David Akutagawa
{{short description|Canadian martial artist}}
{{No footnotes|date=April 2012}}
David Akutagawa (1937–2008) was a Japanese Canadian martial artist active during the late 20th century.
Early life
Born in 1937, Akutagawa first came to Canada after receiving a degree in Economic Science from Kohnan University in Kobe, Japan. His karate background at that time was in Shitō-ryū and Shōtōkan-ryū styles.
Career
He held 8th Dan in Shitō-ryū was 6th dan, shihan, and renshi in Chitō-ryū; his karate history spanned a half-century.
In 1967, he began teaching karate at the RCMP Self Defense Depot in Penhold, Alberta and at the RCMP Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan. He taught the RCMP Instructors there for over a decade.
In order to further his karate career, Akutagawa traveled to Toronto to meet and train under Masami Tsuruoka, the "Father of Canadian Karate", as well as the head instructor of Chitō-ryū in Canada. In 1966, Tsuroka introduced Akutagawa to Tsuyoshi Chitose, founder and supreme instructor of Chitō-ryū. Thus began Akutagawa's training in Chitō-ryū, until Chitose's death in July 1984. Akutagawa resigned from the International Chito-kai in December 1996 and founded the Renshikan (連士舘) Karate Association in January 1997. On June 1, 2006, Sōke Kenei Mabuni of Shitō-ryū Karate-dō promoted Akutagawa to 8th Dan and Shihan. Akutagawa also enjoyed studying Okinawan Kobudō, iaidō and jūjutsu with various experts.
Death
On Wednesday, October 8, 2008, Akutagawa suffered a massive heart attack and died at the Vancouver General Hospital.
Sources
- {{Citation
| last = Colling
| first = Michael
| title = Chitose Tsuyoshi – A Bridge Through Time
| url=http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/article33.htm
| accessdate = 2007-11-14}}
- {{Citation
| title = Organizations and Instructors with direct ties to Chitō-ryū Karate-do
| url = http://www.chitoryu.com/breakaways.htm
| accessdate = 2007-11-14
| url-status = dead
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008211213/http://www.chitoryu.com/breakaways.htm
| archivedate = 2007-10-08
}}
- {{Citation |last1=Colling |first1=Michael |last2=Schmidt |first2=Don |title=Chitō-ryū Diversity |url=https://chito-ryu.com/information/diversity/diversity.html |access-date=September 29, 2023 }}
- {{Citation| title=Karate Celebrations| newspaper=Karate BC News| pages=8| date=July 2007| url=http://www.karatebc.org/newsletter/eNews/KBC_NewsLetter_July2007.pdf| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808174427/http://www.karatebc.org/newsletter/eNews/KBC_NewsLetter_July2007.pdf| archivedate=2007-08-08}}
External links
- [http://www.renshikan.com/ Renshikan website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akutagawa, David}}
Category:Canadian male karateka
Category:Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent
Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen
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