Hirokazu Kanazawa

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A legend of Karate, much has been written about Hirokazu Kanazawa. For many years, he was one of the most recognisable faces of Karate. Considered by many to be one of the greatest of the Shotokan Masters, he is arguably one of the best technicians to come out of the JKA.

Kanazawa was born on 3 May 1931 in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. His father was a fisherman who died young in the 1940s. His mother, Masue, was a big influence on his life. The middle child of three, his older brother Tatsuo, would eventually run the family’s fishing business. His younger brother, Hideo, would eventually become a doctor.

In high school, Kanazawa was a keen boxer and judoka. He eventually reached the rank of 2nd Dan in Judo.

Kanazawa first became aware of Karate in the 1940s, while a high school senior. Yamashiro, an Okinawan friend of his brother Tatsuo, was visiting on holiday from university. One night, the small man became drunk and got into a fight with several local fishermen. The police were called, and Officer Kodama, a very big man and a renowned 5th Dan judoka, was in attendance. There was a struggle, and the much smaller Yamashiro broke Officer Kodama’s nose. This was Kanazawa’s first experience of Karate in action. This was something he wanted to learn. However, there were no Karate clubs locally.

In 1951, Kanazawa enrolled at Nippon University. He joined the university’s Karate club but was soon disappointed with the training. A weak club, it had only one black belt student and many white belts. He had seen a training session conducted by students from Takushoku University. He was impressed by the standard of their Karate training and knew he wanted to attend a strong Karate university.

Kanazawa took and passed the entrance exams for Takushoku University, and transferred to the university in 1951.

As expected, Kanazawa joined the university’s strong Shotokan Karate club. Having developed close-range and ground-fighting skills through boxing and Judo, he was impressed by the long-range techniques of Shotokan Karate. Apart from his normal university studies, he also trained 5 to 6 hours a day.

Initially, there was a gap between Kanazawa and the other students. Some of the students had studied Karate in high school. To overcome the gap, he trained on his own at night. He also used a lot of mental imagery to rehearse the techniques he practised. Gichin Funakoshi would come to the club to teach. Kanazawa was responsible for collecting him from his home to bring him to the club.

Upon graduating from Takushoku University, Kanazawa was recruited by Taiyo Fisheries Company. He continued his Karate practice. In 1956, he was promoted to 3rd Dan.

Kanazawa was invited to enrol on the newly formed JKA Instructor course in 1956. The course was the brainchild of Masatoshi Nakayama and Teruyuki Okazaki of the JKA. Its aim was to train high-calibre instructors who could teach and spread Karate worldwide. The course was very intensive, lasting for a year. It aimed to create well-rounded individuals who, in addition to being technically competent, were knowledgeable in other areas, such as physiology. The course enabled students to cross-train in other Karate styles. This included Wado-ryu with Hironori Ohtsuka; Goju-ryu with Gogen Yamaguchi; and Shito-ryu with Kenwa Mabuni. This training allowed them to see the similarities and differences among the styles. Apart from Nakayama, the other instructors on the course were Hidetaka Nishiyama, Taiji Kase and Teruyuki Okazaki.

The first intake of the Instructor Course comprised three students recommended by their university. Takayuki Mikami was the choice of Hosei University. His sensei, Itoh, was well respected and had made a strong recommendation on his behalf. Hirokazu Kanazawa was recommended by Nakayama as the representative of Takushoku University. The third student, Eiji Takaura, was recommended by Chiba Technical University.

After graduating from the course, Kanazawa became an instructor at the JKA Hombu and at several companies and universities, including Musashi Industrial University, Mitsubishi Shoji Company, and Arabia Oil Company.

On 28 October 1957, the 1st All Japan Karate Association Championships took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Kanazawa had trained intensively for the championships. However, five days before the championships were due to start, he broke his wrist in two places.

Kanazawa was upset by the injury and decided not to compete. However, his mother had travelled to Tokyo to watch him compete in the tournament. She asked him whether he had other limbs he could use. Not wanting to disappoint her, he entered the tournament. He used his good hand for blocking and his kicks for scoring throughout the tournament. He won four fights by ippon. In the final, he defeated Katsunori Tsuyama in the kumite final.

The following year, in 1958, Kanazawa became the first-ever Grand Champion of the JKA All Japan Karate Championships. He won the kata title, defeating Takayuki Mikami in the final. In a memorable kumite final, he faced Mikami. Both men fought to a draw and shared the kumite title.

On 22 January 1961, Kanazawa was sent to Hawaii by the JKA to serve as their Chief Instructor. He would hold this position for the next two years. Introducing the new art of Shotokan Karate to Hawaii was not without its problems. He faced challenges from other instructors of other Karate styles and martial arts. They wanted to test the authenticity of his Karate. Through talking, he was able to prevent many conflicts. However, on 5 occasions, he faced challenges that could not be dissuaded from conflict. He defeated them all.

In 1961, Kanazawa was promoted to 5th Dan.

Always eager to experience other styles of Karate, Kanazawa visited the birthplace of Karate in Okinawa. He had the opportunity to visit several dojos. He visited the dojo of Shorin-Ryu founder Chosin Chibana and that of his student Yuchoku Higa.

On 29 March 1965, Kanazawa embarked from Haneda Airport, Tokyo, alongside Taiji Kase, Keinosuke Enoeda and Hiroshi Shirai on a world tour for the JKA. The aim of the tour was to introduce the wider world to the JKA’s brand of Shotokan Karate. The touring party visited cities in the United States, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, England and South Africa. The tour was a success and led to a request for JKA instructors to teach outside of Japan.

In 1965, Kanazawa also became the resident instructor to the British Karate Federation, which had become affiliated with the JKA. His contract was for one year. He was very popular with the students he taught, who were disappointed when his contract ended in 1966.

