Jan 22 2018
On 22 January 1964 the British Karate Federation (BKF) formally accepted the Japan Karate Association’s (JKA) invitation to become their agents in Great Britain, in response to a letter dated 19 December 1963. In the letter, written by Vernon Bell to Masatomo Takagi, the BKF agreed to the following terms with the JKA: The payment of …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-22-january-28-january/
Jan 01 2018
On 1 January 1913 Motonobu Hironishi, an early student of Gichin Funakoshi, was born in Kyoto, Japan. Hironishi began his Karate training in 1931 at Waseda University under both Gichin and Yoshitaka Funakoshi. He was a contemporary and good friend of Shigeru Egami at Waseda. Both men would go on to teach at the original Shotokan dojo …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-1-january-7-january/
Dec 22 2017
Hirokazu Kanazawa is considered by many to be a living legend of Shotokan Karate. This legendary master has featured on the cover of many martial arts magazines across the world. Below are a selection of some these covers. October 1966 December 1966 1969 November 1976 April 1977 February 1982 June 1984 September 1984 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/cover-star-hirokazu-kanazawa/
Dec 11 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-11-december-17-december/
Nov 27 2017
27 November On 27 November 1980 the 5th World Championships began at the Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, Spain, and finished on 30 November. Japan topped the medal table, winning 11 medals (4 golds, 5 silvers and 2 bronzes) ahead of hosts Spain (3 golds, 1 silver and 7 bronzes) and France (1 gold, 1 silver and 2 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-27-november-3-december/
Nov 13 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-13-november-19-november/
Oct 23 2017
26 October On 26 October 1957 the Federation Internationale De Karate (FIK) was formed at the headquarters of the French Karate Federation, located at 34 rue de la Montagne Sainte Genevieve, Paris. Present at the creation of the FIK was Vladimiro Malatesti (representing Italy), Vernon Bell (representing Great Britain), Jurgen Seydel (representing Germany), Henri Plee (representing …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-23-october-29-october/
Sep 11 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-11-september-17-september/
Sep 04 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-4-september-10-september/
Aug 21 2017
August 26 On 26 August 1941 Karate instructor and humanitarian, John Van Weenen, was born in Enfield, just outside London. He was the second of six children. In 1964 Van Weenen, along with his brothers Jeff and Garry emigrated to Australia, settling in Adelaide. He and his brother Jeff began Karate training under Moss Hollis, who …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-21-august-27-august/
Recent Comments