JKA England (JKAE) is the official

Japan Karate Association Japan Karate Association (日本空手協会; ''Nihon Karate Kyokai''; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as ''Kyokai'' 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organization in the world. Origins Gichin Funakoshi played a ma ...

(JKA) organisation for

Shotokan karate is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throug ...

in England and Wales. Japan Karate Association England (“JKAE”) is a non profit making association based in England and Wales and is associated with the Japan Karate Association (“JKA”) in Japan, one of the most prestigious, oldest and largest Shotokan Karate organisations in the world. Under the guidance of the Chief Instructor, Sensei Yoshinobu Ohta (7th Dan), and together with the Executive and Technical Committees, they provide the administrative and practical direction to JKA England. Every year JKAE holds spring and autumn courses, inviting instructors from the JKA honbu dojo (headquarters) to teach.

History

JKAE was officially formed in 2003 with Sensei Yoshinobu Ohta as Chief instructor. Following the death of

Keinosuke Enoeda was a Japanese master of Shotokan karate.KUGB The Karate Union of Great Britain, or KUGB, is an association of Shotokan Karate clubs and Karateka operating across Great Britain, with some oversea affiliations. The 1960s saw a growth in the popularity of Karate, and the KUGB was founded in ...

withdrew from the JKA with Andy Sherry as their chief instructor. The division had a strong geographic correlation: most northern clubs chose KUGB and most southern clubs chose JKAE.

Instructors

The JKAE Chief instructor is Yoshinobu Ohta, ranked at 7th Dan. He is a graduate of

Takushoku University Takushoku University (拓殖大学; ''Takushoku Daigaku'', abbreviated as 拓大 ''Takudai'') is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Duke Taro Katsura (1848–1913).

and attended the JKA instructors' classes at the JKA honbu dojo in Tokyo. Ohta was the assistant of Enoeda for 20 years since 1982. Technical committee members are Gary Stewart, 6th Dan; Adel Ismail, 6th Dan; and Giuseppe D’Onofrio, 6th Dan.

Competition

JKAE hosts two tournaments every year. The JKAE National Championships and the JKAE Open Championships. In 2022 the Open Championships had more than 400 competitors from 8 countries. From 2004 to 2008 this was held at

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Spectrum sports centre. From 2009 this has been held at the K2 Crawley sports centre. The

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 ...

competition ruleset used is ''shobu ippon'' (one point match).

International course history

References

{{World Karate Federation 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom Karate organizations Shotokan Sports organisations in London Karate in the United Kingdom