James Mitose

Infobox_martial_artist
name = James Mitose
residence =
other_names = Masakichi


imagesize = 180px
caption = James Mitose at age 58
birth_name = Masayoshi Mitose
birth_date = birth date|1916|12|30
birth_place = Kailua-Kona, North Kona District, Hawaii, USA flagicon|USA
death_date = death date|1981|3|26 (aged 64)
death_place = San Quentin, California, USA
death_cause = complications of diabetes
martial_art = Kenpo-Ju-Jitsu, Kosho-ryu Kenpo, Kosho Shorei Ryu Kenpo
teacher =
rank = 21st Great Grand Master of Kosho-ryu Kenpo
students = William Chow, Nimr Hassan, Bruce Juchnik, Arthur Keawe, Edward Lowe, Thomas Barro Mitose, Giro Nakamura, Fusae Oshita, Roy Y. Suenaka [ [http://www.aikidooforlando.com/SuenakaSensei.htm Biography of Roy Y. Suenaka, Soke] ] , Paul Yamaguchi, Thomas S.H. Young
website =
footnotes =

James Masayoshi Mitose (born "Masayoshi Mitose", (December 30 1916 — March 26, 1981) [ [http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/mitoseBirthcertificatesandfamily.htm Birth] ] was a Japanese American martial artist who brought the art of Kenpo to the United States starting in the late 1930s.

Mitose was an obscure and controversial individual in the history of American Kenpo and remains a figure of conjecture.Fact|date=February 2008 He was convicted of murder and extortion in 1974, despite conflicting testimony and the fact that the court admitted that the Japanese testimony had not been accurately translated, and sentenced to Folsom Prison. Many Kenpo teachers trace their lineage to him.

Martial Arts Training and Lineage

The actual circumstances around his martial arts training remain obscure, but his practices contained marked similarities to Okinawan karate and Japanese jujutsu. Mitose might have had access to training in such arts in both Hawaii and Japan.

James Masayoshi (Masakichi) Mitose was born in Kailua-Kona, North Kona District, Hawaii on December 30, 1916. On October 22, 1920, at the age of three, he was sent to Japan [ [http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/mitosereturnfromjapan.htm Mitose's return from Japan] ] to be given formal education and upbringing with family living there. While there, in addition to his schoolwork and university studies, he trained in the art of Kenpo. He returned to the United States on February 25, 1937, arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii on the SS Tatsuta Maru at the age of 20.

Mitose began teaching Kenpo and in 1942 set up a martial arts school.Fact|date=February 2008 He gave the style he taught a number of different names during his lifetime, including "Shorinji Kempo" and "Kempo Jujutsu," (both names of recognized Japanese martial arts), but over time, settled on the name Kosho-Ryu Kempo. The word "Kempo" (or "Kenpo") is a Japanese form of "Ch'uan Fa."

When the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, James Mitose enlisted in the National Guard, although he was honorably discharged after three weeks. [ [http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/mitose_military_record.htm Military record] ] He spent most of the war teaching Kempo in Hawaii, to prepare American civilians against a possible Japanese invasion.

Tracy Kenpo claims a lineage through Mitose to the Yoshida clan based on the theory that Mitose's family in Japan lived near a "Mt. Akenkai's Shaka-In temple". Mount Akenkai might be Mount Kinkai, near the town of Kinkai, Nagasaki on the island of Kyūshū. This may have been where the Kosho sect of the Yoshida (Urabe) clan taught.

Michael Brown of [http://www.rimartialarts.com Rhode Island Martial Arts] claims to possess documents showing three families of James Mitose. [ [http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10109 Solving a Mitose mystery] ] The first family being from Mitose's father's side. This includes his father, Otokichi Mitose and Otokichi's parents, Kaheiji Mitose, and Kano Kawakami Mitose. [ [http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/mitose_documents_installment_thr.htm Mitose Documents Installment Three] ] The second family, from Mitose's mother's side, includes his mother Kiyoka Yoshida Mitose and Kiyoka's biological father, Sakuhei Yoshida. Sakuhei Yoshida was married to a woman who was not Kiyoka's biological mother.

