Tag: profile

Guusje van Mourik

The Dutch as a nation are well known for producing great footballers and Thai and Kickboxing champions. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guusje van Mourik was a true superstar of European and World Karate. Described as a “phenomenon”. She was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for winning the most Karate …

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Atsuko Wakai

Women first competed in the World Championships in 1980 at the tournament held in Madrid, Spain. Suzuko Okamura became the first individual kata world champion. Her victory was the start of total dominance of the kata events by the Japanese women. From 1980 to 2004 they remained undefeated in the event. Arguably the greatest of …

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Mie Nakayama

Firstly, I practise katas very accurately going through the basic again and again; I do this for about one hour every day. I then go through the katas imaging the attackers and how I would compete with them. I pay a lot of attention to imagination, feeling, and expression. Mie Nakayama Mie Nakayama can arguably …

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Suzuko Okamura-Hamasaki

I realised that I cannot live without Karate. That is my source of energy. Suzuko Okamura-Hamasaki Suzuko Okamura holds a special place in tournament Karate history. She was the first Women’s World Champion in kata. She ushered in a dominance of the kata event for over twenty years by Japanese women that lasted from 1980 …

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Teruo Kono

Karate is Karate. The main thing is the man himself – not the school he belongs to, not the style he practices. Teruo Kono A direct student of Wado-ryu founder, Hironori Ohtsuka, Teruo Kono was among the first instructors to teach Wado-ryu Karate in Europe. British pioneers Peter Spanton and Walter Seaton recalled training with …

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Eugene Codrington

In the 1980s Britain was a dominant force in European and World Karate. In the +80 kg (heavyweight) division they have been blessed with some great fighters, such as Geoff Thompson, Vic Charles and Jerome Atkinson. It could be argued that the prototype for all of these fighters was Eugene Codrington. Codrington was one of …

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