Caltech Braun Gymnasium (view map)
1200 East California Boulevard
Pasadena, California 91125

SKA’s Nisei Week Karate Exhibition and Tournament is the oldest karate demonstration in the United States. Fighters and participants  from dojos all over the USA and abroad arrive in Los Angeles to compete and to make individual and group demonstrations. The Exhibition and Tournament is open to the public. Admission and parking are free. The doors will open at 10:30 am.

For more information contact SKA Headquarters at 213-437-0988 during office hours, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (PDT) or visit us on FaceBook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-KAk8Topv8

A History of Karate at the Nisei Week Festival

Maryknoll members perform at Nisei Week, 1967

From the opening of Japan to the West in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, large groups of Japanese emigrated to Hawaii, the United States and South America. The North American migrants settled primarily in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The first generation of immigrants was known as the “Issei.” By the 1930’s, Los Angeles contained the largest Japanese American population on the U.S. mainland. Little Tokyo, in downtown Los Angeles, represented the center of that community. Retail and commercial businesses, community and religious centers, and professional services centered in Little Tokyo. However, business stagnated as the entire nation struggled through the Great Depression.

The next generation of young Japanese Americans (the ”Nisei”) developed a concept to create a summer festival to celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture and arts. “Nisei Week” would also drive spectators and shoppers to Little Tokyo to regenerate commercial activity. Thus the Nisei Week Festival was born in 1934.

Events offered a glimpse into Japanese culture: ondo (festival dancing), ikebana (floral arranging), fashion shows, tea ceremonies, calligraphy, art and talent shows, and a royal court of the Nisei Week queen and her attendants. Japanese foods and the local cuisine based on the Asian dishes were a highlight. Also featured were traditional martial arts, judo and kendo. During World War II, from 1942 to 1946, while Japanese Americans were incarcerated, the Festival was interrupted. The community was able to restart Nisei Week in 1949.

After graduating from Waseda University where he was captain of the school’s esteemed karate club, Tsutomu Ohshima immigrated to the United States in 1955. He had been a direct student under Master Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of modern karate who brought karate to mainland Japan from Okinawa. Mr. Ohshima’s reputation in the world of karate had preceded him and it wasn’t long before he was teaching the first American karate students.

In 1957, Tatsuo Inouye, the leader of the local judo federation, invited Mr. Ohshima to participate in the Nisei Week Judo Exhibition at Koyasan Buddhist Temple in the center of Little Tokyo. Because he was the only black belt, Mr. Ohshima performed much of the demonstration. No black belts had yet been promoted to conduct a tournament. This was the first official public demonstration of traditional karate in the United States, and has since become an annual activity for Mr. Ohshima’s students.

That first 15-minute exhibition included 15-to-20 original members, including: George Murakami, Roe Suzuki, Fred Suzuki, Frank Kawana, Mas Norihiro, Takaaki Endo, Mike Shibano, and Akimasa Futami. Stan Tashiro, also an original member, provided commentary. Several of these students would later become the first American karate black belts.

Among the spectators at the first exhibition were Peter and Caylor Adkins. The brothers enrolled in Mr. Ohshima’s classes and Caylor would later become part of that first group of black belts. Caylor, now a godan (fifth degree black belt), continues to be a significant influence within Shotokan Karate.

With the support of local community leaders, in 1958 a separate karate tournament was added as part of Nisei Week under the direction of Mr. Ohshima. Those community leaders included Reverend Daiichi Tsuyuki of Konko Church, Bishop Kenko Yamashita of Zenshuji Buddhist Temple, Rev. Shoki Mohri of Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple; community leaders Junichi Yoshitomi and Masuo Nitamura; journalists such as George Nozawa, kendo insructors such as Master Torao Mori, and judo teachers Sensei Kaname Kuniyuki and Sensei Tatsuo Inoue. The tournament was first televised on CBS around this time.

In 1959, Mr. Ohshima’s group was formally organized as the Southern California Karate Association (SCKA). In 1969, the SCKA was incorporated as Shotokan Karate of America (SKA).

Mr. Ohshima, who is a member of the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame, has traveled throughout the world teaching karate to thousands of students. Mr. Ohshima is currently the head instructor of karate organizations in fifteen other countries, including France, Israel, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, and Morocco.

