(Shihan Kanazawa, a student of Gichin Funakoshi, is currently the World Chief Instructor for the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation and remains the only karateka ever to have won the notorious 'All Japan Karate Championships' three times in a row.)

Q: What are your most important teaching points?

HK: Breathing, movement and timing - but breathing is first. The very first thing we do in this world is to breathe - but 90 per cent of the population do not know how to breathe correctly. If your breathing is wrong, your body will be wrong and your mind will be wrong also. There is a very strong connection. You control your spirit with your breathing and should always be thinking and trying to learn more about this most vital aspect, since it is the very core of life. I always stress the philosophical and health aspects of karate and try to explain the reason behind the techniques.

For instance, when I'm teaching the tsuki I do not show a punch to hit someone, I relate the movement to the person's hara - the centre. I explain in the tsuki, that you should always push the head straight because it will promote good health by sending blood and oxygen into the head, which nourishes the cells. Utilising the correct breathing, the hara, the concentration and the impact produces a slight vibration on the vertebral column, which communicates to the brain and produces a sort of massaging effect. Remember that basic movements must be good for health; if not, then they are not good for human life. I can give you an example. Performing the fumikomi in the tekki kata flexes the base of the spine which uses the whole correctly. The base of the spine is a nerve centre which stimulates the internal organs.

Two hundred years ago, bushi was OK. It was a matter of being strong without caring about health or anything else because there was a continuous life and death struggle. One had to be strong and have no fear in order to face daily life. Now, things have changed in society, and it is more important to be healthy in body and mind. Our character must be more peaceful but still having the same bushido spirit.

Q: Did your understanding of breathing change your physical techniques?

HK: Yes. In the beginning I did not teach so much about breathing, but I adhered to a power style - quite a natural thing when young because at that age you favour strength. But with time and thought, I have come to a realisation that winning can be done using only 60 per cent of your power - 100 per cent is not necessary if you have good technique. If I use 60 per cent correctly and then use 40 per cent of my opponent's power against him, the total is still 100 per cent and the combination will result in more damage to him. This approach is the result of my tai chi studies.

Q: Have you modified any of the basic karate techniques?

HK: Not really, but my tsuki has developed considerably since my younger days - but it happened subconsciously. I was not thinking about it, it just developed. I now have a double kime - a physical focus first and then a speed focus, which delivers more shock. I did not realise what I was doing until it was point out to me by Matsuda Ryuchi, a very famous authority on Chinese martial arts. He mentioned that my punch was from Chinese kempo - but I was unaware of that. The same happened in other aspects. For instance, some people think that I have changed kata, but I never did. After five years of kata training, two people can practice the same movement and look identical - but after ten years differences emerge. They may think that they are doing the same movement, but since the body, character and thoughts are different it is only natural that the kata will be different.

Q: You are in great physical condition. How do you train?

HK: If I could train as I like, I'd be in even better condition, but sometimes it is impossible due to meetings, visitors, business, et cetera. I believe a good karateka must use his and his mind, so I study and read also. This gives a practitioner a much stronger quality - a balanced personality. As far as food, I think a lot depends on the mental attitude. If you eat something and think "This is not good for me" then your body won't make proper use of it. But even if you eat curry, for example, and think "This is good! Its great for my body", then you'll derive something positive from it. I also think control of the hara helps your body to use the food properly.

Q: What's your advice to practitioners?

HK: I would like to see them work to understand the real spirit of karate - the breathing control and the cultivation of hara. They are difficult to put into words but can be found and experienced with thought and by applying oneself. My philosophy is to always be true to myself and to others. I can honestly say that I fear nothing, not even death - and I do not mean this in a big-headed or conceited way. I simply always try my best in everything I do, so I will be satisfied when I die. I think the reason that people fear death is because they want to accomplish many things that are left undone - they feel their life is unfinished.

Tournaments are okay, but the practitioner has to understand more than only sport. Usually the practitioner is disappointed when the point goes against him because winning is everything, and he understands nothing else. A person like this is very dangerous to society because he respects only himself. If you respect your opponent, you'll never start a war. Everything connects to karate. True Budo is good for society..