Japan Karate Association

Japan Karate Association
Abbreviation JKA
Formation May 27, 1949
Type Sports federation
Headquarters 2-23-15 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo JAPAN 112-0004
Membership World Karate Federation
Official languages Japanese, English
Website www.jka.or.jp

Japan Karate Association (日本 空手 協会; Nihon Karate Kyokai; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as Kyokai 協会 in Japan) is one of the most influential Shotokan karate organizations in the world. It is also one of the oldest karate organizations continuously in operation until the present.

Contents

Origins

Gichin Funakoshi played a major role in introducing karate from Okinawa to Japan, adjusted to reduce injury and merged with approaches for athletic training. On May 27, 1949, some of his senior students, such as Isao Obata, Masatoshi Nakayama, and Hidetaka Nishiyama, formed a karate organization dedicated to research, promotion, events management, and education: the Japan Karate Association.[1][2][3] Funakoshi, then around 80 years old, held a position equivalent to emeritus chief instructor. Nakayama was designated as the chief instructor.

The JKA emerged from karate clubs at Japanese universities located in the Tokyo region. Most of these universities, however, distanced themselves from the JKA during the 1950s. Takushoku University always kept strong ties with the JKA, being the alma mater of many of the senior JKA instructors, such as Nakayama, Nishiyama, Okazaki, Asai, Kanazawa, and Enoeda, who were responsible for the JKA's consolidation during the 1960s and 1970s.[2][4]

General uneasiness on how karate was taught by the JKA instructors and disagreements on Funakoshi's funeral arrangements in 1957 motivated some of the senior karateka connected with Funakoshi, but not associated with the JKA, such as Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi, and Tsutomu Ohshima, to form their own organizations, such as Shotokai and Shotokan Karate of America). They claimed to practice Shotokan karate closer to what Funakoshi taught, as compared to the JKA style. The JKA Shotokan approach is also based on Funakoshi's karate, but with significant adaptations introduced mostly by Nakayama, who was JKA chief instructor until his death in 1987.[2][5][6] Under Nakayama's leadership, a generation of respected instructors spread karate worldwide, guided from the JKA's headquarters in Tokyo.[2][3]

Nakayama's books, which include Dynamic Karate and the Best Karate series,[7][8] are fundamental references on Shotokan karate as practiced under the JKA. Clive Nicol, in his classic book Moving Zen, describes the karate practice at the JKA's honbu dojo (headquarters training hall) in Tokyo during the early 1960s, from his unique perspective as a western karate student going from white to black belt in a few years.[9]

Splinter groups

The JKA experienced several divisions from the 1970s onwards. Notable splinter groups formed as follows:

Due to these divisions, there is today the notion of a JKA karate style—that is, karate that follows the JKA tradition to a large extent, but is taught by instructors who are not officially affiliated with JKA (though some of them are former JKA instructors).

Kenshusei (instructor intern) training program

In 1956, the JKA started its kenshusei instructor intern training program at the JKA honbu dojo, in Yotsuya, Tokyo, which had been built in 1955. This program was instituted by Masatoshi Nakayama. The training program has promoted the consistency and quality control of JKA training practices over the years, graduating some of the world's most well known karateka (practitioners of karate), as listed below.

Graduates

The following table lists JKA kenshusei training program graduates in order of year of graduation. The reported rank of graduates no longer with the JKA is that from their current organization. Such rank is not necessarily recognized by the JKA.

