Searching for a Secret Manual??!!!

[Anonymous]

I have just 1 word…. “WHAT!!!???”

STI Home > Asia > Asia > Story

April 8, 2006
Singaporean in quest for karate master had few clues

Group will continue search despite getting lost and having to be rescued
By Kwan Weng Kin
Japan Correspondent

TOKYO – A SINGAPOREAN IT worker who got lost searching for a legendary karate master in the backwoods of northern Japan had only the name ‘Soma’ and other skimpy clues to help him.

Mr Koh Tian Lin, 25, said these were given to him by his dying father, who told him to find the Japanese master of Kyokushin-style karate to obtain a secret book on the art.

Mr Koh’s father, a karate teacher before he died of illness five years ago, apparently had a copy but it was stolen by one of his students.

Besides the name, he only told his son that the Japanese master would be around 60 years old, that he ran a school in a secluded area, and had two daughters.

Assuming ‘Soma’ to be a place name, Mr Koh and two other Singaporeans attempted to go on foot to remote Soma village in Aomori prefecture on Tuesday.

Police found them in the early hours of Wednesday morning, huddled together for warmth in an abandoned car. Mr Koh was wearing only a short-sleeved T-shirt and a windbreaker.

‘They were cold and shivering, but otherwise in good condition,’ said a police spokesman.

Mr Koh told reporters: ‘The tour agency in Singapore told us it would be about 20 deg C here.’

The three men came to Japan on March 22 as part of a group of 13 Singaporeans, including Mr Koh’s mother, a younger brother and their friends.

After the group arrived in Hirosaki city, Aomori prefecture, on Tuesday, nine of them split up into three groups to look for the karate master.

Soma village is also located in a World Heritage site called Shirakami-Sanchi, an expanse of mountainous and largely virgin forests.

Mr Koh said that because the name Shirakami contained the Chinese character for ‘god’, he figured it would be a likely place to find the karate master.

But Mr Ong Seng Chye, 52, who was with Mr Koh when they were lost, told a television reporter yesterday that the group had come to Japan as tourists and that he was only told they were looking for a Japanese friend of Mr Koh’s late father.

While two other members of the group returned to Singapore on Thursday, Mr Koh said the rest would continue their search until April 22. He also told reporters he was sorry for all the trouble they had caused.

Yesterday, with the help of local tourism officials, the group moved into vacant apartments offered by a local developer.

Hirosaki karate officials have said they do not know of any karate master that fits Mr Koh’s description.

A Japanese Kyokushin karate official said there is no secret book on the art. But the late Masuta-tsu Oyama, who founded Kyokushin karate, had written a book in 1965 called This Is Karate, which is now out of print.

wengkin@sph.com.sg

[Anonymous]

ehhh…. thus far i haven’t heard of one… despite learning karate for a few years during my teenage years.

[Anonymous]

CNA News 13 Apr

A happy ending….

SINGAPORE : Three Singaporeans in search of a karate master in northern Japan are believed to have located him.

He is 61-year-old Shoen Fukuda who lives in Aomori’s Hiranai City. But it turns out that instead of karate, Mr Fukuda teaches Chinese-style martial arts.

The search started when a Singaporean karate master made a wish on his death bed for his family to locate a Japanese man with a secret karate manuscript.

His family, together with neighbours, travelled to Japan armed only with the information that the man is a widower of about 65 who has two daughters.

When three members in the group of 13 went missing on Aomori’s snowy mountains, their rescue and their quest attracted much media attention in Japan.

With the help of Aomori officials and volunteers, Mr Fukuda was found.

He recalls meeting a Singaporean by the name of Xu and showing him his secret manuscript.

But Mr Fukuda has refused to present his manuscript to the Singaporean karate master’s son and wife, saying it is something he cannot disclose.

As a gesture of friendship, however, he has offered to present something to the Singaporeans in a ceremony on Friday. – CNA/de

CNA News 15 Apr

Singaporean still not sure of correct master yet…..

TOKYO : A group of Singaporeans in search of a secret martial arts manuscript is believed to have been united with its owner in northern Japan.

They went on the mission to fulfil the wishes of a late martial arts master.

The group, however, still have doubts on whether they have found the right man.

