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20 Facts About Hideyuki Ashihara

1.

Hideyuki Ashihara was a Japanese master of karate who founded Ashihara karate in 1980 with the emphasis on Sabaki.

2.

Hideyuki Ashihara is often attributed as one of the originators of the tai sabaki method.

3.

Hideyuki Ashihara was known for his weapon skills including shuriken and tonfa.

4.

Hideyuki Ashihara was raised by his grandparents in a small village called Nomicho.

5.

Hideyuki Ashihara first came into contact with Budo when he started training in Kendo at the age of 10 to get an outlet for his energy.

6.

In 1960, when Hideyuki Ashihara was 15 years old, he moved to Tokyo and started working at a petrol station.

7.

Hideyuki Ashihara saw karate practitioners train and spar hard and realistically, something he liked immediately.

8.

Hideyuki Ashihara allegedly trained intensely and participated in every possible training session.

9.

Hideyuki Ashihara was then only 19 years old, and no one at the dojo could defeat him in kumite.

10.

In 1966, Hideyuki Ashihara was made instructor in Kyokushinkai Karate at the Honbu Dojo.

11.

Hideyuki Ashihara performed well, and it was decided that he would have the honour of travelling to Brazil to instruct and spread Kyokushinkai Karate, something he had dreamed of for years.

12.

However, Hideyuki Ashihara got into a fight with five persons who attacked him on the street, all of whom he defeated.

13.

Hideyuki Ashihara wanted to return to Nomura and continue the work he had started there.

14.

Hideyuki Ashihara quickly founded one of the biggest Kyokushinkai clubs in Japan, and the activities were extended to two additional cities, Uwa and Uwajima.

15.

Preparation, and the use of the four positions represented by the circular symbol of Hideyuki Ashihara Karate became the first point.

16.

Hideyuki Ashihara expanded to the city of Matsuyama, and Ashihara Karate quickly became popular there as well.

17.

Hideyuki Ashihara started to instruct the police force, and universities started clubs in the area.

18.

Hideyuki Ashihara was still associated with the Kyokushinkai organisation, but instructors in neighbouring districts were complaining about his expansion of clubs.

19.

Hideyuki Ashihara announced that he was willing to give up leadership for the clubs, as he had intended to concentrate on running his club in Matsuyama.

20.

Hideyuki Ashihara had ALS, a rare disease of the nervous system known as Lou Gehrig's disease.