Katsuaki Sato
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Katsuaki Sato | |
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| Born | April 4, 1946 Sakhalin, Japan |
Katsuaki Sato is the founder and director of Satojuku Karate, also known as Odo (The Champion's Way) karate. The Odo honbu is located in Tachikawa, Japan.
[edit] History
Sato was born on April 4, 1946 on Sakhalin Island (now controlled by Russia). His family moved to Fukushima Prefecture in 1947.
In high school Sato trained-in Judo and after graduation, continued to study it while working full-time as a journalist and going to school part-time at Chuo University. However, at the age of 20, he injured his knee and shoulder and had to give-up judo. Instead, he began training in Kyokushinkai karate, earning his black belt in only one-year's time.
Sato excelled in tournament competition. He won the 1971 and 1974 All-Japan Karate Tournaments as well as the 1975 All-World Tournament. He then retired from full-time karate training and competition and devoted himself to assisting his family's business.
In 1977, he started his own karate style- Satojuku in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan as a single dojo. Satojuku has now grown to include dojo in many locations in Japan. Satojuku is known as a similar style to Kyokushin, but emphasizes precise knockdown techniques over techniques designed to injure or "knock-out" one's opponent. The organization sponsors an annual tournament, held in Tokyo, with full-contact, knockown rules of competition.
