Tsutomu Ohshima

….at least my black belts know that what they are learning is not for the ego, or just for street use or for competition, but for their own soul
and their own life.

Tsutomu Ohshima

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A pioneer of American Shotokan Karate and known for his serious and penetrating gaze, Tsutomu Ohshima was a direct student of Karate founder Gichin Funakoshi. He was one of Funakoshi’s last direct students. He has been featured on the covers of several top martial arts publications.

Tsutomu Ohshima was born on 6 August 1930 in Tsingtao, China, where he spent his early years. He had an older brother and two younger sisters. He was from a samurai lineage. His father, Fusakichi, a martial arts expert, was born in Nagasaki, while his mother, Sato, was born in Hiroshima.

Oshima and his family returned to Japan just before the outbreak of World War II.

Ohshima’s martial arts training started at an early age. In 1933, aged 3, he started Sumo wrestling. He continued until he was 13. In 1938, he started Kendo training until he was 15 years old. If that was not enough, he began Judo in 1939 and trained until he was 13.

In 1947, aged 17, Ohshima enrolled at Waseda University to study economics. He soon joined the Waseda Karate Club a year later. His seniors at the club were Hiroshi Kamata and Matsuo Shibuya. Other seniors and old boys of the Waseda Karate Club included Hiroshi Noguchi, the first Waseda Captain; Shigeru Egami; Toshio Kamata-Watanabe; and Todao Okuyama. One of his closest classmates was Mitsusuke Harada, who would go on to be an influential instructor in his own right. For many years, his friends and family did not know that he practised the little-known martial art of Karate.

Ohshima trained directly under the founder of Shotokan, Gichin Funakoshi. He was aged 18, and Funakoshi was aged 78. By Ohshima’s own admission, it wasn’t until years later, when he was teaching, that he came to appreciate the teachings of Funakoshi. Training at the dojo was every evening and lasted for a couple of hours. The training was hard, and students could not miss any lessons.

Ohshima was promoted to 3rd Dan by Funakoshi in 1952. It was around this time that he became Captain of the Waseda Karate Club. By this time, Funakoshi was now in his 80s. Many new students viewed him as an old man from a bygone era. When he came to the club to teach, many of the students chose not to attend his classes. As club captain, Ohshima made it his duty to make sure that students attended Funakoshi’s classes. Failure to do so would result in being denied the right to grade.

Ohshima was a fierce competitor in the inter-university matches that frequently took place. He was nicknamed the ‘Waseda Tank’. In these matches, there was sometimes contention between competitors. It was around this time that he helped formulate an arbitration system for use in competition. Two referees and four corner judges were included in the matches, rather than a single referee. This helped generate some respect for officials among the competitors. Importantly, the general public would gain a better understanding of Karate.

In 1953, Ohshima graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Economics. He had always dreamed of travelling to America to complete a Master’s Degree and to also experience American culture.

In 1955, Ohshima moved to the United States to continue his studies in economics. Initially, he enrolled at the Los Angeles City College, where he took classes to improve his English. To support himself, he worked as a translator and guide for a Japanese company. He also did a few other jobs. This was a step up from the crop-picking jobs he had done when he initially arrived in the US.

Ohshima taught his first Karate class in the United States on 25 March 1956. Some of his fellow Japanese students had heard of his Karate fame back home in Japan. He was approached by George Murakami and his friends, who managed to persuade him to teach them Karate. Ohshima taught classes in downtown Los Angeles’s Japanese business district. On 11 May, the group began training at the Konko Church. He eventually established the Pasadena Dojo at the Japanese Community Centre and another club at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Caltech dojo eventually became the oldest successful university Karate club in the United States.

Word soon got around about Ohshima’s Karate classes. He soon began teaching a small band of American students, including Jordan Roth and Joe Stupak. The training was extremely hard, but the students stuck with it. To mark the growing success of the classes, Ohshima and his students sent Funakoshi a letter and a basket of Californian fruits. It is said that Funakoshi cried when he received the basket and read the letter.

By 1957, Ohshima had been promoted to 5th Dan by Funakoshi. This was the last promotion he received. On 26 April of that year, the founder of Shotokan Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, died.

Nisei Week is an annual festival celebrating Japanese American culture and history. It was established in 1934. The festival is usually held in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district to showcase Japanese culture. In August 1957, Ohshima was invited by Tatsuo Inouye, the leader of the local Judo federation, to give a Karate demonstration at the festival. He and his students gave a demo of kihon, kata, and kumite. This was the first public Karate demo held in the United States. Among those who witnessed the demo were Caylor Adkins and his brother Peter. They liked what they saw and eventually joined Ohshima’s group.

