Autobiography Part 16: Karate in Malaysia

Q: Can you tell us something about karate in your homeland, Malaysia?

A: Karate in Malaysia started in the early 1960s. A gentleman named Mr. Choo, a Chinese-Malaysian and an Australian chartered accountant, was instrumental in its introduction. He's considered the father of Malaysian karate.

Mr. Choo went to Japan and brought back many karate styles.

• The first style he introduced was Shito-ryu.

He encountered some issues with the Shito-ryu sensei because he wanted to be in control. When they didn't agree with his suggestions, he terminated their work permits and they had to leave the country. One of the Shito-ryu sensei, Ishikawa, went to Singapore, which is about 300-400 kilometers from Malaysia.

• He began teaching Shito-ryu in Singapore, which explains its popularity there today.

Mr. Choo then brought in Shotokan karate sensei. He had similar problems with them, so he brought in another style called Kishin-kan. This was under the leadership of Masanobu Takazawa.

He brought in about five Japanese sensei:

• Masuyuki Takasaka (5th Dan) - a fantastic karateka
• Yamasaki (5th Dan) - a small but fantastic karateka
• Hideo Kamay - formerly of Goju-ryu, brought Goju-ryu techniques to Kishin-kan training. He also introduced Sai techniques to Malaysia.
• Masuyuki Takasaka was famous for his nunchaku katas, so we also had the privilege of learning nunchaku.
• There was another lower-ranking sensei whose name I can't recall. I think he resides in Australia today. Many of our karate sensei used to go to Australia to teach. The Australian army in Malaysia learned karate from us, which created a connection to Australia. Many Malaysians reside in Australia because of this.

Let's discuss Kishin-kan karate. It is a breakaway from Shotokan. Their karate was very similar—99% Shotokan. Their kicking techniques were fantastic. After we were training in Kishin-kan karate, Mr. Choo eventually had the same problems and dismissed them as well.

In the late 1960s, he attended the first World Karate Tournament held in the Budokan Hall in Tokyo. This hall was built around 1968. He was invited as a Malaysian representative. While there, he met various Japanese individuals. On his way back, he visited Okinawa and met many other sensei, including Shimbukuro Zenpo sensei. His son, Tony Chu, was also a good karateka who passed away a few years ago. We still have photos of Mr. Choo and his son with Zenpo sensei today.

Upon his return, Mr. Choo started creating his own karate style. He had enough of the Japanese instructors and decided to create a new style called Budokan Karate. He named it after the Budokan Hall where he attended the first World Tournament.

He declared that from then on, their karate style would be called Budokan within the Karate Association of Malaysia. It was not a federation representing the country, but a style called Malaysian Karate Association.

Budokan incorporated:

• Kishin-kan techniques and katas (99%)
• Some Goju-ryu katas (due to Hideo Kamay sensei)
• Nunchaku
• Sai
• Some Shotokan katas
• One or two Shito-ryu katas

It was a mix of Goju-ryu, Shotokan, and Shito-ryu, but he called it Budokan. This is what we were teaching.

One of my seniors introduced karate to my city. He taught the same Budokan style. Later, he had a misunderstanding with Mr. Choo because he went to Japan under Kishin-kan and was promoted from first to third dan.

Mr. Choo didn't like this. During a grading examination, Mr. Choo arranged for his son to injure my senior instructor, which he did. My senior instructor was badly injured. Mr. Choo didn't want to recognize the third dan promotion.

My senior instructor decided to separate from the Budokan organization and called his style Seukhan, after seeing a magazine with photos of Mr. Choo in Okinawa with Zenpo and Zeno, labelled as "Karate Seukhan Dojo."

Mr. Choo became angry and published in the newspaper that my senior instructor was a fraud, never went to Okinawa, and was using the name Seukhan to spoil his reputation.

We discussed this with our senior sensei and suggested that he affiliate with a school in Okinawa to clear his name. I and other dojo members contributed financially to support his trip. He went to Okinawa in 1972.

Important: Zempo sensei had passed away in 1969. He met Zeno sensei and also visited Matayoshi sensei, whom he saw in Mr. Choo's book. He trained there for a month, learning a bit of kobudo and karate. When he returned, he named his style Shorin-ryu Seukhan-ryu. I will continue this story in the next episode.

Q: You learned many karate styles in a few years. Wasn't that confusing for you?

A: At the time, I didn't see it as confusing. I saw it as a disadvantage because styles were constantly changing, and we had to start over each time. But looking back, I see it as an advantage. I have knowledge of many styles.

When I speak with Shotokan practitioners or practitioners of other styles like Goju-ryu, I can easily have a good discussion and explain about Shotokan or other styles. Since I've been to Okinawa, I've been involved in many other styles. It gives me a broader perspective and a better understanding.

Thank you very much.