The Roots of Shukokai

Shukokai is considered one of the hardest hitting forms of karate. The “Way for All” was based on body mechanics and is well-known among martial arts circles for the “double hip twist.” Shukokai is derived from the Shito Ryu style.

Shito Ryu – The Evolution
Shito Ryu is the parent form of the Shukokai style of karate. It is said to have been originated by Soke Kenwa Mabuni of the Okinawan warrior class or what is known in Japanese as the “bushi.”

After the Second World War, Sensei Chojiro Tani of Japan’s Kobei City founded the Chojiro Tani Shito-Ryu Shukokai. He was the one who coined Shukokai or the “Way for All” as he deeply studied human body mechanics and incorporated them into a new karate style. He meant for the martial art to be able to be learned by people from all walks of life regardless of age. He perfected the art and formulated complex theories that many say take a lifetime to understand.

One of Sensei Tani’s protégés, Shigeru Kimura revolutionized the Tani-Shukokai after practicing his craft for years, winning the All-Japan Karate Championships for two years, and having been to Africa, Europe, and the United States, where he established his first karate school or “dojo.” He left Japan after he found at that Tani-Shukokai punches are relatively less effective compared to other karate forms. In Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, where he taught, he left in his wake skilled instructors to pass the knowledge on to younger students.

In partnership with a known Judoka based in the US, Sensei Kidachi, Sensei Kimura opened the Shukokai Headquarters in Hackensack, New Jersey, where it trained karate students for 18 years. In 1981, Kimura organized the first Shukokai World Tournament and up to this date, the event is still being held every other year. Kimura kept studying and improving the Tani-Shukokai until he made an entirely new and different form of karate from the Tani-Shukokai.

Sensei Kimura never stopped innovating and improving the martial art. In 1987, he left his dojo, already proving too small, for a new headquarters in Tenafly, New Jersey. The move proved to be a landmark for the great teacher, who died of a heart attack at age 54. Kimura’s influence to martial arts cannot be denied, as well as his influence to other branches of Shukokai, which eventually surfaced in many different countries as the years went by.

Supporters of Sensei Tami as the originator of Shukokai exist while others continue to believe that it was Kimura who started it all. One thing is for sure – the karate style continues to grow in popularity. It is accepted worldwide for it promotes dynamics and power. It introduces fast and strong techniques.

Shukokai has since spurned many offshoots, many of them claiming to be of the original style. Organizations have been formed in the UK, the US, and around the world, as enthusiasts continue to practice the “Way for All” and remember the great karate masters. Popular practitioners today include Kevin Barlow, 5th Dan, and Ossie Rowe, 5th Dan.

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Filed under: Martial Arts Styles

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