Tag: WKF

Luca Valdesi

Karate is Karate – and the training must always be complete: kata, kihon, kumite, self-defense, philosophy. Luca Valdesi Following the likes of Dario Marchini, Luca Valdesi is an icon of Italian Karate. Considered one of the greatest kata competitors, he ranks alongside Tsuguo Sakumoto and Michael Milon as the most successful competitors at the World …

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This week in history (10 May – 16 May)

10 May On 10 May 1957, the founder of Shotokan Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, was laid to rest at the Zen Sho-ji temple in Kakiu. He was cremated and his ashes laid alongside those of his wife. Funakoshi had died on 26 April, in a Tokyo hospital, surrounded by his close family and his student Shigeru …

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This week in history (19 April – 25 April)

20 April On 20th April 1960, Luis Maria Sanz was born in Valladolid, Spain. Described as “the last link between traditional and competitive Karate“, Luis Maria Sanz holds a notable place in Karate, being the first non-Japanese man and the first Shotokan karateka to become WKF World champion, in 1992. On 20 April 1965, a …

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Toru Arakawa

There are so many different cultures and ideas, how can one say a Frenchman follow along with an American and do things exactly the same way. If I have to give advice, it would be to Japanese teachers living abroad – I hope they don’t try to teach the same way in which they teach …

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This week in history (21 December – 27 December)

21 December On 21 December 1957 Trevor Guilfoyle and Gerald Tucker become the first karateka in  Britain to be graded to 3rd kyu, under the British Karate Federation (BKF). The grading was conducted by Vernon Bell at 12 Maybush Road, Hornchurch, London. Guilfoyle and Tucker were two of Bell’s earliest students, taking part in the …

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This week in history (7 December – 13 December)

7 December On 7 December 1912 Shigeru Egami, an early student of Gichin Funakoshi, was born in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He is considered the one student who followed Funakoshi’s teachings most closely.  Egami began his Karate training in the 1932 as a student at Waseda University. He was instructed by Funakoshi and his son Yoshitaka. He helped found the university’s Karate …

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This week in history (16 November – 22 November)

16 November On 16 November 1928 Mitsusuke Harada was born in Dalian, China, then a part of the Japanese Empire. Harada began his training in 1945, under Genshin Hironishi (a senior student of Gichin Funakoshi), at the original Shotokan dojo in Zoshigaya, Tokyo. He also had the opportunity to be taught by Yoshitaka Funakoshi. In …

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This week in history (26 October – 1 November)

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 …

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This week in history (7 Sep – 13 Sep)

7 September On 7 September 1959 the first British Karate Federation (BKF) Summer Course was held. It was a six-day course held at the Ippon Judo Club, located in the basement of the Imperial Private Hotel, Scarborough, Yorkshire. The course was conducted by Vernon Bell and was limited to twenty students. It was open to …

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Wayne Otto

Our fight to become Olympians will never stop Wayne Otto The name Wayne Otto is synonymous with tournament success. Otto is one of the most successful fighters to come out of Britain. He has appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as having won the most Karate championship medals for a male competitor. Nicknamed the …

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