In 1966, a split in the BKF led to the formation of the Karate Union of Great Britain. Kanazawa became the Chief Instructor of the KUGB. That same year, he was promoted to 6th Dan.

The JKA asked Kanazawa to become Chief Instructor to the German Karate Federation in 1967. Enoeda took over as Chief Instructor of the KUGB. When Kanazawa left the German role in 1970 to return to Japan, he recommended Hideo Ochi to be his successor.

Through the efforts of Kanazawa and the JKA, Karate was becoming popular. Film actors like Lee Marvin and Peter Sellers were interested in seeing Karate demonstrated. In 1968, Kanazawa appeared in the popular TV show, The Saint, starring Roger Moore. In the episode, Kanazawa starred as a Karate Instructor.

Kanazawa was promoted to 7th Dan by the JKA in 1971. He was also promoted to JKA Director, becoming General Manager of the International Division of the JKA International Section. He also became the Chief Instructor at Musashikogyo, Kantogakuin and Kitasato universities.

In his new role for the JKA, Kanazawa travelled around the world, promoting the JKA’s brand of Shotokan Karate. He gave numerous courses and seminars.

For the next few years, Kanazawa worked tirelessly as a senior member of the JKA. He was the General Manager of the Japanese team sent to the 2nd W.U.K.O World Championships, held in Paris, France. He was also an international referee at the 1st IAKF World Championships held in 1975. In 1977, he gave a demonstration at the 2nd IAKF World Championships.

For many, Kanazawa was one of the JKA’s main faces. So it was a huge shock when he left the JKA in 1977. He had sent a letter of resignation as a JKA director, but not as a JKA instructor. As Director of the International Section, one of his responsibilities was to unify the various JKA groups worldwide. He felt he had failed to do this. Some elements within the JKA wanted to see him expelled. While on a trip to Europe, he received a dismissal letter from the JKA. He was shocked. He had never wanted to leave the JKA. He had been with them for over 20 years.

No longer with the JKA, Kanazawa established the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation (S.K.I.F.) in 1977, alongside Shiro Asano, Akio Nagai, Masaru Miura, and Rikuta Koga. He was the head of the new organisation. His technical prowess and international profile soon attracted many students.

In 1983, the 1st S.K.I.F World Championships took place in Tokyo, Japan. 25 countries took part. Hitoshi Kasuya of Japan won the kata title, with Aidan Trimble of England winning the men’s kumite title. H. Kumakura of Japan won the women’s kata title, and Japan won the team kumite title. The S.K.I.F World Championships have become an important event in the Shotokan calendar.

In 1984, at the 4th International Osamu Ozawa Traditional Karate Tournament, one of the biggest showcases in the world for traditional Karate styles, Kanazawa was invited to give a clinic on kumite. He was frequently invited to the annual event held in Las Vegas to give demonstrations showcasing Shotokan Karate.

Kanazawa was promoted to 9th Dan by the International Martial Arts Federation in 1988.

The Hokubei Karate-do Shihankai was established in 1994. The Japanese Karate Masters Association of North America is an organisation dedicated to promoting and maintaining the principles and philosophy of Japanese martial arts in the United States. Kanazawa was one of the 36 founding members. Other members included Fumio Demura, Morio Higaonna, Tomohiro Arashiro, Tak Kubota, Takayuki Mikami, Yukiyoshi Marutani, Gosei Yamaguchi, and Teruyuki Okazaki.

In April 2000, at the 7th SKIF World Championships held in Bali, Indonesia, Kanazawa was awarded his 10th Dan.

The 9th S.K.I.F World Championships were held in Tokyo in November 2006. There were participants from 72 countries. Kanazawa gave a sword demo.

The S.K.I.F celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2009. It coincided with Kanazawa’s 77th birthday. He was presented with a sculptured bust of himself. Also, his son, Nobuaki Kanazawa, conducted a training course. To further mark the event, several awards were given to S.K.I.F members.

In January 2009, Hirokazu Kanazawa suffered a skiing accident. He fell badly, crushing three of his vertebrae. He was in his 70s. After he recovered, he continued travelling around the world conducting courses and seminars.

In 2012, after decades of travelling, Kanazawa decided to spend more time in his native Japan. That year, after the 11th S.K.I.F World Championships held in Sydney, Australia, he retired from active travelling and teaching. During his teaching, he had travelled to more than 130 countries.

Two years later, at a special ceremony held in Tokyo on 5 April 2014, Hirokazu Kanazawa officially passed the leadership of the S.K.I.F to his son Nobuaki, assisted by Manabu Murakami.

Kanazawa has practised Tai Chi for many years and credits it for his longevity in Karate. He started practising the art in 1957 under the tutelage of Yang Ming Shi. He has also conducted extensive studies of Okinawan Kubodo weapons, such as the sai, tonfa, and nunchaku. A keen historian, he has also researched many of the kata found in Shotokan Karate.

Kanazawa has three sons, Nobuaki, Fumitoshi and Daizo. Unfortunately, their mother died at a young age. All three of his sons are professional Karate instructors.

Noted Shotokan practitioner Terry O’Neill once wrote about Kanazawa,

“He is the perfect specimen of the type of person the art of Karate can develop – there will never be a finer living example of what Karate at its highest level really is.”

In the early hours of 8 December 2019, Hirokazu Kanazawa died at the age of 88.

Hirokazu Kanazawa is considered one of the most skilful Karate masters of all time. A great technician, he is considered by some to be the greatest Shotokan master. He was one of the best instructors in the world and built up a loyal following of dedicated students. A gentle and sincere man, he was able to convey the concepts of Karate to many generations of students. A prolific author, he has published many books and produced instructional videos. It could be argued that many people would not have started Karate if they had not seen demonstrations from this very talented master.