The Spotlight series and Profiles series showcases individuals who have made a contribution to the Karate world. The Masters are those individuals who have really mastered their art and are inspirational. The Pioneers are those individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Karate world. Finally the Competitors are those individuals who have excelled in kata and kumite in the tournament arena.
The Founders
| Funakoshi, Gichin | Mabuni, Kenwa | Miyagi, Chojun | Oyama, Masutatsu |
The Masters
| Abe, Keigo | Asai, Tetsuhiko | Demura, Fumio | Egami, Shigeru |
| Harada, Mitsusuke | Enoeda, Keinosuke | Higaonna, Morio | Inoue, Yoshimi |
| Kagawa, Masao | Kanazawa, Hirokazu | Kase, Taiji | Kim, Richard |
| Mikami, Takayuki | Mochizuki, Hiroo | Mochizuki, Minoru | Miyazaki, Satoshi |
| Nagamine, Shosin | Nakaima, Kenko | Nakayama, Masatoshi | Nishiyama, Hidetaka |
| Obata, Isao | Ochi, Hideo | Okazaki, Teruyuki | Osaka, Yoshiharu |
| Ozawa, Osamu | Sakumoto, Tsuguo | Shiomitsu, Masafumi | Shirai, Hiroshi |
| Suzuki, Tatsuo | Takashina, Shigeru | Tanaka, Masahiko | Yahara, Mikio |
The Pioneers
The Legends
| Brennan, Frank | Cattle, Steve | Charles, Vic | Hazard, Dave |
| Higgins, Billy | O’Neill, Terry | Poynton, Bob | Rhodes, Bob |
| Trimble, Aidan | Whitcher, Eddie |
The Competitors
| Adam, Hamish | Aghayev, Rafael | Best, George | Brose, Douglas |
| Christopher, Ronnie | Codrington, Eugene | Diaz, Antonio | Duggin, Patricia |
| Etienne, Mervyn | Hall, Elwyn | Kurosawa, Hiroki | McKay, Pat |
| Milon, Michael | Mimura, Yuki | Otto, Wayne | Pinna, Christophe |
| Samuel, Molly | Thompson, Geoff | Usami, Rika | Valdesi, Luca |
| van Mourik, Guusje | Wakai, Atsuko |
I briefly trained in Karate in the ’60s and I am proud to say that I was fortunate to have had Steve Arneil and later Charles Mack as the trainer’s, in Stratford and Holborn. Both had their own styles and neither suffered fools gladly. Arneil was hard almost to the point of being rude and Mack could give you a frightening stare. I clearly remember 50+ years later how his eyes narrowed, so he ALMOST LOOKED Japanese. I achieved little or nothing but it was mainly because I could not dedicate the necessary time to the art. They were excellent teachers.
Hi Patrick. I just recentently discovered your site. Fantastic job. I particularly enjoyed the spotlight on Egami. I just realized that I have a first english edition of his book. His understanding of Aikido and emphasis on relaxation is most interesting. Reminds me of Rick Hotton.
Thank you for the kind words. Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to write about.
I see and hear nothing about Al McIntosh. He was South-African Kumite Champion around 1976- 1979. At that stage he was 3rd DAN JKA. He had a brother who joined him (Mike McIntosh). They had a karate club South or Johannesburg in Heidelberg. They trained at Sensei Stan Schmidt’s club. Al MCIntosh died of cancer in his late thirties to early fourties. His brother Mike could not sustain the club, trying to make it with his red Volkswagen beatle before 18:30 with heavy traffic from Johannesburg. Dries Lagrange took over the club with Bernard and Carrol Raubenheimer as Sempai trainers. Dries’ second eldest son Johan La Grange ended up fighting for the World Championship. I was a also Sempai at Sensei Dries Lagrange’s club. Sensei Dries died late eighties and early nineties of a heart condition. Sensei Dries was a fitness fanatic, one of my favourite people. I recall training his sons Andries and Johan, being very talented and always hoping that Johan would go places.
Thanks for your comments Manie. This is one of the reasons for this site. There are many great martial artists who have been largely forgotten and it would be nice to recognise them.
Owen Murray and John Holdsworth, Julie Holdsworth (Nicholson) and Christine Pullen all from Sunderland Sendai. John Thomson from South Shields who is also a legend. These people all deserve a mention and biography. There are many others but it is 30 something years ago for me.
Thanks. I will do some research.