Seiji Kanamura

One of Mas Oyama’s top students, Seiji Kanamura has been involved in Karate since its early days. He has done much to establish Kyokushin Karate in the United States and the wider world.

Seiji Kanamura was born in 1944, in Tokyo, Japan.

Kanamura’s father was a friend of Mas Oyama.

In 1958 Kanamura began training under Oyama, who was teaching Oyama Karate at the time.

Kanamura enrolled at Meiji University in the late 1950s, where he eventually earned a degree. He followed this with a two-year postgraduate diploma in Food Chemistry.

By 1967 Kanamura had been promoted to 1st Dan and had become a Hombu dojo instructor. He also became Oyama’s driver and bodyguard.

In 1968 Kanamura became the Chief Instructor at the Hombu dojo.

In 1971 Oyama sent Kanamura to the United States to establish Kyokushin Karate in New York. Initially, he was supposed to teach in the United States for two years. However, when his time was up, Oyama asked him to extend his stay in the United States.

Apart from teaching in the United States, Kanamura travelled to other countries to teach. In 1974 he travelled to Hawaii to teach.

In March 1974, six karateka were sent from Japan to live and train in New York for two months. This was to get them used to competing against non-Japanese fighters. They were Joko Ninomiya, Yoshiji Soeno, Yukio Nishida, Katsuaki Sato, Nobuyuki Kishi, and Toshikatsu Sato. They were accompanied by coach Yuzo Goda. They were nicknamed The Seven Samurai. They visited the dojos of Shigeru Oyama, Tadashi Nakamura, and Kanamura. They had the opportunity to train and compete against the likes of William Oliver, and Willie Williams.

In 1975 Kanamura was appointed the Chief Instructor of the United States team that travelled to Tokyo to compete in a Karate tournament.

Always looking to promote Kyokushin Karate, Kanamura travelled to Venezuela and Brazil, where he taught several classes.

In 1979 Kanamura was again appointed the Chief Instructor of the United States Kyokushin Karate team. He was in charge of a team that travelled to Japan to compete in the Open Karate Tournament, held in Tokyo.

From 1979 to 1983, Kanamura continued travelling to different countries to teach Kyokushin. In 1979, he travelled to Canada. He travelled to Haiti in 1980, and Italy in 1983.

Apart from Karate, Kanamura became a professor of Sports Science at Long Island University, during the 1980s. At the university, he was part of a study examining whether non-contact or semi-contact Karate offered the best cardiovascular workout.

In 1987 Kanamura was promoted to 7th Dan by Mas Oyama.

Kanamura produced a workout videotape in 1987. It was called Karate At Home.

On 26 April 1994, Kanamura’s teacher, Mas Oyama died. Following Oyama’s death, his organisation, the IKO (International Karate Organisation) split into several different factions. Kanamura remained with the IKO-1 which was led by Shokei Matsui.

In 2003, Kanamura decided to leave the IKO-1, after several years with the organisation. He joined the All Japan Kyokushin Union.

Kanamura was still a much-in-demand instructor and continued to teach abroad.

Between 14-18 July 2010, Kanamura was invited to be a special instructor at the Kyokushin Karate Summer Camp held in Cefalu, Sicily. It was organised by Aldo Raimondo.

In 2012 Kanamura left the All Japan Kyokushin Union and joined the International Kyokushin Budoken Organisation in Japan.

In 2014 Kanamura helped establish the WAKKU (World All Kyokushin Karate Union). He became the organisation’s President.

Seiji Kanamura holds the rank of 9th Dan. He is currently an Executive Advisor to the WAKKU.