Karate Softball

 

 When I was a second-year high school student, I was a member of the drama club. One day, we had a softball game with the graduates. It was a wonderful idea to promote interaction. In Japan, we really worry about up-and-down relationships. Talking about dramatic events could be awkward, but playing sports could make it smooth.

 We separated the students’ team and the graduates’ team. We were to bat first. In the top of the first inning, the leadoff man and the second hitter stuck out. The third hitter approached the batter’s box. He was a freshman. But he was not just a freshman. He was a rank holder in Kyokushin karate. Some people say Kyokushin karate is the strongest style of karate. It is full contact, and its skills are very practical. They actually punch and kick their opponents. I don’t know why he joined our drama club.

 The rank holder easily hit the first ball. That must be a single through the hall. Hitting a softball was a piece of cake to him.

 However, he just stood in the batter’s box and smiled to us. All of us in the bench were surprised. We found out that he didn’t know how to play softball. He was supposed to run to the base. So we cried out, “Run! Run! Run!”

 Then he realized his mistake. He started to run to a base. But it was the third base. He ran to the third base directly, clockwise.

 Now you know Kyokushin karate is the most practical and strongest. He did the most effective attack with the smallest movement. That could be the essence of karate, but that was not how to play softball.

 He hit a clean hit. But he was out.

 I talked to him after. He had never played softball and baseball. He had never even watched them on TV. This could be why he became a rank holder as a senior high school student.

 I realized that the rumor was true. Kyokushin karate is the strongest.

Picture by SantaPa