Patrick Donkor

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This week in history (13 January -19 January)

15 January On 15 January 1963 Akiyoshi (Shokei) Matsui was born in Chiba, Japan. Of Korean heritage, he was named Moon Jang-gyu. Considered by some to be a “Kyokushin Karate genius”, Shokei Matsui was the youngest man to become Kyokushin World Champion. A tough competitor, he won 50 out of 56 fights. He is also …

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This week in history (6 January – 12 January)

6 January On 6 January 1967, Michael Randall gained his 1st Dan from Hirokazu Kanazawa. He was one of the first men in Britain to gain the rank of 1st Dan from the Japan Karate Association (JKA). At the time of writing Randall is one of a handful of people currently training to have trained …

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This week in history (30 December – 5 January)

30 December On 30 December 1960, former SKIF European and World Champion, Aidan Trimble was born in Nottingham, England. He was a long-time member of Hirokazu Kanazawa’s Shotokan Karate International Federation (SKIF), eventually leaving to form is own association, The Federation of Shotokan Karate. Until injury curtailed his competitive career in 1983, Trimble was a top …

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This week in history (23 December – 29 December)

23 December On 23 December 1911 Kenko Nakaima was born. He was the grandson of Norisato Nakaima, founder of the Okinawan family karate style, Ryuei-Ryu. Kenko Nakaima, the third headmaster of the style, is credited with opening it to non-family members. One of his top students was Tsuguo Sakumoto, a three-time WKF Kata World Champion. …

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This week in history (16 December – 22 December)

19 December On 19 December 1963 Vernon Bell received a letter from Masatomo Takagi, the General Manager of the Japan Karate Association (JKA), requesting that the British Karate Federation officially act as the authorized representative of the JKA in Britain. Earlier that year Bell had received a letter from Takagi indicating that Tetsuji Murakami (Yoseikan …

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This week in history (9 December – 15 December)

10 December On 10 December 1933 Shotokan master Takayuki Mikami was born in Nigata Prefecture Japan. He was the first professional Karate instructor to be sent by the JKA to teach Karate full-time in another country. Mikami arrived in Tokyo in 1952  to study Japanese Literature at Hosei University. Being a farm boy in a …

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This week in history (2 December – 8 December)

3 December On 3 December 1941, Shoshin Nagamine gave a public Karate demonstration to members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force and an assortment of dignitaries, including the Police Chief Cabinet secretary and his deputy, plus members of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Martial Arts section).  Born 15 July 1907 in Naha, Okinawa, Nagamine is the founder …

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This week in history (25 November – 1 December)

25 November On 25 November 1948 the founder of the Okinawan Karate style Uechi-ryu, Kanbun Uechi, died aged 71. Born into a family of farmers, in 1897 Uechi fled his native Okinawa to avoid conscription into the Japanese army. He travelled to Fuzhou (Fuchou) in the Fukien Province of China. Looking to learn martial arts, …

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This week in history (18 November – 24 November)

18 November On 18 November 2004 the 17th World Karate Championships were held at the Monterrey Arena, Monterrey, Mexico. Goju-ryu practitioner Atsuko Wakai from Japan, won her fourth consecutive Word individual kata title. She is one of the most successful tournament competitors, having also won titles at the World Games, Asian Games and All-Japan Karate-do …

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This week in history (11 November – 17 November)

11 November On 11 November 1934 Colin Williams was born. Williams a Shotokan practitioner, started his training during the early days of Karate in the United Kingdom, in the 1950s. In the 1980s he founded the Bukonkai Karate International (BKI) association. He was the association’s Chief Instructor. In 1998 he founded the Malta Bukonkai Karate …

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