Sakuhei Yoshida conceived Kiyoka Yoshida Mitose with a woman outside of his marriage named Toju Kosho. James Mitose would learn Kosho-ryu from the family of Toju Kosho. It is worthwhile to note that on Mitose's parents' record of marriage, Kiyoka Yoshida Mitose's mother is not named as Toju Kosho. Instead the name "Toju Unknown" occupies this position of the document.

In the book, "What is True Self-Defense?" and later in life, Mitose described his teachings as those of Japanese style. In the book, Mitose describes methods similar to yoga and the tai sabaki principles found in many Japanese arts. The evidence of "What Is Self Defense?" and accounts and photos strongly suggest, however he got it, Mitose had a background in an Okinawan style. Some modern proponents of Kosho-Ryu believe that he used an Okinawan art as a vehicle for his teaching of a native Japanese art.Fact|date=September 2007

"What Is Self Defense?" contents seem to echo those of an earlier book: "Karate Kenpo" by Mutsu Mizuho (1933). This includes the arrangement of diagrams and photographs; in one case, a photo (of Higaonna Kamesuke) is reproduced entirely. The earlier book contains the forms Passai-sho, Kushanku-sho, Niseishi, Chinte and Gojushiho along with the 15 kata which Gichin Funakoshi introduced in his books. The versions are very similar to those found in Shotokan. As of 1933, Karate Kenpo appeared to be very clearly rooted in Shotokan. Mitose's book also includes a picture of Choki Motobu, reproduced from Motobu's book, in a position that usually indicates a student acknowledging his teacher. It is from here that many assume that Mitose was acknowledging Motobu as his teacher. Mitose listed Motobu as a Kenpo master in his book. Mitose was noted for teaching one Kata at his school: the Naihanchi Kata, which also was Choki Motobu's primary form and the only one featured in Motubu's second book "Okinawan Kenpo Kumite Hen". Mitose also taught the use of the Makiwara, a signature Okinawan training method. Okinawans had a thriving community in Hawaii, including martial arts training. Higaonna Kamesuke stayed in Hawaii after 1933 with Thomas Miyashiro, and taught classes in Kona. Higaonna had studied under Mutsu and Motobu, and taught Karate Kenpo in Mitose's home town of Kona just a few years before Mitose opened his school, although Mitose was still in Japan at the time.

Mitose ultimately called his style Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo, which can translate to "Old Pine Tree School of Encouragement". Bushi Matsumura's style, which he taught to Anko Itosu who taught it to Gichin Funakoshi and Choki Motobu among others, was Okinawan "Shorin-Ryu", which is often translated as "Little Pine Forest".Fact|date=September 2007 In his early days in Hawaii, when Mitose started teaching after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he called his art as simply Kenpo-jujitsu (Nerve Strike method) and would refer to it as Shorinji Kempo or Go shin jitsu. The word "Shorin" is characteristic of styles from Okinawa, although Shorinji Kempo is a Japanese art founded by Doshin So.

Mitose claimed that he learned martial arts and religion in a Buddhist temple, but his descriptions of organization and practices of the temple do not match those practiced by mainstream Japanese Buddhism. It is possible that Mitose came from a heterodox background. Mitose often dressed as a Christian minister. In "What Is True Self Defense?" he stated that one should practice the dominant religion of whatever country one is in, including its application to martial arts and spiritual practices. This book (the original manuscript to his first book, which was completed and published while he was imprisoned and presumably conscious that his writings and actions would influence his release conditions), discourages offensive martial arts techniques completely, presenting its contents as a form of yoga and escape. Mitose even writes that karate is "evil." The description or lineage Mitose gave for his style also emphasized its Chinese roots. As a Japanese-American emigrating to Hawaii in 1937, he might have prudently downplayed the Japanese side of his background.

