carl Fisher : Who was your instructor in Japan?

Akinora Hosaka : My instructor's first name was Osaka he was 6th Dan and he was a very good coach. Another coach, even now I see him in Tokyo, Sato, is a famous man who wrote a book, he was my second coach.

Carl Fisher : Who do you rate/respect in Judo at the moment?

Akinora Hosaka : In Japan anyone who competes hard and people who win world titles, for example, in England I do like to see Neil Adams; his Judo is beautiful. Yamashita, who is retired, would be another one.

Carl Fisher : Do you know Kashiwasaki?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes I met him in England; he came to our area in Manchester and did a demonstration about 15 years ago. There was a master training in Birmingham at that time and he was the coach who came.

Carl Fisher : Have you enjoyed the tournament this weekend?

Akinora Hosaka : Yes quite interesting. A good standard especially yesterday afternoon in the Veterans Championship.

Carl Fisher : Thank you very much for your time Akinora, a most interesting interview.

Akinora Hosaka : My pleasure Carl.

Carl Fisher ADCC Europe

 

 

Home | SFUK Forum | back to interviews