Kurama Karate is my dream. In Japan there is a mountain north of Kyoto named Mt. Kurama. It is said that Sōjōbō, king of the tengu resides there. The tengu are creatures from Japanese myth. Considered to be deities, spirits and monsters, often confused with yamabushi, they are supernatural creatures of great wisdom and martial skill. There are several stories of martial artists encountering, and even training under tengu in the mountains of Japan. The most famous such story is of Minamoto Yoshitsune training under Sōjōbō himself.
My dream is to create a facility which supports the development and protection of traditional martial arts, specifically traditional Shotokan Karate. I plan to one day found a camp of sorts, a place which aspiring Karate instructors may come to train, learn and grow in their Karate under the guidance of the very best instruction available today. One of the last true Uchi Deshi opportunities. That is why I chose to name it “Camp Kurama”, bringing to mind a place of quality training which is inhabited by individuals of matchless skill.
It is my strong belief that martial arts has much to teach us and must be made readily available to the public from a young age. I envision Shotokan Karate in public schools all over the country. I have no illusions of the incredible task such a change would be, however I can think of nothing more worthy of my most valuable resource, my life, than this. To reach this goal I originally sought to position myself to affect change in the school system. I soon realized that if we do not have many, quality instructors, who have undergone rigorous and thorough training and preparation to fill the many teaching positions needed for this dream, any work done to get Karate into school curriculum’s would be in vain.
That is why I want to create “Camp Kurama”. A place where someone of true drive and character can come and be filled up. Where a fierce dedication to quality of instruction and training can lead to a new generation of instructors, equipped to protect and propagate Shotokan Karate in a way never before seen stateside.
This website will serve as a simple blog where I post my own experiences and observations as I progress through the ISKF instructor training program and beyond. I plan to slowly expand this website and eventually use it as the official home-site of Kurama Karate and Camp Kurama. Stick around, I promise this’ll be good!
-John K. Fitch 08-05-2011