Akio Minakami is a ninth Dan Karate practitioner of Hayashi-Ha Shitoryu-Kai, president of the United States Hayashi-ha Shitoryu-Kai, and a former professional martial arts competitor. Born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he immigrated to the United States in 1967 with his parents. His training in the martial arts began at the age of 7 under Takagi where he trained in Jujitsu and

Kodokan The , or ''Kōdōkan'' (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The ''kōdōkan'' was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo. Etymology Literally, ''kō'' ( ...

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

. At age 21 he was the first man to win both

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

and

kumite Kumite ( ja, 組手, literally "grappling hands") is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary. Kumite can be used to develop a partic ...

at the ''All Hawaii Championships''. Other notable accomplishments include winning 5 gold medals each at the Hayashi-Ha Shitoryu-Kai International Championships, the All Japan Karate Championships, and the AAU National Championships. Akio Minakami received his

Shihan is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor". The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process of ...

certificate in 1983 from both the Hayashi-Ha school and the

Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports As ...

. Shihan Minakami currently holds the following dan ranks in martial arts: * 9th Dan, Karate, from Hayashi-Ha Shitoryu-Kai * 7th Dan, Karate, from the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization * 5th Dan, Chinen

Yamanni ryu Yamanni-ryū (山根流) (also Yamanni-Chinen-ryū and Yamane Ryu) is a form of Okinawan kobudō whose main weapon is the bo, a non-tapered, cylindrical staff. The smaller buki, such as sai, tunfa (or tonfa), nunchaku, and kama (weapon) are st ...

Bojutsu, under Ryukyu Bujutsu Kenkyu Doyukai (Known as RBKD) * 3rd Dan,

Kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

* 1st Dan, Judo In 1985 he founded the Minakami Karate Dojo in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Branches of the school are now located in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The Minakami Karate Dojo teaches

, sai,

bō A ''bō'' (棒: ぼう), ''bong'' (Korean), ''pang'' (Cantonese), ''bang'' (Mandarin), or ''kun'' (Okinawan) is a staff weapon used in Okinawa. ''Bō'' are typically around and used in Okinawan martial arts, while being adopted into Japanese ar ...

(both

Kenshin-ryū Kenshin-ryū is a style of Okinawan kobudō that focuses on the use of the bō staff that is taught as a complementary style to Shito-ryū karate. As a supplementary style, it is known across the Japan, the US and Europe. One of its primary te ...

and

Yamanni Ryu Yamanni-ryū (山根流) (also Yamanni-Chinen-ryū and Yamane Ryu) is a form of Okinawan kobudō whose main weapon is the bo, a non-tapered, cylindrical staff. The smaller buki, such as sai, tunfa (or tonfa), nunchaku, and kama (weapon) are st ...

styles) and traditional Japanese dojo etiquette.

References

External links

Minakami Karate Dojo

Minakami Bushido Karate Dojo

Zanshin Black Belt Academy
Japanese male karateka Japanese jujutsuka Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Japan-karate-bio-stub