Kanazawa Kancho
(Founder of SKIF)

founder_of_skip2Hirokazu Kanazawa kancho (10th.Dan)
president of Shotokan Karate-Do International
Federation, is one of  the world’s most
renowned and respected traditional karate
masters alive of all times, and a close disciple
of Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern
karate and founder of the Shotokan school.
 
He carries on the spirit and techniques of his teacher, Gichin Funakoshi. Born in 1931 in Iwate prefecture , Japan, Kanazawa Kancho began practicing karate as a student at Takushoku University, and after graduation , became an instructor for the Japan Karate Association. He has earned many titles in competition, winning first place in kumite at the first Japan Karate Championship in 1957, and taking top honors in both kumite and kata the following years at the second Japan Karate Championship. On one occasion winning the finals while nursing a broken wrist from an earlier event. He is the first karateka to have won the notorious All Japan Karate Championship.

Although trained in Judo in his early years, Kanazawa Kancho took up karate whilst at University under the late headmaster of JKA Shotokan, sensei Masatoshi Nakayama .  Kanazawa Kancho is also one of the few remaining karateka privileged to have studied under Master Gichin Funakoshi , the famous Okinawin schoolteacher who brought karate to mainland Japan from Okinawa and founded the Shotokan style.

His long career as a chief instructor dates back to 1960, when he was invited to teach in Hawaii. He also taught elsewhere in the United States and throughout Europe .
 
In 1977, Kanazawa Kancho set up SKIF (Shotokan Karratedo International Federattion).  SKIF is now the world’s largest Shotokan Karate Association under one chief instructor Kancho Kanazawa, having over 3.5 million members in over 120 countries .