Hirokazu Kanazawa

Infobox_martial_artist
name = Kanazawa Hirokazu
residence =
other_names =


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birth_name =
birth_date = 1931
birth_place = Imperial Japan
death_date =
death_place =
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martial_art = Shotokan,(Founder of SKIF)
teacher = Gichin Funakoshi, Masatoshi Nakayama
rank = Black belt 10th Dan
students =
website =
footnotes =Nihongo|Hirokazu Kanazawa|金澤 弘和|"Kanazawa Hirokazu" (b 1931) is a world renowned shotokan karate instructor.

He is currently the Chief instructor and President of Shotokan Karate-do International Federation, an organization he himself founded after he left the Japan Karate Association (JKA). Kanazawa is one of the few masters to have achieved 10th Dan (the highest rank that can be awarded to a Shotokan karatekaFact|date=September 2007) Kanazawa won the very first ‘All Japan karate Championship’ Kumite championship in 1957. He had registered in the kumite competition with a broken hand from a prior event, but not wanting to disappoint his mother who had traveled from far away to watch him compete, he fought anyway and won the title. The following year, Kanazawa won the Kata title and shared the Kumite title with Takayuki Mikami in one of the most spectacular moments in Shotokan tournament history. Mikami and Kanazawa had been classmates and roommates for the entirety of their karate careers, but had never fought the previous year because Mikami was away teaching in the Philippines for two years. When they fought one another in the final round, very few techniques were thrown, they knew each other too well. They circled searching for openings until time was up. For that reason, it was decided that both instructors were All Japan Kumite Champions for 1958.

History

Although trained in judo in his early years, Kanazawa began training in karate whilst at Takushoku University under the late head instructor of the Shotokan Masatoshi Nakayama. Kanazawa is also one of the few remaining karateka privileged to have studied under Gichin Funakoshi, the famous Okinawin schoolteacher who brought karate to mainland Japan and founded the Shotokan style. Kanazawa also was among the first to graduate from JKA's instructor training program (before JKA fragmented and Kanazawa went on to form his own organization. Some of his other famous classmates in the instructor training program include: Takayuki Mikami, Teruyuki Okazaki and Eiji Takaura.

Publications

* cite book
last = Kanazawa
first = Hirokazu
title = Black Belt Karate
publisher = Kodansha Europe
year = 2006
isbn = 978-4770027757
* cite book
last = Kanazawa
first = Hirokazu
last2 = Berger
first2 = Richard
title = Karate Fighting Techniques: The Complete Kumite
publisher = Kodansha International
year = 2004
location = Tokyo & New York
isbn = 978-4770028723
* cite book
last = Kanazawa
first = Hirokazu
title = Karate, my life
publisher = Kendo World Publications
location = Singapore
year = 2003
isbn = 978-4990169428
* cite book
last = Nichol
first = Clive
author-link = C. W. Nicol
last2 = Kanazawa
first2 = Hirokazu
title = Moving Zen: One Man's Journey to the Heart of Karate (Bushido - The Way of the Warrior)
publisher = Kodansha International
year = 2001
location = Tokyo & New York
isbn = 978-4770027559
* cite book
last = Kanazawa
first = Hirokazu
title = Kankudai Kata: Karate
publisher = Paul H. Crompton
location = London
year = 1969
isbn = 978-0901764027
* cite book
last = Walker
first = Paul
author-link = Paul A. Walker
last2 = Kanazawa
first2 = Hirokazu
title = Lessons with the Master: 279 Karate Lessons with Master Hirokazu Kanazawa
publisher = iUniverse
year = 2007
location = Lincoln NE, New York, London, Shanghai
isbn = 0-595-41952-6

External links

* [http://www.d-dojo.org Shotokan Karate-do International Federation NYC]
* [http://www.skif.jp/index-e.htm Shotokan Karate-do International Federation]
* [http://www.fightingmaster.com/legends/kanazawa/ Short biography and interview excerpts]
* [http://www.shoto.org/masterKanazawa.htm Biography on www.shoto.org]
* [http://www.karateskifargentina.com.ar Asociación Argentina Shotokan Karate-Do Internacional]
* [http://www.skifbrasil.esp.br Federação Shotokan Karate-do International do Brasil]
* http://www.skid.de Shotokan Karate International Deutschland
* [http://ski-india.net SKI India website]