Seido (more fully Seido Juku) is a style of karate founded by Kaicho (Grandmaster) Tadashi Nakamura in 1976.

History

In 1976 Kaicho Nakamura withdrew from the Kyokushin-kai and began to build Seido Juku, "the school of the Sincere Way", citing differences in philosophy with his longtime mentor, Kancho Mas Oyama. Seido is headquartered in New York City at 61 West 23rd Street, but has branch dojos around the world.

Philosophy

The name "Seido" means "Sincere Way". It comes from the Chuyo (Confucius's book "The Middle Path", or "The Doctrine of the Mean"), which says

   Sincerity is the way of heaven.
   To follow this sincerely
   Is the way of mankind 

The Seido philosophy is encapsulated in three words: sonkei (respect), ai (love), and jujun (obedience). These three principles are represented as the three circles within the plum blossom logo of Seido Juku. These principles were suggested to Kaicho Nakamura by a congratulatory letter his mother sent to him after his marriage, which read "Each day I pray for both of you. I want you to live a long life, without regrets, respecting each other, nurturing your love for one another, and always holding feelings of obedience to each other."

As this philosophy is an important part of Seido, Kaicho Nakamura has founded the Seido Juku Benefit Foundation as the charitable arm of the organization.

References

• Nakamura, Tadashi. 'The Human Face of Karate'. Tokyo, Japan: Shufunoto Co., Ltd., 1989

External links

• Seido karate Web site