SENSEI: Mr. Cecil Patterson
Cecil T. Patterson was born in Sevierville, Tennessee on June 22, 1930. In 1945 he left home at the age of fifteen to join the United States Navy. At the end of his tour he returned to the Sevierville area (east Tennessee) where he became police officer in nearby Gatlinburg. As a law enforcement officer, Mr. Patterson was introduced to self defense training by an F.B.I. agent.
In 1952, Mr. Patterson rejoined the United States Navy and was stationed in Iwakumi, Japan. In August of 1955, while Master Gichin Funakoshi still actively practiced the art he had taught Master Otsuka I, Mr. Patterson enrolled in a karate school where he trained under the direct supervision of Master Kazuo Sakura. Master Sakura was a Go-dan, (fifth degree black belt). At the time, fifth degree was the highest degree in karate.
Mr. Patterson trained in Japan for two years. The work out schedule he adhered to during this period involved fifteen hours of study per week. After Mr. Patterson's tour he left Japan having earned the rank of Ni-dan (second degree black belt). He received his San- dan (third degree) in 1959, and was awarded Yon- dan (fourth degree) in 1964. Mr. Patterson was honored to have his Go-dan (fifth degree black belt) awarded to him by Grand Master Hironori Otsuka I in 1965.
Master Kazuo Sakura was Grand Master Hironori Otsuka's senior student, followed by Tatsuo Suzuki. Sixth, seventh, and eighth degree black belts were also awarded by Otsuka I. Mr. Patterson is now the highest ranking occidental in the Wado system.
Master Otsuka instructed Mr. Patterson to establish and regulate the United States Eastern Wado-Ryu Karate-Do (U.S.E.W.R.K.D.) after his return to the states. Because of this, Mr. Patterson is now responsible to current Master Otsuka II for all Wado-Ryu dojos in the eastern United States wishing to remain loyal to the master of Wado-Ryu.
Mr. Patterson opened the first Wado-Ryu school in Tennessee in his home town of Sevierville, Tennessee in 1957. Other schools opened in the Nashville area beginning in 1961 and included the Murfreesboro Bushido School of Karate opened by Newton Harris in 1967.
Mr. Patterson is the only instructor in the eastern United States in direct contact with Master Otsuka II. As recently as January of 1995, Mr. Patterson hosted Master Otsuka II as he instructed a series of seminars in the Nashville area.
Mr. Cecil T. Patterson has received more personal instruction from the original grand master of the Wado-Ryu style of karate than anyone else in the eastern United States. On five different occasions Mr. Patterson trained under Otsuka I, in intense workshops. Speaking with Mr. Patterson, he stated the most intense session occurred in 1975, when Master Otsuka I visited the Nashville area as part of a world tour. Mr. Patterson trained one on one with the master for seven days. Workouts were slow, relaxed, extremely informative, and long! These workouts generally ran from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. Mr. Patterson said Master Otsuka stressed relaxation and taisabaki (body shifting) above all else. After having studied two years in Japan previously, understanding the Master was not a problem. Mr. Patterson said that in seven days of working with the master, he learned more than in his entire two years in Japan.
Mr. Patterson has served as State Representative, Regional Director and Head of the Research Board of the United States Karate Association. On February 1, 1978, Mr. Patterson was named the Father of Karate for the State of Tennessee by the Tennessee House of Representatives. One of Mr. Patterson's greatest honors would have to have occurred in 1988, when he received the Late Master Otsuka Award in Tokyo, Japan.
Mr. Patterson has authored three books on the martial arts. Two deal with Wado-Ryu while the third is a self defense guide for law enforcement officers. Mr. Patterson also devised two sets of katas now practiced throughout the United States by Wado schools. The Ippon Katas and the Kiso Kata were developed by Mr. Patterson.
Both of these katas were designed based on training Mr. Patterson received from Master Kazuo Sakura. They are similar to San bon katas and one step self defense drills (sometimes referred to as "tricks" in Japan) Sakura taught in Japan. Mr. Patterson developed the Ippon Katas in 1960 and the Kiso Kata in 1963.
Mr. Patterson passed away at the age of 72 in October 2002. He was one of the pioneers who brought Martial Arts to the United States.