Hiroyuki Hamada (October 29, 1925 – September 16, 2003) was a Japanese martial artist, master of

Felton Messina Felton Messina started practicing Karatedo in 1966, while studying in the University of Puerto Rico, city of Mayagüez, supervised by his first teacher, the Puerto Rican Edwin Hernández in a style called Okinawan Kenpo Karatedo. In 1968 he was ...

and the founder of

Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu 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 ...

Karatedo.

Early life

Hamada was born in

Satsumasendai, Kagoshima is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Satsumasendai was established on October 12, 2004, from the merger of the city of Sendai, the towns of Hiwaki, Iriki, Kedōin and Tōgō, and the Koshikijima Islands (whi ...

on October 29, 1925. At the age of 15 he began to practice the Okinawan style of Karate called Tomari-Ha in 1939. In March 1943, he graduated from high school after having lost 2 years of classes due to World War II, time which he used to concentrate in the study of Karate. That year he began to study other Okinawan styles such as, Shuri-Te and To-Te. Between April 1943 and March 1944 he dedicated himself fully to the practice and perfection of Karate. In April 1944, he joined the Japanese

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. By the time the war ended in 1945, he was part of one of the Air Force squads from Kurashiki. When the news of Japan's defeat reached him, he spent 10 days considering if he should commit

Seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

. After those 10 days he firmly decided to live and help others through Karate-Do. In August 1945, he returns to the city of

Satsumasendai is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Satsumasendai was established on October 12, 2004, from the merger of the city of Sendai, the towns of Hiwaki, Iriki, Kedōin and Tōgō, and the Koshikijima Islands (whi ...

Creation of the style

Between 1945 and 1952 he intensified his Karate practices, traveling throughout Japan and dedicating himself to the study of two styles of Karate: Nihon Shindo Karate-Do and Nihon-Den Karate-Do. In 1952 he joined the

Fire Department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

in his hometown and for the first time taught Karate. On the morning of March 28, 1964, in a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

temple called Isekotaigingie in the province of

Mie, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

, he created Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu. This new style of Karate he created was based on the modifications he made to the techniques he learned from the other styles of karate.

Actuality

In 1975 he traveled to the Dominican Republic with Professor Jamaguchi (6th Dan in Judo) and Kenji Moriyama (5th Dan) to give Karate-Do classes. In one month, he performed exhibitions throughout the island and left

in charge of the style in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. On April, 1980 he retired from being Chief of the Fire Department in

. He dedicated his whole life to the practice and teaching of Karatedo and was the So-shihan (Supreme Master) of Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu until his death. Before his death in 2003, he gave Felton Messina the rank of So Shihan and left him in charge of the style outside Japan. The person in charge of the style in Japan is Hamada's nephew So Shihan Eturou Takeshita.

Death

Hamada died in on September 16, 2003, at the age of 77.

References

Sources

# The Physics of Karatedo by

English Site
# https://web.archive.org/web/20061231200334/http://www.redmarcial.com.ar/disciplinas/shindoryu.htm # https://web.archive.org/web/20070618112311/http://www.shindoryu.com.ve/fundador.htm # https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180125/http://shindoryu.890m.com/nacimiento.html # https://web.archive.org/web/20081001040138/http://www.nikoshindo.org/espanol/hamada.htm # https://web.archive.org/web/20081001022044/http://www.nikoshindo.org/espanol/america.htm {{refend

External links

Official site

Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu in Cuba

Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu in Venezuela
1925 births 2003 deaths Japanese male karateka Martial arts school founders