Thirteen Singaporeans arrived in Tokyo in late March and made their way up to Aomori in search of a man possessing a secret martial arts manuscript.

They did not know the man’s name, address or how he looked like.

They split up into groups believing that Japan was tiny enough to locate the martial arts master.

But three members of the group went missing last week.

Police found them shivering in a van in the slopes of Mount Iwaki where there were more than two meters of snow.

They were unhurt.

“I will keep on searching for him no matter how dangerous it may be. We are very determined,” said Xu Tian Lin, son of martial arts instructor Xu Jian Shui.

It was after that incident that their adventure in northern Japan in search for a secret manuscript came to light.

The story drew a media frenzy with major TV networks and tabloids covering the mysterious group extensively.

The extensive media coverage seems to have brought luck to the group.

A martial arts master has stepped forward to say that he may be the one they are searching for.

“There was a teacher who came to see me. He said he was studying Chinese southern style martial arts. His name was Xu,” said Shoen Fukuda, a Chinese Northern Style martial arts master.

Mr Fukuda owns a manuscript describing fighting skills that date back 4,000 years.

But he says he cannot give it away to the visitors.

Instead, he has decided to present a certificate to grant the deceased Xu Jian Shui with a senior 8 dan in martial arts.

Despite all these, Mr Fukuda may still not be the man the Singaporeans were looking for.

He did have two daughters but he was 61 years old, not 65. And he did not live in Soma but in a place called Hiranai.

“Although we weren’t able to locate the right person, I’m happy to have made friends,” said the wife of Xu Jian Shui.

The Singaporean group is expected to stay in Japan for another week.

[Anonymous]

I think they die die want to have some secret manual which could iuve them something. Thus even when they found that person, if it turns out not to be what they are looking for, then they will reject it, cos they rather go on believing in a myth then reality

[Anonymous]

i was watching one movie that day, the lady said: “people are only brave for the things that they dare to believe.” in the show, she had witnessed someone falling down as suicide from her apartment block, she was at the balcony and as the suicide victim fell, they met eye-to-eye for that brief moment. no one believed her, and thought that she had gone cuckoo.

[Author]

Posts

[Anonymous]

I have just 1 word…. “WHAT!!!???”

STI Home > Asia > Asia > Story

April 8, 2006
Singaporean in quest for karate master had few clues

Group will continue search despite getting lost and having to be rescued
By Kwan Weng Kin
Japan Correspondent

TOKYO – A SINGAPOREAN IT worker who got lost searching for a legendary karate master in the backwoods of northern Japan had only the name ‘Soma’ and other skimpy clues to help him.

Mr Koh Tian Lin, 25, said these were given to him by his dying father, who told him to find the Japanese master of Kyokushin-style karate to obtain a secret book on the art.

Mr Koh’s father, a karate teacher before he died of illness five years ago, apparently had a copy but it was stolen by one of his students.

Besides the name, he only told his son that the Japanese master would be around 60 years old, that he ran a school in a secluded area, and had two daughters.

Assuming ‘Soma’ to be a place name, Mr Koh and two other Singaporeans attempted to go on foot to remote Soma village in Aomori prefecture on Tuesday.

Police found them in the early hours of Wednesday morning, huddled together for warmth in an abandoned car. Mr Koh was wearing only a short-sleeved T-shirt and a windbreaker.

‘They were cold and shivering, but otherwise in good condition,’ said a police spokesman.

Mr Koh told reporters: ‘The tour agency in Singapore told us it would be about 20 deg C here.’

The three men came to Japan on March 22 as part of a group of 13 Singaporeans, including Mr Koh’s mother, a younger brother and their friends.

After the group arrived in Hirosaki city, Aomori prefecture, on Tuesday, nine of them split up into three groups to look for the karate master.

Soma village is also located in a World Heritage site called Shirakami-Sanchi, an expanse of mountainous and largely virgin forests.

Mr Koh said that because the name Shirakami contained the Chinese character for ‘god’, he figured it would be a likely place to find the karate master.

But Mr Ong Seng Chye, 52, who was with Mr Koh when they were lost, told a television reporter yesterday that the group had come to Japan as tourists and that he was only told they were looking for a Japanese friend of Mr Koh’s late father.

