Akio Minakami
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akio Minakami (b. 1949) is a 8th dan practitioner of Hayashi-Ha style Shito-ryu karate and a former professional martial arts competitor.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, he immigrated to the United States in 1967 with his parents.
His martial arts training started at the age of 7 under Takagi where he trained in jujutsu and Kodokan judo. At age 21 he was the first man to win both kata and kumite at the All Hawaii Championships. Other notable accomplishments include winning 5 gold medals each at at the Hayashi-Ha Shitoryu-Kai International Championships, the All Japan Karate Championships, and the AAU National Championships.
Akio Minakami received his Shihan certificate in 1983 from both the Hayashi-Ha school and the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization. Shihan Minakami currently holds the following dan ranks in martial arts:
- 8th dan, karate, from Hayashi-Ha Shitoryu-Kai
- 7th dan, karate, from the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization
- 3rd dan, kendo
- 1st dan, judo
In 1985 he founded the Minakami Karate Dojo, formerly known as United Karatedo Organization, in Seattle, Washington.[1] Branches of the school are now located in Hawaii and Mexico with closely affiliated schools in Europe:
