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Abbreviation | ISKF |
---|---|
Formation | year 1977 |
Legal status | Federation |
Official language | English |
Website | iskf |
The International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) is one of the largest shotokan karate organization in North and South America. In 1977, in an effort to spread the study of shotokan throughout the world, high-ranking members from the Japan Karate Association (JKA) founded the ISKF. In 2007, the ISKF split off from the JKA to become an independent organization. Members of the ISKF follow the teachings of shotokan's founder, Gichin Funakoshi. Though the ISKF is based mainly in the United States, affiliated dojos can be found in over forty countries worldwide. Hiroyoshi Okazaki is the chairman and chief instructor of the ISKF.
Instructor | Rank | Region | Regional headquarters' official site |
---|---|---|---|
Teruyuki Okazaki | 10th dan | East Coast Region | ISKF Headquarters |
Hiroyoshi Okazaki | 9th dan | Chairman and Chief Instructor | ISKF Headquarters |
Yutaka Yaguchi | 9th dan | Mountain States Region | ISKF Mountain States |
James Field | 8th dan | Southwest Region | ISKF Santa Monica |
Cathy Cline | 8th dan | Northwest Region | Western Washington Shotokan Karate Club |
Susan Jones | 6th dan | Alaska Region | Alaska Shotokan Karate |
Greer Golden/Martin Vaughan | 6th/7th dan | Mid-America Region | ISKF Mid-America |
Lee Doohen | 7th dan | North Central Region | ISKF North Central |
Chuck Coburn | 7th dan | Western Region | ISKF Western |
Kim Koo | 5th dan | South Atlantic Region | ISKF South Atlantic |
Leon Sill | 8th dan | Southern Region | ISKF Southern |
For all kyu (colored belt) tests, the candidate must demonstrate the mandated kata for their rank, karate basics, and sparring. Testing of a karateka is typically allowed every three months until 1st kyu is obtained. The minimum waiting period between 1st kyu and 1st dan is typically one year.
For dan (black belt) examinations, the candidate must travel to the regional headquarters or attend clinics given by certified examiners (such as national competitions). The candidate must demonstrate two katas, one of his or her choice and one chosen by the chief examiner. The candidate is also tested on free sparring, which is non-point (i.e. it does not stop when someone makes contact). Older candidates may also demonstrate self-defense techniques, in which they must defend themselves from a series of attacks from an instructor. Board-breaking is not generally tested, as it falls outside the purview of traditional karate.
The ISKF runs an annual training retreat in Green Lane, Pennsylvania, which draws karate practitioners from all over the world. Guest instructors from outside of the ISKF are often invited to teach classes. Mandatory classes are held twice per day, optional training once per day, and a special instructor training class once per day. Dan (black belt) exams, examiner certification, and judge certification are also offered. The retreat generally concludes with a goodwill tournament.
Other camps are held outside the United States.
The ISKF is affiliated at both the National level with the National Collegiate Karate Association (NCKA) and at the regional Level with the East Coast Collegiate Karate Union (ECCKU). Hiroyoshi Okazaki is the chairman and chief instructor; Dr. JD Swanson is the director of both the NCKA and ECCKU. Dr. Swanson runs two ISKF Collegiate Clubs at Brown University and Salve Regina University and is author of the popular book "Karate Science: Dynamic Movement published by YMAA. Jason Haase is the ECCKU coordinator. The ECCKU has 15 member-colleges, but any karateka in college may compete in tournaments. The biggest collegiate event to date was held at Lycoming College in 2018, had over 80 participants and multiple instructors (including Sensei Hoffman, Vance, Haase, Swanson, Taka-Hashi & Bliss).
In June 2007, the ISKF ended its affiliation with the JKA due to a conflict over new rules that were declared at the 2007 JKA board of directors meeting.
On April 2, 2007, three of the founding members of the ISKF (Takashina, Koyama, and Takayuki Mikami) decided to remain with the JKA, forming JKA/WF Americas and the JKA American Federation (JKA/AF). However, a majority of the practitioners within the ISKF decided to remain with that organization rather than JKA, including Teruyuki Okazaki, one of the founders.
