Category: General

Cover Star: Wayne Otto

Wayne Otto is one of the most successful tournament fighters to have come out of Britain. He has appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as having won the most Karate championship medals for a male competitor. Over the years he has featured on the cover of a number of martial arts publications. Below are just …

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This Week in history (20 November – 26 November)

21 November On 21 November 1982 the 6th World Championships commenced in Taipei, Taiwan, finishing on 25 November. Japan continued their dominance of world Karate by topping the medal table with six golds, two silvers and four bronzes. Mie Nakayama began her dominance of the women’s individual kata event by winning the first of her three individual titles. At …

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This Week in history (13 November – 19 November)

13 November On 13 November 1943 David ‘Ticky’ Donovan was born, in Loughton, England. He is a highly respected former competitor, coach and founder of the Ishinryu style of karate. Originally a boxer, Donovan got started in Karate in 1965 when he and a friend attended a class run by Tatsuo Suzuki, a practitioner of Wado-Ryu. He …

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This Week in history (6 November – 12 November)

6 November On 6 November 1964, Pathe Pictorial released a color film showing Vernon Bell’s British Karate Federation (BKF) students training at the Kentish Town dojo. The film lasting three minutes, was shown in cinemas across Britain. Eddie Whitcher can be seen in the film. At the time he was a blue belt. 7 November On  7 November 2008, …

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This week in history (30 October – 5 November)

3 November On 3 November 1954, Master Mitsusuke Harada was awarded the rank of Godan (5th dan), presented to him by Master Gichin Funakoshi. Harada started his karate training in November 1943, under Genshin Hironishi, a student of Master Funakoshi. Harada received his Shodan (1st dan) in 1951. He started teaching Karate for the Physical Education department at Waseda University, …

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This week in history (23 October – 29 October)

26 October On 26 October 1957 the Federation Internationale De Karate (FIK) was formed at the headquarters of the French Karate Federation, located at 34 rue de la Montagne Sainte Genevieve, Paris. Present at the creation of the FIK was Vladimiro Malatesti (representing Italy), Vernon Bell (representing Great Britain), Jurgen Seydel (representing Germany), Henri Plee (representing …

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This week in history (16 October – 22 October)

17 October On 17 October Doug James ran his very first beginner’s class at the Harrarby Community Center. The name of his club was the Cumbria School of Karate. This club would eventually become the headquarters (Hombu) of his association, the British Karate-Do Chojinkai Association (BKCA). The BKCA comprises of clubs in Cumbria, North Lancashire and …

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This Week in history (9 October -15 October)

10 October On this day, 10 October 1928, Shotokan Karate master, Hidetaka Nishiyama was born. Nishiyama attended famed university, Takushoku, studying economics. In 1949 he was named the captain of the karate team, after joining earlier that year. In the early 1950s, Nishiyama was part of a group, including Masatoshi Nakayama and Isao Obata, selected …

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This week in history (2 October – 8 October)

4 October On 4 October 1924, Motokuni Sugiura, a former Chief Instructor of the JKA, was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Sugiura earned his 1st Dan aged only 20.At university he had been university he had been taught be Gichin Funakoshi and his son Yoshitaka. After he graduated in 1944 he joined the Tsuchiura Navy Flying Corps, serving …

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This week in history (25 September – 1 October)

28 September On 28 September 1897, Shinkin Gima was born in Shuri, Okinawa. On Okinawa he studied under both Yasutsune Itosu and Kentsu Yabu before attending university in Tokyo. In 1922 he met and began training with Gichin Funakoshi. He was Funakoshi’s first black belt and would eventually reach the rank of 10th Dan.

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