Apr 11 2017
On this day, 11 April 1907, Minoru Mochizuki, founder of the Yoseikan dojo, was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Mochizuki was one of the few men to have been a direct student of the three great Budo masters, Jigoro Kano, Morihei Uesiba and Gichin Funakoshi. An accomplished martial artist, Mochizuki held a 10th Dan in …
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Mar 31 2017
… Contact is the one and only thing that can establish the truth in a combat sport! This does not mean that we have to go back to the Survival Games of old. Mastery is when you touch with control without hurting. Dominique Valera Arguably Europe’s best-known Karate competitor of the 1960s and 1970s, Dominique Valera, a …
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Mar 30 2017
On this day, March 30, 2003 Shotokan Karate master, Keinosuke Enoeda, died from stomach cancer Born on 4th July 1935, in Fukuoka, Japan, to family descended from the samurai, Enoeda attended Takushoku University, where he trained under Masatoshi Nakayama. He was a graduate of the JKA’s Instructor Course and also a former JKA All-Japan Champion …
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Mar 20 2017
On this day, 20 March 1928, Gichin Funakoshi gives a karate display with fifteen of students by Imperial invitation at the place grounds of Sainei-kan. On this day, 20 March 1955, The Japan Karate Association (JKA0 is founded. Masatoshi Nakayama is appointed the chief instructor and Masatomo Takagi is appointed secretary of the association. On …
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Mar 14 2017
On this day, 14th March 1946, Michael Billman, a high ranking karate administrator, was born in the East End of London. At school, Billman had been a keen rugby player having trials with the Saracens Rugby Club. On leaving school he took up amateur boxing. In 1969 he began his karate training at a club run …
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Mar 13 2017
On this day, 13 March 1957, Vernon Bell was awarded his black belt in Yoseikan karate from the Fédération Française de Karaté, under Hiroo Mochizuki and Henri Plee. Bell had started training with Plee towards the end of 1955. He had made frequent visits to Plee’s Paris dojo. After around eighteen monthes he graded for his 1st Dan. Bell …
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Mar 10 2017
On this day, 10 March 1945, the Shotokan dojo was destroyed during the bombing raid of Tokyo by American B29 bombers, during World War II. The Shotokan dojo had been built in the Zoshigaya neighbourhood of Toshima Ward, Tokyo, in 1936, after funds had been raised by karate supporters for a dojo. Gichin Funakoshi recalls, …
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Mar 08 2017
On this day, 8 March 1945, Roger Hall a founding member of the English Shotokan Karate Association (ESKA), was born. Hall had orignially sterated learning Wado-ryu but switched to Shotokan karate in 1966, He received his 1st Dan in from Hirokazu Kanazawa in 1972. In 1974 he recieved his 2nd Dan from Shiro Asano and …
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Mar 07 2017
On this day, 7 March 1956, the earliest known letter was written from Henri Plee to Vernon Bell. This letter was a response to an earlier letter written by Bell to the Fédération Française de Karaté on 21st February 1956. It is thought that Bell had inquired about being graded by the Fédération Française de Karaté. In his letter Plee …
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Mar 06 2017
On this day, 6 March 1921, Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan karate, led a karate demonstration in front of Crown Prince Hirohito. The demonstration was performed at the Great Hall of Shuri Castle, in Okinawa. Crown Prince Hirohito had visited Okinawa while en-route to a visit to Europe. The ship’s captain, Captain Norikazu Kanna, …
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