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Prior to his discharge from the Navy in
June of 1957, and his return home to Tennessee from Japan the same year, Cecil
Patterson's life began to change
dramatically. Commencing his career in law enforcement, he quickly found himself
rising through the ranks of multiple local and
state agencies, achieving the professional
success he'd always
known he would achieve -- a success he knew was due
greatly to the experience he'd undergone while in Japan as a student of Wado
Ryu Karate. The skills and philosophies he'd learned and acquired while
studying under his Sensei, Kazuo Sakura (left) had not only saved his life while enforcing the
law on more than one
occasion, but more importantly, had given him an insight into the spiritual path he found himself
contemplating more and more as his life and career progressed.
Training daily, and maintaining
constant communication with Sakura Sensei across the ocean, Patterson Sensei's
reputation as a warrior among his fellow officers grew. Then, in 1958,
concurrent with his promotion to the rank of Sho Dan (1st Degree Black
Belt) he received permission to teach the art of Wado Ryu selectively -- a
rare grant, virtually unheard of outside of Japan at that time. But Cecil Patterson was
not an ordinary karateka...a fact that was slowly becoming apparent even among
those closest to Ohtsuka Sensei himself.
And so, late in 1958, in a converted
YMCA in East Tennessee with two carefully chosen students, Cecil Patterson
became the first officially recognized Wado Ryu karate instructor in Tennessee, and the first
such teacher in the United States. In 1959, following his
move to the Nashville area (where he has resided since) Sensei Patterson
continued to teach, conveying his knowledge to a small, but dedicated group of
students -- while continuing his work in law enforcement.
Then, in 1966, Sensei Patterson
received a transoceanic telephone call from his teacher across the water -- a
telephone call that would once again change his life dramatically; Ohtsuka
Sensei was departing on a demonstration tour of Europe and America, with plans
that included a visit to Tennessee. During that first visit, Patterson Sensei
underwent one of the most grueling training periods he'd experienced since
leaving Japan nine years earlier; spending eight straight days with the Master
himself -- one on one -- from the first light of dawn until the late hours of
the evening, practicing, practicing and practicing. "I still remember those
eight days seeming to stretch into eight years", Patterson Sensei recalled
recently. "It was one of the most intense experiences of my life".
Two years later, in 1968, Ohtsuka
Sensei made his second visit to Tennessee, accompanied by his son, Jiro (Current
Grand Master of Wado-Ryu). Once
again, Patterson Sensei found himself undergoing daily rigorous training with
the Master himself; accompanied intermittently by two of Patterson Sensei's
earliest students, Sensei David Deaton and Sensei Taylor Hayden. But this time,
there was a change in Ohtsuka Sensei's demeanor; the training was even more
arduous than before; and more than once, Patterson Sensei felt distinctly that
he was being tested. As on many occasions before, his instincts proved to be
right. On the eve of his departure for Japan,
Ohtsuka Sensei ceremonially
presented Patterson Sensei with the rank of Go-Dan (5th Degree Black Belt)
certifying him as the highest ranking Occidental Instructor of Wado Ryu karate
in the western world. But with that honor would come a responsibility that
Patterson Sensei would not be given until the following day, January 16, 1968.
That day, while awaiting the arrival
of Ohtsuka Sensei's flight at the Nashville International Airport, Patterson
Sensei expressed a growing concern regarding the certification of kyu ranks
(students under the rank of Black Belt) in America, particularly of his own
growing number of students in Tennessee. To his dismay, Ohtsuka Sensei (through
his interpreter) replied that certification of kyu ranks by the International
Federation in Japan was simply an impossibility; given the hundreds of students
training in Wado Ryu the world over. "I want you to change that", he
said. And with that, the Master himself instructed Patterson Sensei to establish
a Federation, assuming Senior Instructorship of all Wado Ryu karate for the
entire Eastern half of the United States. "You must comply in all respects
with all governances from our Honbu Dojo in Japan", he continued. "You
will be responsible directly to me, entrusted by me to carry on the true
teachings of Wado Ryu here in America."
And so, on that auspicious day in
mid-January forty years now in the past, our family of karateka was
born; a family that continues to grow in strength, numbers, spirit and
togetherness -- now more than 17,000 members strong, making us one of the
largest branches of the International Wado Ryu Karate Do Renmei in the world.
Our Family -- The United States
Eastern Wado Ryu Karate Federation!
