Internationally renowned karate instructor Katsutaka Tanaka is in Kodiak this week teaching a three-day summer camp for beginners, as well as the more advanced, in the popular martial art.

Twenty-three people are participating in the camp, many of them beginners.

Tanaka, originally from Japan, is founder and chief instructor of Tanaka’s Martial Arts Academy in Anchorage and has taught karate in Alaska for 31 years. He has an eighth degree black belt.

“In our association, that is the highest-ranking black belt we can achieve,” Tanaka said. “Our association believes that the human never becomes perfect. So eighth is the closest to perfection as possibly you can get.”

Tanaka is the most senior international karate referee on the U.S. Olympic Committee. He trains karate referees worldwide and is a member of the USA-National Karate-Do Federation Referee Council, which tests and licenses karate referees throughout the country under the direction of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“I go to tournaments and championships (in) 36 countries and I go to world championships and do the officiating,” he said.

The world championships take place in 168 countries.

“I get to see the best of the best in the world, all the time,” Tanaka said.

The art of karate is more than just physical, Tanaka said, and the philosophy behind karate depends on the association and the karate school. He is the U.S. director of the Nihon Karate Do Kenwa Kai and practices the Shito-ryu style of karate, one of many karate styles.

Beginners are taught the importance of character building through discipline and rigorous training. This process begins with perfecting physical techniques through repetition.

“The Do Kenwa Kai’s belief is helping one’s character to become as best person as possible they can become,” he said.

Character building includes good manners, respect and discipline.

“We help students to find the calmness of mind and body. When the mind and body become very calm, then their mind and body are under control,” Tanaka said.

When someone gains control over their mind and body, they discover commitment “hiding inside,” he said. Working on and improving commitment brings about discipline.

“When the disciplined mind becomes better, now you can have better perseverance. When you have better perseverance, now you can exercise concentration,” Tanaka said.

Those lacking these characteristics tend to fluctuate easily, he said.

“I just told all the students, ‘You’re going back to school, so in the beginning of each class, what I’d like you to do is sit down in your chair and make your mind and body very calm so that your mind and body are ready to study,” he said.

Kodiak’s karate club, Kenwa Kai of Kodiak, has been meeting on the island for about 10 years. They hold classes twice weekly.

Mirror writer Deanna Cooper can be reached via e-mail at dcooper@kodiakdailymirror.com.