Ryozo Tsukada

Known as a technical and patient instructor, Ryozo Tsukada was among the early cohort of Japanese instructors to teach Karate in Europe. For many years he was one of the main faces of Sankukai Karate.

Ryozo Tsukada was born on 29 November 1948, in Osaka, Japan. He was the youngest of three boys. He came from a family of martial artists. His father, a policeman, was a 5th Dan Judo teacher. His older brothers were Aikido and Kendo practitioners.

Tsukada began practising Judo at age 3. He was taught by his father. At the age of 5, he began learning Aikido at the same club his older brother trained at.

Tsukada began practising Shotokan Karate, at age 14. He trained under a friend of his father. Not as physically big as his father and brothers he was instantly drawn to Karate.

For a time Tsukada practiced Judo, Aikido, and Karate at the same time. He trained outside on the square of a temple close to his home. Sometimes the monks would allow the training group to train indoors in a dojo located in the temple.

After high school Tsukada enrolled at Osaka University. He joined the university’s Karate club, training under Chojiro Tani. He had switched from Shotokan to Shito-Ryu after two years of practice. As was typical of the time, training was tough. The training involved performing many repetitions of the same techniques.

In 1970 Yoshinao Nanbu introduced the new style of Sankukai Karate to the world. Nanbu had been a student of Chojiro Tani. He had been Tani’s Shukokai Karate representative in Europe. However, he resigned from the Shukokai organisation as he did not like the restrictions placed on him and the growing emphasis on sport Karate rather than the Budo aspects of the art.

Sankukai Karate combines elements of Aikido, Judo, Shito-Ryu, and Shukokai Karate. It was around this time that Tsukada made the switch from Shukokai to Sankukai. He had known Nanbu for several years and found the new style of Karate suited him.

In 1972 Tsukada traveled to France to become Nanbu’s assistant. Nanbu had been training in Japan and was looking for someone to assist him on his return to France.

Tsukada initially had problems teaching in France. He taught his new students the way he had been taught in Japan. This way of training led to him quickly losing students. This was on top of the language barrier he faced in his new country.

In time Tsukada adjusted his teaching style. As Yoshinao Nanbu’s assistant, he soon became one of the faces of Sankukai Karate.

In 1975 Nanbu and Tsukada were invited to the BKCC All-Britain Championships, where they gave a demonstration of Sankukai, in Manchester. Demonstrating Sankukai at the event gave it greater visibility in the United Kingdom.

The 1st Sankukai World Championships was held in Monte Carlo in 1976. 17 countries took part in the tournament. Also, the 1st World Cup was held in Nice, France, that year.

Despite all the successes that Sankukai was enjoying, Yoshinao Nanbu had grown disillusioned with the martial arts world. He was disappointed with the negativity he found in some places. He stopped teaching, withdrawing from the martial arts world. Tsukada picked up the slack, becoming even more prominent in the Sankukai world.

During the 2nd Sankukai World Championships in 1978, Yoshinao Nanbu gave the world its first glimpse of his new style, Nanbudo, during a demonstration he gave.

In 1978 Nanbu left the Sankukai organisation that he built, to establish his new style of Nanbudo. He had hoped that many of his existing Sankukai students would follow him. However, many of them, and the associations they belonged to, preferred what they were learning in Sankukai and did not follow him.

By 1979 Tsukada had been promoted to 6th Dan.

After around ten years of training in Sankukai, Tsukada left the organisation in 1982. He began training with Kenji Kusano, a Shito-Ryu master known for his technical ability.

Tsukada joined Kusano’s WKKA (World Kenshikan Kenpo Karatedo Association) and travelled around Europe giving training courses.

By 1990 Tsukada had made a good life for himself in France. He lived in France with his French wife, Joyelle.

In 2001 Tsukada was appointed a Federal Expert to the FFKDA (French Karate Federation).

Apart from Karate Tsukada has also trained in Judo and Kendo. In 2007 he was promoted to 2nd in Judo and also 1st Dan in Kendo.

Between 8-10 July 2016, a three-day seminar was held at the Gymnase de la Viguerie in the different French city of Cassis. This was the third time that the seminar had been run. Tsukada (Shito-Ryu) and five other Japanese instructors were invited to conduct the seminar. The other instructors were Yuichi Sato (Shotokan), Yukinobu Shimbukuro (Ueichi-Ryu), Hiroo Mochizuki (Yoseikan Budo), Seisuke Adaniya (Shorin Ryu), Zenei Oshiro (Goju-Ryu). The three-day seminar culminated with a two-hour martial arts gala.

On 28 April 2020, Tsukada’s friend and teacher, Yoshinao Nanbu died.

A martial arts seminar was held in Paris, France, on 29th October 2022. There were nine Japanese experts in attendance. They were Tsukada, Yuichi Sato, Seisuke Adaniya, Eiji Kawanishi, Hiroshi Aosako, Kenji Naka, Tsutomu Kamohara, Zenei Oshiro, and Yukinobu Shimabukuro.

By 2024 Tsukada was fully immersed in teaching Shito-Ryu Karate. On 4 August 2024, he travelled to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he conducted the course. The course was organised by the GIKASH, the Ivorian Shito-Ryu Karate group. This was not his first visit to the country. He had previously visited the Ivory Coast in 2018.

Ryozo Tsukada is currently ranked as an 8th Dan with the FFDKA in Shito-Ryu Karate.

A great technician, Ryozo Tsukada has been a stonewall of European Karate. Apart from teaching at his dojo in France, he is frequently invited to be a guest instructor on courses around the world.