Cameron Quinn responds in detail to John Taylor’s comments concerning Eddie Emin…
Taken from the Budo Karate No Holds Barred Forum.
Subject: The Eddie Emin article and a can of worms
Date: 21/11/2008
Author: Cameron Quinn.
I received many emails after my response to John Taylor’s email concerning Eddie Emin’s comments in Blitz Magazine. A few were a bit caustic but mostly people agree with what I said.
I still don’t think Mr Taylor gets it. That is not a reflection on his karate, his teaching skills or his dedication to his students. And of course he has feelings for Sosai.
I am going to post here rather than reply to all the emails individually as I just haven’t the time.
We all feel a strong connection to Kyokushin. I am in politics for one reason, to highlight that the bogus groups have created themselves without authority & perpetuate the lie that they have some kind of ethical and legal standing. Asking THEM for the truth is like asking a tobacco company if their smokes kill.
I have a strong love and consideration for all students and followers of Kyokushin. I honor everyone’s love for Sosai. All I do is point out that regardless of what they are told by the most authoritative figure in their organisation, the fact and truth is that
1. One is a member of the IKO Kyokushinkaikan (IKO Sosai) whose members honour Sosai by paying fees and memberships to the owners of the IP they use, that is based at Sosai’s own original Honbu, that continues to run daily training at that Honbu dojo under Sosai’s most senior instructor teaching today, that cares for and protects Sosai’s family and has as its objective the spreading of Sosai’s original teachings without personal gain,
or
2. One belongs to a group that chooses to deny Sosai’s Honbu, disregard his family (and honestly, how can his direct students who run these groups claim loyalty without respecting or caring for his family?) and make personal financial gain from using property which legally belongs to Sosai’s family without honoring any financial responsibility. They do this whilst preaching their love and respect for Sosai and their dedication to him. It doesn’t make sense to me and that’s all I can ever say. Their personal love for Sosai is not being questioned.
If one joins Starbucks, pays franchise fees as required, becomes intimately familiar with its inner workings, runs a successful Starbucks shop for decades and becomes known as a real face of Starbucks, does that give one the right to claim ownership of Starbucks?
If that person left Starbucks & opened his owned Starbucks coffee shop, selling Starbucks coffee, attracting many new as well as former customers, but now chooses to NOT pay the franchise rights, is that ethical?
If the Starbucks guy came to see him and pointed out he has an obligation to pay a fee to use the Starbucks name, sell Starbucks coffee, use its brand value for financial profit, he says, “I have the right! I am 100% loyal to Starbucks!” And even the customers go, “Wait! You don’t know what you are saying! I know this guy. He has been running a Starbucks shop for 30 years now. He makes great coffee. He is Mr Starbucks. We all know him! Leave him alone.”
The customers come because they love Starbucks coffee. They pay for it as usual and have no need to question whether he is honoring his legal obligation to Starbucks. It still doesn’t make it right.
Because we are in the martial arts it is easy to preach philosophical and claim that some ephemeral spiritual connection to the master overrides any moral, legal and ethical responsibility to honor the master’s property.
And the fact that Sosai’s family and Honbu had everything raped and pillaged, down to the photos off the wall, by these people who run these organisations with such smugness, means Honbu struggles to deal with this problem. Lawyers cost too much. And as much as people claim love and loyalty to Sosai (I am talking about the direct students involved in the creation and perpetuation of these groups) it is sad that it would even be necessary to talk of lawyers. Where do they ACT on their loyalties from a sense of moral and ethical connection to their teacher? Why does it take a lawyer to force them to act?
There are many examples of blatant disregard. Take Mr Matsushima, a highly respected and experienced student of Sosai. He was popular and loved by Sosai’s family. Good looks and charm don’t hurt.
When he was stopped by Matsui he approached Honbu and said he wanted to work with them and be loyal to them. So he met with the family and Honbu reps. The usual process followed & a Branch Chief contract signed, giving Mr Matsushima the right to teach in his branch of Gumma unaffected by Matsui. He would forward funds for memberships, gradings and so on to Honbu as is the common practice. In Japan, Branch Chiefs have, since Sosai’s time, paid a fee of 30,000 yen (about US$300) per month to Honbu as a kind of franchise fee. Mr Matsushima he said he couldn’t afford it. 20,000 yen? No, sorry, he said, still too much. Okay, how much CAN you afford? 10,000 yen. Okay. Honbu agreed with that, wanting to help him get back on his feet. Smiles and much happiness from Mr Matsushima.
