Tag: Gary Harford

This week in history (20 Apr – 26 Apr)

20 April On 20 April 1960, Luis Maria Sanz was born in Vallodolid, Spain. He has been described as “the last link between traditional and competitive Karate“. Luis Maria Sanz holds a notable place in competitive Karate, being the first non-Japanese man and the first Shotokan karateka to become WKF World champion in 1992. On …

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Moments in history: The 1990 World Shotokan Championships

In 1972 at the WUKO World Championships, the Japanese team, containing many members of the JKA walked out of the tournament. They were unhappy at some of the officiating against their competitors. As a result of the walkout, Japanese officials and competitors were sanctioned by the World Union of Karatedo Organisations (WUKO) and the Federation …

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This week in history (17 June – 23 June)

17 June On 17 June 1938 the former Chief Instructor of the JKA in Belgium, Satoshi Miyazaki, was born in Sagai, Japan. In 1956 Miyazaki enrolled at Takushoku University to study economics, having been persuaded by Masatoshi Nakayama to do so. He joined the university’s famed Shotokan Karate school as a white belt, studying under …

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This week in history (27 May – 2 June)

27 May On 27 May 1949 Isao Obata, Masatoshi Nakayama, Shigeru Egami and other senior students helped establish the Japan Karate Association (JKA) under Gichin Funakoshi. A major meeting had taken place to discuss and plan for the future of Shotokan Karate. Almost every ranking Shotokan practitioner, from the oldest to the youngest was present. …

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This week in history (16 April – 22 April)

On 20 April 1966 Edward Whitcher becomes the first British student to be graded to black belt by Hirokazu Kanazawa under the JKA. He has been described as the finest Shotokan karate-ka produced by Britain. He started his Karate training with the British Karate Federation in 1963. Whitcher was a founding member of the Karate Union of …

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Frank Brennan

Karate is about many things but, first and foremost, it is about training. Frank Brennan Frank Brennan can arguably be described as one of the most technically gifted karatekas of his generation. He is one of the few competitors to be equally comfortable in kata or kumite, excelling in both disciplines. As a competitor, he …

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