On 14 February 2015, South African Shotokan Karate pioneer, Stan Schmidt, was awarded the rank of 8th Dan by the JKA. He was the first non-Japanese to be promoted to this rank by the JKA.
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/on-this-day-february-14/
Feb 13 2022
Emma Markwell
A shy lady, Emma Markwell is one of Europe’s most successful Kyokushin competitors. Emma Markwell was born in Crawley, England on 18 July 1989. Around the age of 9, she started attending Kyokushin classes with her stepdad, Les Spall. He was already a student of Steve Arneil, training at his IFK (International Federation Karate) Wimbledon …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/emma-markwell/
Feb 11 2022
Nguyen Hoang Ngan
Nicknamed the “Kata Queen of Southeast Asia“, Nguyen Hoang Ngan is Vietnam’s most successful Karate competitor. A former World Champion, she was the face of Vietnamese Karate for many years. A winner of multiple titles, she is a 7-time winner of the South Eastern Games (SEA Games). Nguyen Hoang Ngan was born on 21 October …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/nguyen-hoang-ngan/
Feb 10 2022
On this day….(February 10)
On 10 February 1966, Andy Sherry and Joseph Chialton became the first students in Great Britain to be graded to 1st Dan by the Japan Karate Association (JKA). The grading took place at the Liverpool Karate Club which was located at 157 Everton Road. The grading was conducted by Keinosuke Enoeda. On 10 February 1999 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/feb-10/
Feb 09 2022
On this day….(February 9)
On 9 February 1929 Shotokan master Taiji Kase, was born in Chiba, Japan. Kase had studied Judo before beginning Karate. He earned a 2nd Dan in Judo by the age of 15. He started his Karate training in 1944 under the guidance of Yoshitaka Funakoshi and Shigeru Egami. He was awarded his 3rd Dan in …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/feb-09/
Feb 08 2022
Sari Laine
An Individual Kumite competitor, Sari Laine is the winner of multiple titles at a National, European, and World level. She appears in the Guinness book of records for winning the most Karate medals. Sari Laine was born on 18 November 1962, in Helsinki, Finland. In 1972 Finland participated in the European Karate Championships for the …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/sari-laine/
Feb 07 2022
On this day….(February 7)
On 7 February 2004 Shotokan master Tetsuhiko Asai, was made an Honorary President of the Russian National Far East University in Vladivostok. This was in recognition for his contribution to the development of education, science and culture. He was presented with a pocket watch.
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/on-this-day-february-7/
Feb 05 2022
On this day….(February 5)
On 5 February 1964, Vernon Bell received his 1st Dan from the Japan Karate Association’s (JKA), following the British Karate Federation (BKF) formally agreeing to become the JKA’s agents in Britain. This was more of an honorary grade as Bell never  took a grading examination.
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/on-this-day-feb-05/
Feb 04 2022
On this day….(February 4)
On 4 February 1949, Michael Nursey, a founding member of the English Shotokan Karate Association (ESKA) was born. Nursey started training in Karate when he was eighteen, under Keinosuke Enoeda and John Van Weenen. After achieving his 4th Kyu Nursey continued his training with Hirokazu Kanazawa, Shiro Asano and Michael Randall. Nursey gained is 1st …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/on-this-day-feb-04/
Feb 01 2022
On this day….(February 1)
On 1 February 1960, Michael Manning became the first British Karate Federation (BKF) student to grade to 1st kyu. Manning was one of Vernon Bell‘s original Karate students. He was nineteen when he started training with Bell in Jiujitsu in 1956. Manning was described as having a withered right arm. By the time he graded, …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/on-this-day-feb-01/
Recent Comments