May 28 2018
On 28 May 1952 Clive Layton, a prolific author on Karate, was born. Layton began training in Shotokan Karate under Michael Randall ,Chris Adamou, and Nick Adamou. In 1977 he received his 1st Dan from Hirokazu Kanazawa. His books [amazon text=Shotokan Dawn: Vol 1 %26 2&asin=0955512204] detail the beginnings of Karate in Britain under Vernon Bell. On …
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May 14 2018
On 15 May 1947 Steve Cattle was born. Until his untimely death, aged only forty-seven, he was one of the longest practicing Shotokan practitioners in Britain. He was also a keen historian of Karate. Nicknamed ‘Stumpy’ as he was only 5ft 6in, Cattle began training in Judo in 1961, eventually reaching the rank of 2nd Dan. He …
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Apr 23 2018
On 24 April 1965 the second authorized demonstration given by the JKA in Britain took place at the Hornsey Town Hall, London. The event was organised by Vernon Bell. The JKA party were led by Taiji Kase, who had trained at the original Shotokan dojo; and also contained Hirokazu Kanazawa, Keinosuke Enoeda and Hiroshi Shirai, who were …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-23-april-29-april/
Apr 16 2018
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 …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-16-april-22-april/
Mar 26 2018
On March 26 1915 Ankō Itosu died. Itosu, who was a direct student of Sokon Matsumura, was responsible for the introduction of Tode as a form of physical education into the elementary school system of Okinawa in 1901. Itosu had a number of notable students including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, Chosin Chibana and Kentsu Yabu. …
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Mar 21 2018
Considered one of the best ever Shotokan practitioners, Taiji Kase trained under some of the greatest Shotokan master. This included Gichin Funakoshi, Yoshitaka Funakoshi, Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi and Masatoshi Nakayama. It was Kase that led the JKA delegation, including Hirokazu Kanazawa, Keinosuke Enoeda and Hiroshi Shirai, that gave a series of demonstrations introducing the …
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Feb 19 2018
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 mesmerize fans in equal measures. On 21 February 1956 the earliest known letter was written …
Permanent link to this article: http://findingkarate.com/wordpress/this-week-in-history-19-february-25-february/
Dec 04 2017
4 December On 4 December 1965, The Japan Karate Association (JKA) moved their headquarters from Yotsuya, to Koraku, in the Bunkyo-ku district of Tokyo. Yotsuya, located in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, had been the JKA’s headquarters since 1955. The author C. W. Nicol described what it was like training at the Yotsuya hombu in his book, Moving …
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Nov 20 2017
21 November On 21 November 1982 the 6th World Championships commenced in Taipei, Taiwan, finishing on 25 November. Japan continued their dominance of world Karate by topping the medal table with six golds, two silvers and four bronzes. Mie Nakayama began her dominance of the women’s individual kata event by winning the first of her three individual titles. At …
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Jul 20 2017
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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