In 1959, Ohshima founded the Southern California Karate Association (SCKA), one of the first and oldest Shotokan Karate associations in the United States. SCKA was a non-profit association, with all tuition fees going towards the dojo’s operations. Ohshima supported himself by being a radio announcer for a local Japanese station in Los Angeles.

On 5 December 1959, Ohshima promoted Caylor Adkins, George Murakami, Mas Norihiro, Jordan Roth, Roe Suzuki, and George Takahashi to the rank of 1st Dan. The six men were the first Shotokan practitioners to achieve the rank in the United States.

Ohshima decided to leave Los Angeles to tour Europe before returning to Japan. He left the Konko Church and Caltech dojos in the capable hands of his black belts. He left the United States on 13 December 1959. Before leaving, he sent a letter to Japan seeking someone to replace him and to look after his students. Eventually, the position was offered to Hidetaka Nishiyama.

Before arriving in Europe, Ohshima visited Mexico and parts of South America. In Europe, he visited around 16 countries. He finally returned to Japan in 1960 after a five-year absence.

Back in Japan, Ohshima was asked to take a group of Waseda students on a ten-day trip to Okinawa. They trained at several major dojos and also at the Ryuku University Karate Club. They also had the opportunity to train with Soken Hohan and Choshin Chibana.

In 1960, Ohshima was approached by the family of Gichin Funakoshi to translate his book, “Karate-do Kyohan”, into English. Honoured by the request, he did so, with all 19 kata in the book being demonstrated by him.

In 1961, Ohshima’s student, Caylor Adkins, had the opportunity to travel to Japan. He trained at Waseda University. He had the opportunity to train under Shigeru Egami and Sadaharu Honda. Honda was the captain of the Waseda University Karate Club. He was also invited to the wedding of Ohshima and his fiancée, Yoko, in Tokyo.

In 1961, Ohshima and Nishiyama met to agree on the details of Nishiyama’s instruction to Ohshima’s SCKA. They agreed on the following:

• Nishiyama would only stay for a year.
• Both men would find a suitable replacement for Nishiyama after a year.
• The American group would remain politically neutral and not be affiliated with the JKA or any other Shotokan Karate group.
• Nishiyama would continue to teach Funakoshi’s version of Shotokan Karate.

Nishiyama arrived in Los Angeles in 1961 to take up his new teaching position.

In 1962, Henri Plee and the French Federation of Judo and Karate Organisation invited Ohshima to France to teach. Ohshima arrived in Paris with his wife. On his previous visit to France, he had been invited by the Ministry of the Interior to conduct a survey on Karate organisations in France. He had been dismayed by what he found. At one club he visited, there were over 40 black belts. This was surprising for a country that had been practising Karate for such a short time. Many of them were Judo black belts who lacked the necessary Karate foundations. During this visit, he made it his mission to lay the foundations.

On his return visit to France, Ohshima taught several courses in Paris. Many of the students who had trained with him on his previous visit signed up to train with him again. Those who trained with him were in awe of his intensity, techniques, and knowledge.

In December 1962, Ohshima returned to Los Angeles with his wife to visit his old students. He was dismayed to find that Nishiyama had made changes. He had won a contested vote to prevent Ohshima from returning to teach. The SCKA was now affiliated with the JKA and was learning their version of Shotokan Karate.

Disappointed, Ohshima decided to remain in the United States to rebuild his American group. This led to some friction between Ohshima loyalists and Nishiyama’s followers. In 1963, Nishiyama left the SCKA and established the American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF). Two-thirds of the students left with Nishiyama. who opened a new dojo less than a mile away. With membership declining and unable to maintain the dojo, Ohshima moved the club and the SCKA to a different area of Los Angeles.

These were tough times for Ohshima. He supplemented his income by teaching Japanese at the Maryknoll Catholic School in downtown Los Angeles.

Ohshima continued his close relationship with France. In 1964, a group of French students travelled to the United States to train with him. They were eventually promoted by him to 1st Dan. In September 1964, he gave them permission to establish the France Shotokan Karate (FSK). The aim of FSK was to promote Shotokan Karate in accordance with Funakoshi’s teachings.

