This week in history (18 October – 24 October)

20 October

On 20 October 1972 Howard Collins competed in the 4th All Japan Open Karate Tournament. He made it to the final where he lost to Miyuki Miura.

On 20 October 1982, martial arts historian, Donald Frederick “Donn” Draeger died from cancer at the Veteran’s Hospital located in Milwaukee. He was buried five days later at the Wood National Cemetery, in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately, Draeger’s death attracted very little attention. Many people did not even know he had returned to the United States.

On 20 October 2010, Kyokushin’s Miyuki Miura’s video, ‘Miura Miyuki Proposals for Karate Basics‘ was released. The video focuses on the essential basic techniques and ideas required for Karate.

21 October

On 21 October 1941 Edward Arthur Whitcher was born in Dagenham, Essex.

Whitcher started training at the dawn of Shotokan Karate in the United Kingdom. He was the first British subject to be promoted to his 3rd Dan from the Japanese Karate Association (JKA), at their Tokyo headquarters in 1971.

22 October

On 22 October 1972, Terutomo Yamazaki competed at the 4th All Japan Open Karate Tournament. Mas Oyama had requested he compete. Oyama knew what a popular competitor Yamazaki was. Yamazaki finished in fourth place. However, he set a new tournament record in the tameshiwara section, breaking 21 boards.

On 22 October 1972, Miyuki Miura competed in the 4th All Japan Open Karate Tournament. On his way to winning the title, he defeated Howard Collins, Toshikazu Sato, and Joko Ninomiya. This was an improvement from the previous year when he finished in fourth place.

On 22 October 20ll, Australian Judd Reid completed the 100-Man Kumite Challenge. He was a member of the World Karate Organisation (WKO) led by Kenji Midori.

In 1991, while in Japan as an uchi-deshi, Reid had fought Akira Masuda, twice during his challenge attempt.

A documentary film, ‘Journey to the 100 Man Fight – The Judd Reid Story‘, detailed Reid’s attempt at the challenge.

24 October

On 24 October 1996, the High Court of Tokyo upheld an earlier decision regarding Mas Oyama’s last will.

On 31 March 1995 Judge Atsushi Watanabe of the Tokyo Court of Family Affairs had ruled that Oyama’s verbal will was invalid as it had not been signed by him, only by the witnesses. His family had contested the validity of the will.