ideyuki Ashihara

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hideyuki Ashihara
Hideyuki Ashihara -- photo.jpg
Historical photo of Hideyuki Ashihara
Born
December 5, 1944
Hiroshima, Japan
Died
April 24, 1995 (aged 50)
Matsuyama, Japan
Style Ashihara kaikan
Teacher(s)
Masutatsu Oyama
Jon Bluming
Children
Hidenori Ashihara
Notable students
Kazuyoshi Ishii, Joko Ninomiya
Hideyuki Ashihara (?? ?? Ashihara Hideyuki?, December 5, 1944
April 24, 1995)[1]
was a Japanese master of karate who founded Ashihara karate in 1980 with the em
phasis on Sabaki. He is often attributed as one of the originators of the tai sa
baki (whole body movement) method. He was known for his weapon skills including
shuriken and tonfa.
He was born on December 5, 1944 outside Hiroshima in Japan. He was raised by his
grandparents in a small village called Nomicho. As a boy he was a restless soul
and often got into fights. He first came into contact with Budo when he started
training in Kendo at the age of 10 to get an outlet for his energy.
In 1960, when
trol station.
rst entered a
ealistically,
Kyokushinkai

he was 15 years old, he moved to Tokyo and started working at a pe

This was his working place for six years. In September 1961, he fi
karate club. He saw karate practitioners train and spar hard and r
something he liked immediately. The club was Oyama Dojo, later the
Honbu Dojo run by Masutatsu Oyama.

He trained intensely and participated in every possible training session. His st

ubbornness and perseverance finally made it possible for him to grade to Shodan
on March 26, 1964. He was then only 19 years old, and no one at the dojo could d
efeat him in kumite.
In 1966, he was made instructor in Kyokushinkai Karate at the Honbu Dojo. He per
formed well, and it was decided that he would have the honour of travelling to B
razil to instruct and spread Kyokushinkai Karate, something he had dreamed of fo
r years.
Unfortunately it was not to be. He got into a fight and defeated five persons, w
ho attacked him in the street. The police brought him into questioning, and the
whole incident was reported to the Kyokushinkai Honbu Dojo. He was suspended fro
m all training. After two months suspension he was pardoned and sent to Nomura o
n the island Shikoku in southern Japan.
After three months he was called back to Tokyo and received a new chance to trav
el to Brazil. This time he declined. He wanted to return to Nomura and continue
the work, he had started there. This was granted, and now his reputation as a fi
ghter and instructor started to spread in that part of Japan.
Nomura soon became too small, and he moved to the neighbouring city Yawatahama.
He quickly founded one of the biggest Kyokushinkai clubs in Japan, and the activ
ities were extended to two additional cities, Uwa and Uwajima.
It was during this period that the concept of Sabaki was developed by him. Three
principal points for Ashihara Karate was formed. Preparation, and the use of th
e four positions represented by the circular symbol of Ashihara Karate became th
e first point. The importance of timing and evaluation of distance (maai) became

the second point. The third point is the stance, which must always be maintaine
d whatever the situation to give maximum mobility.
He continued to the city Matsuyama, and Ashihara Karate quickly became popular t
here as well. He started to instruct the police force, and universities started
clubs in the area. Clubs were developed in Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara,
Shiga and other places.
In March 1978, the construction of the Dojo in Matsuyama commenced and he moved
there at the end of the year. In 1979, the building was completed. He was still
associated with the Kyokushinkai organisation, but instructors in neighbouring d
istricts were complaining about his expansion of clubs. To avoid conflict within
Kyokushinkai, he choose to resign from actively practising Karate at an officia
l meeting in Tokyo in March 1978. He announced that he was willing to give up le
adership for the clubs, he had developed to concentrate on running his club in M
atsuyama. It turned out that this was not enough, and he was expelled from Kyoku
shinkai shortly thereafter, following urge by competing instructors.
It was with this background that he created the New International Karate Organis
ation (NIKO) - Ashihara Karate Kaikan in September 1980 based at his Dojo in Mat
suyama and adopted the title Kancho (Grandmaster).