Professor Sig Kufferath was a wonderful man who never appeared to age. He was a great judo/jujitsu grandmaster, a direct student of the legendary Professor Henry Okazaki, who produced other greats, including Wally Jay and Willy Cahill. He was one of our early USNKA Living Martial Arts Treasure Award recipients. His daughter, Leslee Kufferath, hosted a very nice memorial event a couple of weeks ago for what would have been her father’s 100th birthday. Professor Kufferath was so well-loved and respected that the event was a huge success. Masters and students came from around the globe to teach and be taught.
Professor Kufferath was such a knowledgeable and gentle soul, I always treasured the time I was able to spend with him. On one occasion, he told me a story that put age into proper perspective. While in his middle 80s, he returned to his native Hawaii to visit his handful of surviving childhood buddies. He and one of them went to the beach, where they saw many beautiful, young women in very skimpy bathing suits. He told his buddy, “What I wouldn’t give to be 70 again”.
In the following clip, Hanshi Mochida Moriji, 10th dan in kendo, talks about the effects of age on a martial artist and how he dealt with it.
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