He caught the train back to Gumma BUT Honbu didn’t hear from him again. Without informing Honbu, he established his OWN organisation, directing students’ membership and grading fees AWAY from Honbu. Nothing came, despite his contract and his personal promises to Mrs Oyama and Sosai’s family.
Honbu heard about his world tournament and got in touch. But he said he couldn’t come and talk. Doctor’s orders. He was reminded of his contracted obligation but still nothing. So Honbu finally sent a legal letter and he was there in less than 2 hours. Amazing recovery. He made many excuses but the court ordered he pay about $50,000 in punitive damages or no tournament. He offered $30,000 up front and $20,000 after. Another lie. The second amount was never seen.
He then went around telling people Honbu was greedy and he supported the family and look, there is proof, a $30,000 transfer. Can you see how it happens. He makes Honbu out to be the bad guy here.
This is the pattern of all the groups who have ALL, at some stage, sought authority from Honbu. They KNOW. They make all kinds of promises, but in the end get overtaken by greed & sever their contact with Honbu altogether, DESPITE continuing to use Honbu’s intellectual property.
Honbu (and me too for the matter) openly honors and welcomes all loyal members of Kyokushin. What is disturbing is how people like Mr Matsushima and Mr Taylor, both highly regarded senior students of Sosai, preach endlessly about Sosai, their loyalty to Sosai, their love for Kyokushin etc, but do NOTHING to act on that loyalty. Mr Taylor becomes indignant at my insolence in suggesting his organisation is bogus. But why?
I am not talking about the loyalties of the members, the love the members feel for Sosai, or even Mr Taylor’s own personal feelings for Sosai and karate teaching skills. There is no doubt there. He is an outstanding leader who cares for his students. But he doesn’t care for them enough to come clean that they have no legal or ethical connection to Sosai’s Honbu dojo or family, who OWN the names, trademarks and methods he uses daily for his own gain.
Put simply:
1. Do Mr Matsushima or Mr Taylor made any money from the use of the Kyokushin intellectual property?
2. If so, how are they recompensing the OWNER of that property?
This is a very commonly understood and generally accepted practice in any community or society. User pays. I don’t know why they choose not to honor Honbu and just take and take without giving anything back. But Honbu rejects no one. EVERYONE in IKO Matsushima could easily be part of Sosai’s Honbu and work with and for Sosai. Nothing would change except a portion of the fees paid for memberships & gradings would go back to Honbu as the owner of the IP they gladly and proudly use. Ah! There is the problem. They keep the fees for themselves and choose not to pay Honbu. Honbu is not greedy. It’s not a personal issue. It’s an ethical one.
Osu
CQ
Further post 22/11/2008
I have had to put up with Mr Taylor’s irrational behaviour since I was a 18 year old interpreting for Sosai in the 70′s. I only put up with it out of respect for Sosai. In 1989, even Sosai told me to cease having anything to do with him and leave his organisation. It is clear, reading the email he sent out, that in the nearly 20 years since then, critical thinking has not become one of his strong points.
Let me very clear. I have never, nor would I ever, call Eddie Emin a “silly old man” or “stupid”. They are Mr Taylor’s words, not mine, and as usual he is putting words into other people’s mouths.
I do NOT support, agree or condone what was said in the article about Mr Emin, as Mr Taylor claims. The article is clearly inaccurate and needs retraction. Sosai’s family and Honbu are dealing with this matter so we can leave it at that. No need for anyone else to jump on the bandwagon to try and look good at Eddie’s expense. Especially Mr Taylor. It is between Eddie and Sosai’s family, the legal custodians of Sosai’s intellectual property.
I simply pointed out the irony in any claims Mr Taylor makes about his indignation at what was said.
Mr Taylor is NOT any position to speak out against Eddie Emin. He claims love and loyalty for Sosai. We all feel love. Loyalty is more action than words, putting your money where your mouth is. First he should get his own organisation and his own legal and ethical connection to Sosai’s Honbu and organisation sorted out BEFORE condemning anyone else. He collects membership and grading fees but does NOT pay HONBU or the family for the use of their property. It’s the pot calling the kettle black, no matter how mortified Mr Taylor claims to be by Eddie Emin’s interview. Instead he should be mortified by his own double standards.
I hope this is the end of it, Mr Taylor. And unless you change your attitude: start DOING something for Sosai’s family, don’t just TALK about it. Stop mentioning them too. You embarrass yourself.
Osu.
C