Daniel Lautier

A believer in discipline and hard work, Daniel Lautier is also a firm believer in the traditional aspects of Karate training. He has done much to promote JKA Shotokan Karate in France.

Daniel Lautier was born on 23 March 1950 in Tangier, Morocco. He spent his early years growing up on the island of Madagascar.

In 1954 Lautier and his family moved to France. Growing up in France he enjoyed playing outside. He particularly enjoyed playing football and petanque.

On 21 March 1965, Lautier began working as an apprentice telephone engineer, shortly before his 15th birthday. That evening he began learning Karate In Paris. He began training under Sensei De Peretti who was originally a Judo instructor.

Lautier had come across a flyer earlier that week advertising Karate classes. This was during the early days of Karate in France. There were no women or children and very few teenagers training. He trained three days a week with adults. Many of the adults had previously trained in Judo and Aikido. The training was very hard.

In July 1968 Lautier travelled to Japan with De Peretti. They stayed in Japan for around six months, training at the JKA Hombu.

It was a difficult trip for the young Lautier. He spoke no Japanese or English, so communication was a little difficult. Training at the Hombu was 4-6 hours a day. The weekends were spent recovering from the training.

Lautier had the opportunity to be taught by Masatoshi Nakayama, Hiroshi Shoji, and Shigeru Takashina. He also had the opportunity to dine with the writer Yukio Mishima, who was one of Japan’s most famous authors. Mishima would commit ritual suicide two years later.

In 1969 Lautier returned to France. In September of that year, he began teaching. He opened his first dojo at Fosse.

On 18 November 1969, Lautier was promoted to 1st Dan. Around this time he began training with Taiji Kase. He trained with him privately, as well as in normal classes. He also followed him around France, England, Italy, and Belgium, to attend various courses Kase taught at. Lautier would remain Kase’s student until 1978.

Lautier was promoted to 2nd Dan in 1973.

In 1973 Lautier opened a dojo in Saint Prix. Over the next couple of years, he opened several more dojos, including:

• Survilliers ((1974)
• Vaudreuil (1978)
• Paris (1979)
• Senlis (1979)
• Aulnay sous Bois (1984)

Taiji Kase closed his Paris dojo in 1977. The following year Lautier began training with Satoshi Miyazaki.

Miyazaki became Lautier’s teacher, friend, and father figure to him. Lautier would also become good friends with Miyazaki’s assistant, Kazuhiro Sawada.

In 1979 Lautier decided to leave the American telephone company he was working for to become a professional Karate instructor. His parents were not sure about his decision.

The FSKA (France Shoto karate Association) was founded in 1985 by Lautier and Herve Delage. The aim of the association was to promote JKA Karate in France.

In 1989 Lautier became the Chief Instructor of JKA Madagascar.

In 1990, around three years after the death of Masatoshi Nakayama, internal divisions within the JKA led to a split into the opposing Nakahara and Matsuno factions. Motokuni Sugiura was the Chief Instructor of the Nakahara faction. Tetsuhiko Asai was the Chief Instructor of the Matsuno faction.

The FSKA became JKA France in 1994. Lautier became the Chief Instructor of the Association.

The 1st Shihan Kai was held in Gifu, Japan. It was led by Motokini Sugiura. Lautier had the opportunity to participate.

On 31 May 1990, Satoshi Miyazaki died from cancer.

Apart from conducting courses across France, Lautier was frequently invited to conduct courses in other countries. In 1995, he began visiting Lithuania, where he still conducts a course every year.

The 7th Shoto cup was held in Paris, France in 1998. Lautier organised a tournament. There were 2000 competitors from 57 countries.

By 2007, Lautier had helped with the establishment of JKA Shoto in France. In April of that year, he was promoted to 7th Dan.

In 2008 Lautier opened a private dojo in Montauban, in the mid-Pyrenees.

On 14 March 2010, the Steering Committee of JKA France appointed Kazuhiro Sawada as an honorary member of the Steering Committee in recognition of his services to JKA France.

Between 7-9 December 2012, the 4th JKA Christmas Camp was held at La Roche-sur-Yon, France. The event was organised by JKA France. The instructors were Kazuhiro Sawada, Tatsuya Naka, and Lautier. 210 students attended the camp.

In October 2015 Lautier stepped down as the Chief Instructor of JKA France. He was replaced by Denis Douarre. Even though Lautier has stepped down, he still continued to help JKA France when called upon. He still remained the Chief Instructor of JKA Madagascar.

Between 10-12 August 2016, an international gasshuku took place at the Ankorondrano Gymnasium in Madagascar. It was led by Lautier. The following day a tournament was held at the same location.

Between 18-20 August 2017, the Funakoshi Gichin Cup 14th Karate World Championship was held in Ireland. During the opening ceremony, the JKA Chief Instructor, Masaaki Ueki presented Lautier with “The Award for distinguished devotion to the JKA“.

Lautier became a technical advisor to the JKA Martinique Academy in 2018.

Between 10-12 June 2022 the 40th Summer Camp: International Course Senlis 2022 was held at the Hugues Capet High School gymnasium in Senlis. Lautier was a guest instructor alongside Kazuhiro Sawada, Yoshinobu Ohta, and Denis Douarre.

Between 9-11 December 2022, the 10th JKA Christmas Camp was held at La Roche-sur-Yon, France. Lautier was a guest instructor alongside Tatsuya Naka and Yutaro Ogane.

As a member of the JKA, Daniel Lautier is frequently invited to be a guest instructor on courses and gasshukus, nationally and internationally. Apart from conducting courses in Europe, he has also conducted courses in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Djibouti. He is known as a patient and knowledgeable instructor.