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I myself could be regarded as living proof. I am now 83 years of age. I have never been seriously ill. Several times a year I travel overseas to supervise karate training. I never feel any jetlag and always start practicing with the young karateka the next morning after my arrival. 6

In 1938 my father published the book Introduction into Attack and Defense Techniques in Karate Kempō.7 He stressed the positive effects of training, writing: “Karate helps to gain more pleasure in all other activities”, “Weak persons can strengthen their body practicing at home”, “Sick and overweight persons get strong muscles and become healthy”, “One drinks less alcohol in the evenings and one works more efficiently at day”, or “Neuralgia and mental weakness get cured”.

My father actively propagated karate as an excellent means to protect and strengthen health. In cooperation with a medical university he could scientifically prove the positive physical effects by blood tests and urinalysis. In his book there are extracts from a research report on the physiological effects of karate by marine physicians. According to their report the metabolic functions and nerve reflexes, the sense of balance and the muscle power were improved. The whole physical condition was harmonized. Thus, the positive influence of karate practice on the body was sufficiently proven.8