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Tsutomu Ohshima
Tsutomu Ohshima
	; Ohshima at the 50th anniversary of the Caltech Karate club, September 2 2007
Born	August 6, 1930 (age 79); Japan
Residence	California, United States
Style	Shotokan
Teacher(s)	Gichin Funakoshi
Rank	5th dan

Tsutomu Ohshima is the founder and Shihan of Shotokan Karate of America (SKA), and is also recognized as chief instructor of many other international Shotokan organizations.

[edit] Karate career

Born August 6, 1930, Ohshima began learning martial arts at the age of five. He studied sumo from the age of five until he was fifteen; kendo from eight to fifteen, and judo from nine to thirteen.

Ohshima began studying karate while a student at Waseda University, beginning in 1948, and became captain of the university's karate club in 1952. He trained under Shotokan's founder, Gichin Funakoshi, until 1953. Funakoshi personally awarded Ohshima his sandan (3rd degree black belt) rank in 1952. In 1957 Ohshima received his godan (fifth degree black belt), the highest rank awarded by Funakoshi. This remains the highest rank in SKA.

In 1952, Ohshima formalized the judging system used in modern karate tournaments. However, he cautions students that tournaments should not be viewed as an expression of true karate itself.

Ohshima left Japan in 1955 to continue his studies at UCLA. He led his first U.S. practice in 1956 and founded the first university karate club in the United States at Caltech in 1957. In 1959 he founded the Southern California Karate Association (SCKA), as additional Shotokan dojos opened. The organization was renamed Shotokan Karate of America in 1969.

Ohshima demonstrated the 19 Shotokan katas for Karate-Do Kyohan: The Master Text, Funakoshi's description of Shotokan. He also translated it into English in 1973, and published his own Notes on Training in 1998.

While still Shihan of SKA, Ohshima retired from Caltech in 1994. He currently lives in southern California.

[edit] Publications

Ohshima has published many books on karate study. Including the following:

Cover of "Notes on Training"

Tsutomu Ohshima, Notes on Training, Idyll Arbor, 1998
Gichin Funakoshi and Tsutomu Ohshima, Karate-do Kyohan, 1974 (English translation of Funakoshi's original text)
Tsutomu Ohshima, Shotokan Karate of America: The First Twenty Years, 1977

[edit] External links