Later Years and Conviction

In 1953, James Mitose ceased teaching Kenpo regularly, and dropped out of sight. He privately taught a few students in that time, including Nimr Hassan (formerly Terry Lee ). However, in 1974 Mitose was arrested in Los Angeles and convicted on murder and extortion charges stemming from a conflict from repayment over a loan and the murder committed by Hassan.

According to trial transcripts, James Mitose denied inciting Hassan to commit murder but took responsibility as his martial arts instructor. Hassan claimed Mitose had suggested on numerous occasions that Hassan commit murder. Hassan also testified that Mitose and his wife Dorthy, had given Hassan a rope, knife, screwdriver and an air pistol in order to carry out his actions. A Mr. Namimatsu was killed by Hassan on March 20, 1974. The official cause of death was strangulation by rope. Namimatsu also suffered a completely collapsed eye, had been stabbed multiple times with a screwdriver and had a shoe imprint on his chest matching the shoes Hassan was wearing. After the assault, Hassan testified he had left Namimatsu breathing. As a note of interest, this murder took place only blocks away from the famous Black Dahlia Murder in 1947. [ [http://www.christophergeary.com/jm/Mitose_Transcript.pdf Mitose Trial Transcript] ]

James Mitose was sentenced to life in prison and died in San Quentin State Prison of complications of diabetes on March 26, 1981. While in prison, he taught and ranked his son Thomas Barro Mitose, as well as Bruce Juchnik, Rick Alemany, Ray Arquilla, Eugene Sedeno, and Arnold Golub. In "What is True Self Defense?", he acknowledges Arnold Golub as "Honorable Headmaster", and the other four men as "Honorable Masters." To his son, he gives the title "Honorable Grandmaster. (Page VII, Mitose, J. "What is True Self Defense? Testbook Number 1", Kosho Shorei Publishing, Sacramento, CA) He maintained his innocence to his death, and many schools which follow in his training lineage still maintain that he was wrongfully convicted. The details of this incident remain controversial in the martial arts community. [ [http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/articles.htm Some Trial transcripts] ]

Influence

By the time of his death, Kenpo had been widely spread throughout the United States and western world. Almost all Kempo schools outside of Japan trace their lineage to the teachings of James Mitose, via William K.S. Chow, Ed Parker and Tracy Kenpo.

Jim Perkins, interviewing Chow in an article published in the July 25th issue of "Black Belt" magazine on page 36, quotes him as saying, "my father('s) my teacher, not Mitose!" However, nobody has ever been able to turn up any proof that William Chow's father knew any martial arts. In the same article, Chow went on to say that Ed Parker was only a purple belt when he left him, so the credibility of Chow's comments are at least questionable. Adriano Emperado has stated that William Chow taught what James Mitose taught, and that Mitose was a "master instructor."

According to "Infinite Insights into Kenpo Volume 1", Parker stated: "Contrary to some of the claims that have been made in publications, I was never a student of James Mitose." Parker trained under Chow, and although he knew Mitose, he was already moving away from the kenpo that William Chow had taught him by the time he met Mitose.

Nimr Hassan is a free man today and runs the [http://kogahakempo.com/index.html Koga Ha Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo Association of Philadelphia.] William Durbin, founder of Kiyojute Ryu Kempo claims Mitose was familiar with Koga-ryu ninjutsu and that Mitose's student Nimr Hassan is "probably the only master of the system to know those skills. [ [http://kiyojuteryu.org:8084/soke/articles/brotherlylove.shtml In The City Of Brotherly Love, A School Of Brotherly Love] ] These statements have never been able to be factually proven and are doubted by many.

Bruce Juchnik and Ray Arquilla base much of their teaching in their respective arts today on what they learned from Mitose, and both use the name "Kosho Shorei" in the name of the arts that they teach. Thomas Mitose publicly teaches his father's art and is the 22nd Great Grandmaster of the family art.

References