James Mitose

Leslee Kufferath posted tonight on my Facebook page in response to a link to a new page I posted on Sensei James Mitose. I posted it in response to questions I was getting about him and why I had avoided revealing much about stories I had heard about him. She posted the following:

"My father knew James Mitose personally. I have his original book that he signed and gave it to my father. He was a great man."

Her father was one of our greatest jujitsu masters, Professor Sig Kufferath, one of my favorite people on the planet, and one of our USNKA Living Martial Arts Treasures. I wanted to pass on the perceptions of one who actually knew him. As I told her, I had always heard only negative things about Sensei Mitose. Yet he taught many who became great martial artists. So I always felt there had to be more to his story - or at least hoped there was.

I think our society tends to be too quick to focus on the negative side of people. I think it makes them feel better about themselves, even superior, thinking or knowing one who achieved great things was worse than they are in some aspect. I always tried to focus on people's positive sides and use their example to elevate myself, rather than focus on the opposite and try to bring them down to my level. While they help me become better, others end up exactly where they've always been.

My thanks to Leslee Kufferath for her input. I prefer to hold her father's image of Sensei Mitose in my mind than what was there before. Just my 2 cents.