Mikami and Takashina have made individual statements about their decision to remain in the JKA. [1]
The ISKF made a formal statement regarding the break. [2]
In 2011 the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) suffered a split when Frank Woon-A-Tai left the ISKF to form the International Karate Daigaku (IKD). During the split approximately half of the Canadian membership from the ISKF left to help form the IKD including all of the membership from Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, more than half of the membership from Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Other countries soon followed suit including Guyana, Frank Woon-A-Tai's home country.
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Shōtōkan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including those at Keio, Waseda, Hitotsubashi (Shodai), Takushoku, Chuo, Gakushuin, and Hosei.
Japan Karate Association 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.
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Masatoshi Nakayama was an internationally famous Japanese master of Shotokan karate. He helped establish the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1949, and wrote many textbooks on karate, which served to popularize his martial art. For almost 40 years, until his death in 1987, Nakayama worked to spread Shotokan karate around the world. He was the first master in Shotokan history to attain the rank of 9th dan while alive, and was posthumously awarded the rank of 10th dan.
Hirokazu Kanazawa was a Japanese teacher of Shotokan karate. He was the Chief instructor and President of the Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation, an organisation he founded after he left the Japan Karate Association (JKA). Kanazawa was ranked 10th dan in karate.
Dave Hazard is a British 7th Dan Karateka and instructor of Shotokan karate and was one of the few students present at the very beginning of British Karate. He is a former KUGB national champion and British team member. Like many of the early karateka he first trained in judo before starting karate in 1969 at the Blackfriers club in London, where he trained under Keinosuke Enoeda, Hirokazu Kanazawa, Kato and Takahashi.
Teruyuki Okazaki, was a tenth degree black belt in Shotokan Karate, as well as the founder and chief instructor of the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF). Along with Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama, Okazaki helped found the Japan Karate Association's instructor training program.
Takayuki Mikami is a Japanese master of Shotokan karate based in the United States of America. He holds the rank of 9th dan black belt in the art, awarded under the Japan Karate Association. In 1958, Mikami tied for first place in the All Japan Karate Championships. The following year, he became the All Japan champion in kumite (sparring) as well as kata (patterns). In 1961, Mikami won first place in kata again. He was also the first person to graduate from the Japan Karate Association's (JKA) instructor training program instituted by Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama.
The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports Association (JSA) and Japanese Budō Association (JBA). The styles recognized by the JKF are Wadō-ryū, Shotokan, Shito-ryu and Goju-ryu. The headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan.
Yutaka Yaguchi is the Chief Instructor and Chairman of the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) Mountain States Region. He was born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1932 and began karate training in 1952. He later tested under masters Gichin Funakoshi for his 1st dan black belt and Masatoshi Nakayama for his 2nd through 8th dan black belts. As one of the first graduates of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) Instructors' Training Program in 1959, he has played an important role in the growth of JKA karate and the internationalization of Shotokan karate. Yaguchi first arrived in the United States on June 5, 1965, and continues to reside in the US to the present day. In 1974, Yaguchi founded the ISKF of Colorado, the regional headquarters for the Mountain States Region.
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Taiji Kase was a Japanese master of Shotokan karate who was one of the earliest masters responsible for introducing this martial art into Europe. He taught his style of karate, Shotokan Ryu Kase Ha, in France from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. In his later years, he travelled across the world teaching karate, but Paris remained his home. Kase held the rank of 9th dan in karate.
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Shigeru Takashina was the founder and Chief Instructor of the South Atlantic Karate Association, an organization of the Japan Karate Association (JKA). In 1966 he graduated from Ryukoku University in Kyoto and entered the Instructor School of the Japan Karate Association, graduating in 1968. Takashina was the Captain of the Japan team in the 1st World Karate Championships held in Tokyo in 1970 and scored a perfect win. He moved to the United States in 1972.
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Stan Schmidt was a South African master of Shotokan karate. Along with others, such as Norman Robinson, he was an early practitioner of Shotokan karate in South Africa and his establishment of the South African branch of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1965 after training in Japan, along with his subsequent promotion of the art in South Africa, earned him the appellation of 'The Father of South African Karate'. In 1963, he was one of the first westerners to be invited into the JKA's famous Instructor Class in the Tokyo Honbu dojo and he was later one of four non-Japanese karateka to sit on the JKA's international Shihankai. He was also the first non-Japanese karateka to attain 7th dan from the JKA and also the first to attain 8th dan. Today, he is the highest ranking non-Japanese karate master of that organization. He is also known for his acting roles in several martial arts films of the 1970s and 1980s.