Nov 04 2019
5 November On 5 November 1961 a Karate exhibition was held at the Honolulu Civic Auditorium, sponsored by the Hawaii Karate Congress. Several top Japanese martial artists, including Goju-Ryu’s Kanki Izumikawa and Shotokan’s Hidetaka Nishiyama and Hirokazu Kanazawa, displayed their skills to an attentive crowd. ******************************************** On 5 November 1963 Masters Masatoshi Nakayama, Hiroshi Shoji, …
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Oct 07 2019
8 October On 8 October 1953 Gōju-ryu founder Chōjun Miyagi died, aged only sixty-five. Born on the island of Okinawa, Miyagi had begun his training in 1902 under Kanryo Higaonna. By 1915 Miyagi had become one of Higaonna’s top students. Miyagi’s Karate style of Gōju-ryu was introduced to Japan in 1928 via the Kyōto Imperial …
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Sep 02 2019
4 September On 4 September 1931 Kenneth Funakoshi, a distant relative of Shotokan Karate founder, Gichin Funakoshi, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hirokazu Kanazawa, a former Grand Champion in Japan, had arrived in Hawaii in 1960 to represent the Japan Karate Association (JKA) as Chief Instructor at the behest of Masatoshi Nakayama. Funakoshi who was …
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Aug 12 2019
14 August On 14 August 1934 the founder of American Goju-ryu Karate, Peter George Urban, was born in Jersey City, USA. Serving in the US Navy Urban was stationed in Yokohama, Japan. In 1953 he began studying Karate as a student of Richard Kim. In 1954 he was transferred to Tokyo, where he was introduced …
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Jul 15 2019
18 July On 18 July 1959 Tetsuji Murakami made his first ever visit to England to teach for the British Karate Federation (BKF). He also conducted a number gradings at 12 Maybush Road, Hornchurch, Essex. ******************************************** On 18 July 1963 Vernon Bell received a letter from his German counterpart, Jurgen Seydel, informing him that Tetsuji …
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Jul 01 2019
2 July On 2 July 2013 Shoei Miyazato, a Kobayashi Shorin-ryu master and early student of Katsuya Miyahira (the successor to Chosin Chibana), died aged 85 years. Although born in Okinawa, Miyazato attended elementary and high school in Osaka, Japan. As it was during the 2nd World War he had to undergo mandatory training in …
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Jun 24 2019
25 June On 25 June 1959 the first written correspondence between Vernon Bell and head of Yoseikan Karate, Minoru Mochizuki took place. Mochizuki had first come to France in the early 1950s to conduct a number of training sessions in Judo and Aikido. All correspondence between Mochizuki and Bell had previously gone through Henri Plee. …
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Jun 10 2019
10 June On 10 June 1946 Michael Dewey, the Chief Instructor of Shotokan of England Karate Union (SEKU), was born. Dewey, a boat builder by trade, began his Karate training in 1967 at the Portsmouth Karate Club. Dewey, a keen footballer, was introduced to the new art of Karate by his girlfriend. On weekends Ray …
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May 13 2019
15 May On 15 May 1947 Stephen John Cattle was born. Until his untimely death, aged only forty-seven, he was one of the longest practising Shotokan practitioners in Britain. He was also a keen historian of Karate. Nicknamed ‘Stumpy’ as he was only 5ft 6in, Cattle began training in Judo in 1961, eventually reaching the …
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May 06 2019
6 May On 6 May 1960 Frank Brennan was born. Brennan has arguably been described as one of the most technically gifted karate-ka of his generation. As a competitor, he was equally comfortable in kata or kumite. Totally respected by his opponents, JKA great, Masahiko Tanaka, once said that part of the Japanese team’s training …
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