|
Kaicho Tadashi
Nakamura
Kaicho (Grandmaster)
Tadashi
Nakamura is the founder and chairman of the World Seido Karate
Organization. A
world-renowned karateka, Nakamura is a ninth dan (degree) black belt
with over
fifty years of experience in practicing and teaching in the martial
arts. An
expert in use of oriental weapons, Nakamura has given numerous martial
arts
lectures and demonstrations in many countries around the world.
Kaicho
Nakamura began
his karate training in 1953 at age eleven. His first experiences were
in the Goju style under the instruction
of Kei
Miyagi Sensei, the son of the founder of the style. In 1956, Nakamura
began
studying with Masutatsu
Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate, and in 1959, he
earned his
shodan rank. At the time, he was the youngest Kyokushin student in Japan
to receive a black belt.
In 1961,
at age
nineteen, Nakamura debuted on the tournament scene with a first place
triumph
in the All-Japan Student Open Karate Championship. The following year,
Nakamura
became a Japanese national hero by knocking out a Thai kickboxing
champion in a
match to determine which nation had the superior martial art. Nakamura
would
win many more tournaments throughout his competition career.
Around
this time,
Nakamura also began teaching karate to others. He served as the chief
instructor at Camp
Zama,
a U.S.
military base near Tokyo,
from 1961 to 1965 and coached the Toho
Medical
University
karate team for 3 years. While earning his seventh dan in Kyokushin
Karate,
Nakamura also served as the chief instructor at the Kyokushin Karate
Honbu in Tokyo.
In 1966,
Nakamura was
personally selected by Masutatsu Oyama to help bring the true spirit of
karate
to America.
That year, Nakamura moved to New
York City and began teaching Kyokushin Karate at
a small dojo
in Brooklyn.
In 1971, Nakamura established the North American Kyokushin Karate
headquarters.
He served as the American head of Kyokushin Karate for a decade and
trained and
developed many skilled students in that period.
In 1976,
Nakamura
respectfully withdrew from Kyokushin Karate. The same year, he
established the World Seido Karate
Organization, which reflected his own beliefs about the true
meaning
of karate. Nakamura created Seido--which means "sincere way" in
Japanese--to develop complete individuals, ones committed to improving
themselves
and their communities. With the principles of love, respect, and
obedience as
the foundation of Seido Karate, Nakamura ensured that his students
would
develop spiritually and morally, as well as physically.
While
performing many duties as the chairman of the World Seido Karate
Organization
and the Seido Juku Benefit Foundation, Kaicho Nakamura is first and
foremost an
instructor of karate. He teaches classes at the Seido Honbu every day
and also
frequently conducts seminars and gives lectures. He remains committed
to
assisting others to reach their full human potential, as both karateka
and
individuals.
For
more information about Kaicho
Nakamura, please read his autobiography, “The Human Face of
Karate”. You
can obtain a copy from your instructor.
|
|