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Taken from
an interview on the Karate history of
Nicholas B Adamou
By Steve Austin 5thDan
Steve Austin
Thanks very much for agreeing to do this interview on your karate
history Nick. Well, I'd like to start by asking you the most obvious
question which I suppose is, when was the very first time that you
ever heard about karate?
Nick Adamou
It was in 1964 when I was 17 years of age and a student at Tottenham
Technical College. There was a student at the college called Terry
Shram who, apart from looking remarkably like Charlie Watts, the
drummer of the Rolling Stones, was beginning to get quite a reputation
for himself as the person who could break wood simply by 'Chopping'
it with the side of his hand.
I was intrigued and fascinated by
this and as soon as word got around that there was to be another
'Wood chopping moment' with 'Terry', I made sure to be there when
it happened.
S.A.
So did you manage to be there? What happened?
N.A.
Well it was very impressive to see this quiet, unassuming and rather
placid individual, who had very little to say for himself most of
the time, just stand there, and then after raising his hand up,
suddenly bring it down with incredible speed as he shouted (kiai),
straight through a one inch thick, piece of wood performing a Shuto-Uchi
(Knife hand strike).
S.A.
Was this the defining moment for you then? Was it because of
this that you decided to learn karate?
N.A.
No, not at all. At that time it was believed that only people who
had practiced Judo could take up karate and, as I had no intention
of learning Judo, I never imagined that I would be allowed or be
able to learn karate.
S.A.
So what was it that then?
N.A.
Well it was because of an A4 leaflet which was pinned on the notice
board just outside the gymnasium of the college. It was April 1964
and I had about two and a half months remaining before I would go
on a six week holiday to Athens, with my brother, Chris and our
friend David. As I came out of the gym and turned to my left, I
noticed the A4 leaflet with the word 'Karate' at the top. There
were two Japanese men wearing white uniforms. One was crouched low
in a long Kokutsu-Dachi (back stance) with the other man some four
feet above him performing a Yoko-Tobi-Geri (Flying side thrust kick).
I was instantly struck by the dynamic and geometrical art encompassed
in the move and felt that, although this looked like a kind of beautiful
ballet, the moves must surely be effective and deadly.
S.A.
So what happened? Did you cancel the holiday and start karate
instead?
N.A.
No. I was too excited about the holiday to cancel it, especially
as this would be the first time that I would be going on a holiday
without my mother and father as a family. There were about two and
a half months to go before the planned trip and I decided to visit
the local library to find out about karate clubs in the area and
also to take out a book on the subject.
S.A.
Did you join a karate club before you went on your trip? What book
were you given?
N.A.
Well, the woman at the library was unable to come up with any information
about karate clubs and asked me to come back in a few days when
she had looked into it further by contacting other libraries. As
far as the book, well, I really couldn't have been given a more
apt one. The book was 'Karate, The Art of Empty Hand Fighting' by
Nishyama and Brown.
You know, it seems quite strange when I think that, the organisation
that I would eventually join, would invite the very person who was
chosen to perform Heian Yondan in the book that I had just been
given from the library, and that this person, namely Hirokazu Kanazawa,
would be my instructor just a year later when the BKF invited him
to be its resident instructor for London.
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