Takayuki Mikami
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Takayuki Mikami (三上 孝之 Mikami Takayuki?, born 1933) is an eighth degree black belt in the martial art of shotokan karate. Notably, in 1958 he tied for first place in the "All Japan Karate Championships". The following year, in 1959, Mikami became the All Japan champion in kumite as well as in kata. In 1961, Mikami won first in kata again. T. Mikami was also the first person to graduate from the Instructor training program instituted by Masatoshi Nakayama and Gichin Funakoshi.
[edit] Biography
Mikami was born in 1933 in Niigata, Japan. As a youth, he enjoyed playing many different sports, and was quite good at sports competition. It was not until he entered college at 18 years of age that he first began training in karate. In 1951, Mikami began training in shotokan karate with K. Itoe as his instructor. Just two years later in 1953, he received his first Dan (first degree black belt). In 1955 Mikami was appointed team Captain of the Hosei University karate club. One year later, at the age of 22, Mikami enrolled in the newly formed, JKA Instructor Training course under Nakayama and Funakoshi. Then, in 1957, having trained in karate for only six years, Takayuki Mikami became the first to graduate from the JKA Instructor's Training course, and became a JKA certified instructor. Some of his famous classmates were Eiji Takaura and Hirokazu Kanazawa. They also graduated in 1957.
From this point on, as it was Nakayama's hope to spread the martial art of shotokan karate to the farthest reaches of the globe, Mikami began to travel the world teaching people what he had learned. First, in 1957 Mikami was sent by JKA to instruct in Far Eastern University in Manila. After two years however, he returned to Japan to train for and compete in the all Japan Championships. In 1958, Mikami found himself in one of the most historic fights in JKA tournament history. Takayuki Mikami and Kanazawa Hirokazu had been classmates and roommates for the entirety of their karate careers, but had never fought together in the All Japan Championships before because Mikami was away teaching in the Philippines. When they fought one another in the final round, very few techniques were thrown, they knew each other too well. So, they circled each other searching for openings until time was up. For that reason, it was decided that both instructors were All Japan Kumite Champions for 1958. The following year (1959), Mikami won first in both kata and kumite. Then in 1961 Mikami became kata champion once again.
In 1963 Mikami traveled to the United States. Initially, he started a dojo in Kansas, but within two years, he had decided to start a new dojo in Louisiana. This dojo is known as the Louisiana Karate Association (LKA), and is based in New Orleans. In 1965, Mikami turned LKA into the headquarters for the All South Karate Federation, which functioned under ISKF, a division of JKA. He has remained there as a teacher and Regional director ever since. In 1984, Takayuki Mikami attained his 8th Dan (8th degree black belt), the second highest rank of any living person in the Japan Karate Association.
| Organization | Position | Years held |
|---|---|---|
| ISKF Southern Region | Director | 1965-June 2007 |
| WUKO Referee Control Committee | member | 1984-1990 |
| US National Federation Technical Progress Committee | Chairman | 1986-1995 |
| US National Federation,(NGF) | Man of the Year | 1989 |
| JKA Technical Instructor Committee (Shihan-Kai) | member | 1989-1996 |
| Black Belt Magazine | Instructor of the Year in American Karate | 1990 |
| WKF Technical Committee | member | 1991-1995 |