On 2 August 1964, Ed Parker’s 1st Annual International Karate Tournament was held at Long Beach, California, at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium. Ohshima was invited to serve as a referee alongside other pioneers of American martial arts, including Pat Burleson, Bruce Lee, Anthony Mirakian, Jhoon Rhee, Allen Steen, George Mattson, Ed Parker Sr., and Robert Trias.

The latter part of the 1960s saw Ohshima establishing his version of Shotokan in the United States. He had a core set of senior students that included Sadaharu Honda, Jim Sagawa, Jordan Roth, and Caylor Adkins. In 1965, at the 2nd International Karate Tournament held in Long Beach, California, he served as the head referee and also gave a kumite demonstration to a large audience. 1968 saw him win Black Belt Magazine’s “Karate Sensei Award“.

By 1967, the SCKA was developing well. In February of that year, Ohshima organised a group of students to tour Japan and demonstrate their Karate. The touring group of 36 included a mix of black, brown, and white belts. The group also consisted of wives and children. Caylor Adkins, now a 3rd Dan, was named captain of the group. By this time, he had been training with Ohshima for 10 years.

The touring Americans put on a demonstration at the National Gymnasium in Tokyo. They also toured various universities, competing against students from the university’s Karate clubs. The universities they visited included Waseda, Keio, Hosei, Nihon, Tokudai, Toho, and Meiji.

The touring party also had the opportunity to learn from guest instructors. This included Masami Tsuroka, based in Canada; Tetsuji Murakami, based in France; and Sadaharu Honda, now based in Los Angeles. They also received some instruction from the ‘old boys‘ of the various Karate clubs, i.e., senior grades such as Keio University’s Isao Obata. They also met Wado-Ryu founder, Hironori Ohtsuka, and Kisshomaru Uyeshiba, the son of Morehei Uyeshiba, the founder of Aikido.

On their visit to Waseda University, the touring party took part in a challenge match. The American team consisted of Caylor Adkins, Ken Osborne, Jim Sagawa, Daniel Chemla, and Jordan Roth. In the final bout of the match, Adkins faced the former captain of the Waseda team, Naito, who was also a 3rd Dan. There was mutual respect from all involved in the challenge match.

The tour was a success. The Japanese were impressed by the strong development of American Karate under the leadership of Ohshima. They were impressed by the physical strength of many Americans compared to their Japanese counterparts.

In 1968, Ohshima invited Isao Obato to the United States. Obata taught several classes, imparting some of his considerable knowledge. Later that year, Hironori Ohtsuka also visited the SCKA.

1968 also saw Ohshima win Black Belt Magazine’s “Karate Sensei Award“.

In 1969, Ohshima renamed the SCKA to the Shotokan Karate Association (SKA), in recognition of his black belts, who were now opening dojos across the United States.

The first WUKO World Championships were organised by the Federation of All-Japan Karate-Do Organisations (FAJKO) in 1970. FAJKO invited Japanese instructors in various countries to send teams to compete in Tokyo. The invitation was sent to Ohshima in the US. Ohshima formed a committee of Japanese instructors residing in the US to select a team to represent the United States. The committee consisted of Fumio Demura, Gosei Yamaguchi, Kiyoshi Yamazaki, and Hidetaka Nishiyama. Dan Ivan was selected to head the US delegation to the World Championships.

During his time in the United States, Ohshima has continued to teach Funakoshi’s Shotokan. A strict but fair teacher, he has continued to receive awards. In 1980, he was the inaugural recipient of Black Belt Magazine’s Publisher’s Award. In 1988, the Caltech Alumni Association bestowed upon him an honorary membership for his services to the Caltech community. In 1993, he received a teaching award from Caltech’s undergraduate Student Organisation.

On 22 May 1994, around one hundred Caltech alumni gathered in the university’s gymnasium to honour Ohshima on the occasion of his retirement. He had been a Caltech staff member for 37 years.

A new central dojo was opened in Santa Barbara, California, in August 2000. It was named the Shotokan Ohshima dojo. It provided a place for students from around the world to come and train.

Ohshima retired as a Chief Instructor of SKA in August 2018. He was 88 years old. By this time, there were over 140 dojos across the United States and Canada, with affiliates worldwide. The SKA remains a non-profit organisation.

Now in his mid-90s, Tsutomu Ohshima has been a pioneer of Shotokan Karate in the United States and continues to inspire his many students. He made it his mission to teach Shotokan Karate as he had been taught by Gichin Funakoshi. For him, Karate has always been about perfecting one’s character and spirit through hard training. It is this lesson that he has tried to pass on to his students.