Lee Pistone was Kanai Sensei’s student 1996-2004

The most surprising thing I discovered about Kanai Sensei was his compassion.  It was not what I expected from a man of his stature in martial arts.  The best example I can give is…. When I was away from classes due to injury or work for extended periods of time, Don Laliberty would always tell me to go see Kanai Sensei. Sensei had noticed I had not been in class for some time and had asked for me.  Those times I visited him he was always very interested in why I had been away. He was particularly interested and helpful in my recovering from any injuries I had.

I remember being in Sylvia Yamamoto’s class once.  We were doing Koshinage.  My obi got
loose, twisted around Sylvia’s obi and the whole knot rotated around my right mid-level back,
separating the facia.  I was out of practice for about 4 months.  When I came back, I asked Kanai Sensei how I should go about learning break-falls correctly.  His answer was a sharp, “Back-rolls.”  After the third time asking and getting “BACK-ROLLS!” for the answer, I got the
message.  What I did not understand was back-rolls strengthen you for break-falls, as Sioux Hall explained later.

As few as they were, all my conversations with Kanai Sensei were memorable.

His personality on the mat was very GIVING, to me.  My age may have had something to do
with that.

I always seemed to struggle with Kokuy ho.  At one point Kanai Sensei came to where I was
sitting in seiza not grasping the concept and nuances of Kokyu ho with my partner.  He got right down on the mat and practiced with me.  You would always feel a little bit better after having him show you.  After class George Mokray came to me and explained what a “gift” I had received from Kanai Sensei.

I received many gifts from Kanai Sensei, as we all did.