Born 24 March 1939 in Tokyo, Ueki Sensei (10th Dan) is Chief Instructor of the JKA World wide.
He started karate at the age of sixteen, during his third year of high school under Sugiura, with only one other student participating. Despite beginning with judo, he found himself too small, but became interested in karate because of its emphasis on speed. Therefore, he trained and developed through the grades, and after graduating from Asia University he was encouraged to join the instructor’s programme.
Ueki's karate places a deep emphasis on very strong basics and stances, and he believes to fully appreciate and totally benefit from kata training, one needs to pull the kata apart.
As a young man, he was also very interested in competition, and at the 8th JKA All Japan Karate Championship (1965) he became tournament Grand Champion placing 1st Kata and 2nd Kumite, improving on this three years later at the 11th JKA All Japan Karate Championship (1968) where again he was tournament Grand Champion placing 1st Kumite and 1st Kata.
Ueki was also used in Nakayama’s Best Karate series. Of Ueki, M. Nakayama wrote ‘the hands and feet of Masaaki Ueki are worth watching, for they are very fast and truly sharp. It is not surprising that many opponents have been defeated’.
Born 8 September 1947 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Osaka Sensei (8th Dan) was Vice Chief Instructor of the JKA Worldwide and General Manager of the Technical division, now retired.
A very technical instructor, Osaka Sensei was one of the most popular instructors at the JKA Honbu. He is famed for his brilliant technique and has been described as technically perfect. Osaka Sensei was a regular in in the Best Karate Series of books by Nakayama Sensei.
Beyond his very obvious technical skill, Osaka Sensei has had many major titles to his name such as 26th JKA All Japan Karate Championship 1st place in 1983, and 1st at the IAKF World Karate Championship in 1975 he was a major competitor which was an important stepping stone onto his road towards being a world class and highly respected instructor.
Born 24 February 1941 in Tokyo, Tanaka Sensei (8th Dan) was Vice Chief Instructor of the JKA Worldwide and is now retired.
Famed for his brilliant fighting spirit and hard fighting style, he remains one of the greatest fighters to have emerged from the JKA heyday, gathering several major titles including 1st place kumite at the JKA All Japan Karate Championship in 1974 which he held for two years, and 1st place kumite at the 2nd IAKF World Karate Championship in Tokyo in 1977, which he regained again in 1980 for the second time. He was a fierce fighter who’s dynamic fighting style gained him acclaim and fear the world over.
Tanaka, author of the famous ‘Perfecting Kumite - Karate-Do’ textbook and who also featured in M. Nakayama’s ‘Best Karate’ series to this day still works hard promoting and keeping the standard of the JKA, and often travels the world teaching seminars. He has taught several times at the JKA England International courses.
