Tag: BKF

This Week in history (18 December – 24 December)

19 December On 19 December 1963 Vernon Bell received a letter from Masatomo Takagi, the general Manager of the Japan Karate Association (JKA), requesting that the British Karate Federation officially act as the authorized representative of the JKA in Britain. Earlier that year Bell had received a letter from Takagi indicating that Tetsuji Murakami (Yoseikan Karate), who …

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This Week in history (11 December – 17 December)

12 December On 12 December 1965 Hirokazu Kanazawa held his first grading at the British Karate Federation’s Nottingham dojo. The British Karate Federation had arranged with the Japan Karate Association (JKA) for Kanazawa to reside in the United Kingdom for a year, teaching Shotokan karate. 13 December On 13 December 1947 Tsuguo Sakumoto was born in the Okinawan …

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This Week in history (13 November – 19 November)

13 November On 13 November 1943 David ‘Ticky’ Donovan was born, in Loughton, England. He is a highly respected former competitor, coach and founder of the Ishinryu style of karate. Originally a boxer, Donovan got started in Karate in 1965 when he and a friend attended a class run by Tatsuo Suzuki, a practitioner of Wado-Ryu. He …

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This Week in history (6 November – 12 November)

6 November On 6 November 1964, Pathe Pictorial released a color film showing Vernon Bell’s British Karate Federation (BKF) students training at the Kentish Town dojo. The film lasting three minutes, was shown in cinemas across Britain. Eddie Whitcher can be seen in the film. At the time he was a blue belt. 7 November On  7 November 2008, …

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This week in history (11 September – 17 September)

11 September On 11 September 1934 Colin Williams, the founder of the Bukonkai Karate International (BKI) association, was born. He started training in the early days of Karate in the United Kingdom. On 11 September 1970 Michael Randall, Christopher Adamou and Nicholas Adamou graded to 2nd Dan under Hirokazu Kanazawa. All three men had started their Karate …

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This week in history (4 September – 10 September)

4 September On 4 September 1931, Kenneth Funakoshi, a distant relative of Gichin Funakoshi, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hirokazu Kanazawa, who was 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 in …

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This week in history (14 August – 20 August)

August 14 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, he was stationed in Yokohama, Japan and in 1953 began studying Karate as a student of Richard Kim. In 1954 he was transferred to Tokyo. There he was introduced …

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Steve Cattle

I do Karate for my own personal improvement and I am prepared to accept that I have to suffer in one direction in order to improve in another. Steve Cattle Those who knew and trained with Steve Cattle described him as one of the best karatekas to come out of the UK. Standing 5ft 6in …

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On this day….(July 26)

On this day, 26 June 1965, Hirokazu Kanazawa took his first teaching trip to The British Karate Federation’s Dundee dojo. He is there for a week. The Dundee dojo was located at the Dundee United Sporting Club in Coupers Alley, Wellgate. It was run by William McGuire who became a BKF in February 1965.

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On this day….(June 25)

On this day, 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. It was through …

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