This week in history (27 September – 3 October )

27 September

On 27 September 1946, Shito-Ryu master, Yoshimi Inoue was born in the small coastal village of Tottori, Japan.

There were no martial arts available to Inoue as a youngster. In 1961 he bought a Karate book written by Teruo Hayashi from which he started to teach himself.

On 27 September 1985, the 28th JKA All-Japan Championships took place at the Budokan in Tokyo. Masao Kagawa became Grand Champion, winning both the Individual Kata and Individual Kumite events. The previous year he had been runner-up in both events.

28 September

On 28 September 1897, Shinkin Gima was born in Shuri, Okinawa. On Okinawa, he studied under both Yasutsune Itosu and Kentsu Yabu before attending university in Tokyo.

In 1922 he met and began training with Gichin Funakoshi. He was Funakoshi’s first black belt and would eventually reach the rank of 10th Dan.

On 28 September 1985, the Shoto World Cup took place at the Budokan in Tokyo. Japanese competitors won every medal on offer. Minoru Kawada became Grand Champion after winning both the Individual Kata and Kumite titles.