Shotokan Karate of America
Tsutomu Ohshima (1930–) began practicing karate at the Waseda University club in 1948, receiving instruction from Funakoshi and Egami among others, and became captain of the club in 1952. In 1955, he moved to UCLA to continue his studies, and led his first U.S. practice soon afterwards. In 1957, he started the first university karate club in the United States, at Caltech, and in 1959 founded the Southern California Karate Association. As more dojos were opened throughout the U.S., the organization was renamed to Shotokan Karate of America (SKA) in 1969. SKA maintains its national headquarters in Los Angeles. Today, Ohshima is recognized as the chief instructor of many other SKA-affiliated Shotokan organizations worldwide. In 1957, Ohshima was awarded the rank of 5th dan by Master Funakoshi, the highest rank awarded, and by his choice, this is the rank he has retained, and the highest rank attainable in SKA.
Read more about this topic: List Of Shotokan Organizations
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