Feb 18 2019
20 February On 20 February 1986 Kata World Champion Rika Usami was born in Tokyo, Japan. A student of Karate master Yoshimi Inoue, Usami won the 2012 WKF World Championship Kata final held in Paris, France. She is known for her grace, strength and speed that mesmerise in equal measures. 21 February On 21 February …
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Jun 18 2018
On 18 June 1938 former European and World kata champion, Luca Valdesi, was born in Palermo, Sicily. Valdesi is widely regarded as one of the greatest tournament kata competitors. He is a 22-time European Champion and 6-time World Champion in individual and team kata. His performances are characterized by his strength and rhythm. Away from tournament karate, Luca …
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Mar 19 2018
On 20 March 1928 Gichin Funakoshi gave a Karate display, with fifteen of his students, at the Sainei-kan Training Hall located within the Imperial Palace grounds.The demonstration was given after an invitation by the Imperial Household. ******************************************** On 20 March 1955 The Japan Karate Association (JKA) was founded. Masatoshi Nakayama was appointed the Chief Instructor of the JKA …
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Oct 09 2017
10 October On this day, 10 October 1928, Shotokan Karate master, Hidetaka Nishiyama was born. Nishiyama attended famed university, Takushoku, studying economics. In 1949 he was named the captain of the karate team, after joining earlier that year. In the early 1950s, Nishiyama was part of a group, including Masatoshi Nakayama and Isao Obata, selected …
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Jul 09 2017
On this day, 9 July 1943, Chief Instructor of the KUGB, Andy Sherry, was born. Sherry is one of the highest ranked Shotokan practitioners in the United Kingdom, having been one of the first people awarded a JKA 1st Dan in Britain, in 1966, by Keinosuke Enoeda.
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Jul 05 2017
On this day, 5 July 1957, the first photographs of karateka training in Britain, appear in the Romford Recorder. The photographs were part of an article, “Forbidden Sport Tuagh Here – Japanese Fights Often Ended in Death”, which was a followup to an article written on the 21 June. The two photographs were taken at 12 …
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Jul 02 2017
On this day, 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 25 2017
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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Jun 18 2017
On this day, 18 June 1976, 22-time European Champion and 6-time World Champion, Luca Valdesi was born in Palermo, Sicily. In 2004 Valdesi became a double world champion, winning both the individual and team titles at the World Championships held in Monterrey, Mexico. He had previously won the Team title in 2000.
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Jun 17 2017
On this day, 17 June 1938, the Chief Instructor for the JKA in Belgium, Satoshi Miyazaki was born in Sagai, Japan. Miyazaki began practicing judo at the age of twelve. He began his Karate practice, aged fifteen, training with a neighbor. Training was tough as was normal for the time and he loved it. On …
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