While two other members of the group returned to Singapore on Thursday, Mr Koh said the rest would continue their search until April 22. He also told reporters he was sorry for all the trouble they had caused.

Yesterday, with the help of local tourism officials, the group moved into vacant apartments offered by a local developer.

Hirosaki karate officials have said they do not know of any karate master that fits Mr Koh’s description.

A Japanese Kyokushin karate official said there is no secret book on the art. But the late Masuta-tsu Oyama, who founded Kyokushin karate, had written a book in 1965 called This Is Karate, which is now out of print.

wengkin@sph.com.sg

[Anonymous]

ehhh…. thus far i haven’t heard of one… despite learning karate for a few years during my teenage years.

[Anonymous]

CNA News 13 Apr

A happy ending….

SINGAPORE : Three Singaporeans in search of a karate master in northern Japan are believed to have located him.

He is 61-year-old Shoen Fukuda who lives in Aomori’s Hiranai City. But it turns out that instead of karate, Mr Fukuda teaches Chinese-style martial arts.

The search started when a Singaporean karate master made a wish on his death bed for his family to locate a Japanese man with a secret karate manuscript.

His family, together with neighbours, travelled to Japan armed only with the information that the man is a widower of about 65 who has two daughters.

When three members in the group of 13 went missing on Aomori’s snowy mountains, their rescue and their quest attracted much media attention in Japan.

With the help of Aomori officials and volunteers, Mr Fukuda was found.

He recalls meeting a Singaporean by the name of Xu and showing him his secret manuscript.

But Mr Fukuda has refused to present his manuscript to the Singaporean karate master’s son and wife, saying it is something he cannot disclose.

As a gesture of friendship, however, he has offered to present something to the Singaporeans in a ceremony on Friday. – CNA/de

CNA News 15 Apr

Singaporean still not sure of correct master yet…..

TOKYO : A group of Singaporeans in search of a secret martial arts manuscript is believed to have been united with its owner in northern Japan.

They went on the mission to fulfil the wishes of a late martial arts master.

The group, however, still have doubts on whether they have found the right man.

Thirteen Singaporeans arrived in Tokyo in late March and made their way up to Aomori in search of a man possessing a secret martial arts manuscript.

They did not know the man’s name, address or how he looked like.

They split up into groups believing that Japan was tiny enough to locate the martial arts master.

But three members of the group went missing last week.

Police found them shivering in a van in the slopes of Mount Iwaki where there were more than two meters of snow.

They were unhurt.

“I will keep on searching for him no matter how dangerous it may be. We are very determined,” said Xu Tian Lin, son of martial arts instructor Xu Jian Shui.

It was after that incident that their adventure in northern Japan in search for a secret manuscript came to light.

The story drew a media frenzy with major TV networks and tabloids covering the mysterious group extensively.

The extensive media coverage seems to have brought luck to the group.

A martial arts master has stepped forward to say that he may be the one they are searching for.

“There was a teacher who came to see me. He said he was studying Chinese southern style martial arts. His name was Xu,” said Shoen Fukuda, a Chinese Northern Style martial arts master.

Mr Fukuda owns a manuscript describing fighting skills that date back 4,000 years.

But he says he cannot give it away to the visitors.

Instead, he has decided to present a certificate to grant the deceased Xu Jian Shui with a senior 8 dan in martial arts.

Despite all these, Mr Fukuda may still not be the man the Singaporeans were looking for.

He did have two daughters but he was 61 years old, not 65. And he did not live in Soma but in a place called Hiranai.

“Although we weren’t able to locate the right person, I’m happy to have made friends,” said the wife of Xu Jian Shui.

The Singaporean group is expected to stay in Japan for another week.

[Anonymous]

I think they die die want to have some secret manual which could iuve them something. Thus even when they found that person, if it turns out not to be what they are looking for, then they will reject it, cos they rather go on believing in a myth then reality

[Anonymous]

i was watching one movie that day, the lady said: “people are only brave for the things that they dare to believe.” in the show, she had witnessed someone falling down as suicide from her apartment block, she was at the balcony and as the suicide victim fell, they met eye-to-eye for that brief moment. no one believed her, and thought that she had gone cuckoo.

[Author]

Posts