Name Year of Graduation Rank Position
Mikami Takayuki 1957 9th dan USA JKA/AF Southern
Takaura Eiji 1957
Kanazawa Hirokazu 1957 10th dan Founder SKIF
Tsushima Toshio 1958
Yaguchi Yutaka 1958 9th dan USA ISKF Mountain States
Ouchi Kyo 1959
Sato Masaki 1959
*Saito Shigeru 1959
Inaba Mitsue 1960
Kano Masahiko 1960
Watanabe Gunji 1960
*Ogata Kyoji 1960
Kisaka Katsuharu 1961 USA
Nakaya Ken 1961
Ogawa Eiko 1961
Ueki Masaaki 1961 8th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Keinosuke Enoeda 1961 9th dan "Deceased 29th March 2003". http://www.kugb.org/. 
*Miyazaki Satoshi 1961 8th dan "Deceased 31st May 1993". http://www.jka-vlaanderen.be. 
*Mori Osamu 1961
*Takahashi Yoshimasa 1961
*Majima Kenshiro 1962
Sakai Ryusuke 1962 7th dan
Jitsuhara Shoji 1963
Ochi Hideo 1963 8th dan "JKA Germany". http://www.deutscher-jka-karate-bund.de/. 
Takahashi Yasuoki 1963
*Itaya Michihisa 1963
Abe Keigo 1965 9th dan Japan JSKA [1]
Oishi Takeshi 1965
*Tabata Yukichi 1965
Takashina Shigeru 1966 8th dan USA JKA/WFA South Atlantic
Higashi Kunio 1967
Iida Norihiko 1967
Okamoto Hideki 1967 8th dan Egypt
Takahashi Shunsuke 1967 8th dan Chief Instructor TSKF Australia [2]
Yano Kenji 1967
Okuda Taketo 1967 8th dan "Butoku-kan (Brazil)". http://www.butoku-kan.com.br. 
Baba Isamu 1970
Horie Teruo 1971
Nishino Shuhei 1971
*Hayakawa Norimasa 1971
Kanegae Kenji 1972
Osaka Yoshiharu 1972 8th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Sato Teruo 1974
Mori Toshihiro 1975
Imura Takenori 1977 7th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Kurasako Kenro 1977 7th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Kawawada Minoru 1978 7th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Komaki Masaki 1978
Omura Fujikiyo 1978 7th dan "JKA Thailand". http://www.karatethai.com/. 
Fukami Akira 1979
Kaneko Taneaki 1979
Sakata Masashi 1979
Abe Miwako 1980
Tsuchii Takayuki 1980
Yamamoto Hideo 1980
Ogura Yasunori 1982 7th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Imamura Tomio 1983 7th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Kashiwagi Nobuyuki 1984
Koike Tsuyoshi 1984
Yokomichi Masaaki 1984
Izumiya Seizo 1986 6th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Shiina Katsutoshi 1986 6th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Hanzaki Yasuo 1987 6th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Nakamura Yoko 1987
Naka Tatsuya 1989 6th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Noda Kenichi 1990
Taniyama Takuya 1990 6th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
*Imai Hiromitsu 1991
Takahashi Satoshi 1992 5th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Kobayashi Kunio 1993 5th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Ogata Koji 1994 5th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Walter Crockford 1996 5th dan "JKA Canada". http://www.jkawfcanada.com/. 
Ikenaga Atsushi 1996
Hirayama Yuko 1998 4th dan HQ Secretariat
Okuma Koichiro 1998 4th dan HQ Full-Time Instructor
Iwasawa Mayumi 1998 3rd dan HQ Secretariat
Aragaki Misako 2003 3rd dan HQ Secretariat
Ubukata Koji 2003
Yamada Satomi 2004
Nemoto Keisuke 2004
Okuie Satomi 2004
Kurihara Kazuaki 2004
Shimizu Ryosuke 2004
Elmar Caagbay 2007 3rd dan PS Full-time Instructor
Kumeta Riki 2008

Note

This list is incomplete. For instance, it does not include some members who were expelled or resigned from the JKA:

The list at the JKA's website, which includes most members who left or were expelled, may also be incomplete. The JKA has not included some former members who have completed the course and are not currently affiliated with JKA. In addition, during the troubled period between 1990 and 1999 each JKA faction held its own instructors' course. Currently, the JKA does not recognize graduates from the instructors' courses led by the JKS (Japan Karate Shoto Renmei, which also held the name JKA between 1990 and 1999).

Karateka such as Ennio Vezzuli (Brazil), Nigel Jackson (South Africa), Peté Pacheco (Portugal), Malcolm Fisher (Canada), Leon Montoya (Colombia), Richard Amos (UK, US), Pascal Lesage (France) and others, are mentioned in karate forums as having completed the JKA instructors' course (or having had substantial participation in it) but do not appear on the list of graduates as published in 2008 on the JKA's website.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ British Traditional Karate Association: Shotokai – The true heir of Funakoshi? (June 11, 2006). Retrieved on April 23, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d Cook, Harry (2001). Shotokan Karate: A Precise History. England: Cook. 
  3. ^ a b JKA Early Years - JKA site (retrieved January 5, 2008)
  4. ^ Evans, Jon. The Battle for Olympic Karate Recognition Black Belt, Feb 1988 (retrieved January 10, 2008)
  5. ^ Noble, Graham. Master Funakoshi's Karate Dragon Times (retrieved on January 8th, 2008).
  6. ^ Hironishi, Genshin. The Darkest Moments of Karate-do Karate-do Shotokai Encyclopedia (retrieved January 10, 2008)
  7. ^ Nakayama, Masatoshi (1997). Dynamic Karate. Japan: Kodansha International. 
  8. ^ Nakayama, Masatoshi (1997). Best Karate Vol 1 to Vol 11. Japan: Kodansha International. 
  9. ^ Nicol, Clive; Kanazawa, Hirokazu (2001). Moving Zen: One Man's Journey to the Heart of Karate (Bushido - The Way of the Warrior). Tokyo & New York: Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4770027559. 
  10. ^ JKA - Overcoming Challenges (1990-1999) (retrieved January 5, 2008)
  11. ^ Discussion on JKA instructor's course graduates Forum Karateca.net (retrieved January 6, 2008, in Portuguese)

External links