For many years, Koyasan Temple would be the home of the exhibition. The event had grown to include a tournament of local, national and international black belts from Mr. Ohshima’s dojos and other karate groups. In the 1960’s, for example, Yasunori Ono¾All-Japan Collegiate Champion and Mr. Ohshima’s junior from Waseda University¾fought and took first place. Mr. Ohshima’s students from around the world also exhibited demonstrations of karate techniques and practices. In the 1970’s the exhibition was moved to the larger (and air conditioned!) Nishi Hongwanji gymnasium to ccommodate the crowds and supporters.

In 2004, the 48th Annual Nisei Week Karate Exhibition and Tournament moved out of Little Tokyo and relocated to Caltech’s Brown Gymnasium. Perhaps, “returned” might be better word than “relocated.” Caltech’s karate club was started in 1957, creating the oldest university karate group in America. Mr. Ohshima was a member of the Caltech’s faculty for 37 years and taught karate to several of Caltech’s current and past academic professors. The Caltech Karate Club carries on its tradition as a vital part of SKA and its facilities hold a special place in karate history.

• Pronunciation keys of Japanese terms are given in parentheses.
• How to read Japanese in English alphabet (rōmaji):
  English vowels a=ah, i=ee, u=oo, e=eh and o=oh
• A macron or a line over a vowel indicates that it is pronounced for twice the length of the vowel without a macron or a line. Sometimes an “h” is added instead, as in Mr. Ohshima’s name. The first “o” in Mr. Ono’s name, on the other hand, is not lengthened. Ohno and Ono are two different names. However, these sounds are just approximations and there are some exceptions.
• Please note that the pronunciation keys given here are only approximations and are primarily designed for the members in the U.S. and Canada. They may not necessarily be helpful for the members of international affiliates.
• Hiroko Mori has recorded each term twice — first slowly, then natural speed. Click each Japanese term to hear the recording.

For more information on nagewaza, please refer to Karate-Dō Kyōhan, pages 227-232.

*Notes

When Shihan or Sensei is used as an honorific or a title, there are a few important things one needs to be aware of:

• Shihan or Sensei is attached to the end of the person’s family name, e.g., Ohshima Shihan (not Shihan Ohshima), Ohshima Sensei (not Sensei Ohshima)
• According to the Japanese culture, it is not appropriate to call oneself Shihan or Sensei, or introduce oneself with the title Shihan or Sensei, e.g., Instructor John Doe shouldn’t call himself Shihan, Sensei, Doe Shihan or Doe Sensei. His students can, but he shouldn’t.
• The same thing applies to the honorific san (meaning Mr., Mrs., or Miss). Mr. John Doe shouldn’t call himself Doe-san or John Doe-san. San can be attached only to the end of others’ names.

Revised and adapted by Hiroko Mori (September 2004, audio added October 2009)
Audio voice recordings by Hiroko Mori. Conversion to MP3 and linkages by John Schoneboom.

Contributions to SKA are fully tax deductible in the United States.

December, 2010 - Year End Practice at Shotokan Ohshima Dojo

In 1980, SKA established the goal of building an international dojo. Over the ensuing 20 years, our members, foreign affiliates, friends and supporters collectively donated over two million dollars toward that effort. Land was purchased for the site in the mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara. The grand opening of the Shotokan Ohshima Dojo was celebrated during August 2000. Since then Shotokan Ohshima practitioners worldwide have gathered to practice and advance their knowledge of our discipline. Regular classes are held for all ranks, ages, women, kids, as well as for advanced aspects of training. Mr. Ohshima teaches a majority of these classes.

The center is an international gathering place…and a symbol of what can be achieved when people work together toward a common goal. Here, for years to come, each generation will gain in the experience necessary to pass on the traditional teachings of Shotokan Karate to younger students, who will, in turn, mature and teach the next generation.

Shotokan Ohshima Foundation

Since 2000, we have raised approximately $100,000 annually to pay for maintenance and upkeep for the dojo.  In 2010, our group decided to create and fund a foundation in order to insure that Shotokan Ohshima Dojo can be maintained in perpetuity.  We are now soliciting your fully tax-deductible contribution to Shotokan Ohshima Foundation and expect to raise $2,000,000.

Thank you for your generous gift!

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