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Brief History of

ITOSU-RYU KARATEDO INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION 

Kenwa Mabuni & Ryusho Sakagami

Yoshu-kan Mabuni Dojo, in 1941

Mabuni and Sakagami

(The 3rd Line Center and Right)

Ryusho Sakagami, Kenwa Mabuni, Gichin Fuakoshi

Sakagami, Mabuni, Obata and Funakoshi

(From left to right)

Itosu-ryu Karate

Memorial Performance of
Head Dojo Opening, in 1956

Ryukyu Kobudo

Japan Kobudo Performance Tournament
at Nippon Budokan, in 1979

Itosu-kai

Itosu-ryu Karatedo International Federation

Headquarters Dojo

Itosu-kai

Itosu-ryu Degree Certified Students

Itosu-ryu Karatedo World Championships

Itosu-ryu Karatedo World Championships 
Los Angeles USA in 2005

■1940
Established Shito-ryu Karate Sakagami Dojo at his home in Kawanishi, Hyogo on March 1st.


■1952
Ryusho Sakagami succeeded to the position of 3rd Itosu-ha Soke on January 2nd.
Kenwa Mabuni passed away on May 23rd.

■1953
Performance of Itosu-ha Karatedo Genbu-kan was held at Ikeda elementary school on October 18th.

■1954
Established "Nihon Genbu-kan Karatedo Dojo" in Katsushika ward, Tokyo on August 1st.

■1955
Moved the Dojo to Tsurumi ward Yokohama, changed the name to All Japan Karatedo Itosu-kai and made it Head Dojo on June 1st.
Itosu-ha Karatedo Performance Meeting was held at Joto public hall in Tokyo on November 20th.

■1956
Opening of Head Dojo memorial performance was held at the Dojo on May 13th.

■1957
Entered Japan Karatedo Rengokai upon its establishment on June 10th.
Founded Itosu-kai Eastern Japan Head Office and Western Japan Head Office on September 1st.

■1963
Reconstructed the Head Dojo and relocated it to it`s current location on December 1st.

■1964
10th Anniversary Performance for the Establishment of the Head Dojo was held at the Head Dojo on May 10th. The 1st Itosu-kai National Championships commemorating the 25th anniversary was held on November 20th.

■1968
Published `Ryukyu Kobudo Series-Nunchaku' (June 1st)

■1969
School name established as Itosu-ryu and faction name as Japan Karatedo Itosu-kai on April 1st.
Itosu-kai logotype was registered on December 1st.
 
■1971
Published `Ryukyu Kobudo Series-Sai' (September 1st).

■1974
Japan Karatedo Itosu-kai constitution was established on April 1st.
Published `Ryukyu Kobudo Series-Tonfa' (September 1st)
Published `Nunchaku and Sai' English version (November 1st)
A correspondence course was started on December 1st. It closed in October 1981.

■1975
Released `Nunchaku Techniques' 8mm Film (April 1st)

■1976
Published `Karatedo Taikan-Pinan' (May 10th)

■1978
Published `Karatedo Kata Taikan' (October 10th)

■1979
Admitted to Japan Kobudo Association on February 10th.
Published `Nunchaku and Sai' Italian version (December 20th) 

■1980
The 40th Anniversary of Establishment was held at Akasaka Hanten in Tokyo on August 2nd.

■1983
The movie "Itosu-ryu Karatedo" compiled by the Japan Kobudo Association was shot as a documentary film on January 26th.
Published `Nunchaku and Sai' Japanese version (August 10th)

■1990
The 50th Anniversary of Establishment was held at Chiba Gyotoku Station Hotel on July 7th.

■1992
Published "50 years of Itosu-kai" on September 1st.

■1993
Ryusho Sakagami passed away on December 28th.

■1994
Sadaaki Sakagami succeeded to the position of 4th Itosu-ryu Soke and became the president of Japan Karatedo Itosu-kai on April 30.

■1995
Closed the Head Dojo due to its age and to establish a new modern Dojo on March 19th.

■1996
Itosu-kai Shihan-kai was established on May 19th.

■1997
Established the Itosu-kai newsletter on April 1st.


■2002
Held the cerebration of the 60th Anniversary of Itosu-kai at Kichijoji Tokyu
Inn, Tokyo. (Aug.17)

 

Itosu-kai International Goodwill Championships was held in Komazawa Gymnasium on August 18th.

Officially formed the international organization of Itosu-kai in the name of `Itosu-ryu Karatedo International Federation (I.K.I.F.)' (Aug.19)

 

■2005
2005 Itosu-ryu Karate do World Championship was held in Los Angels on July 31th.

Itosu-ryu International Conference was held at Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa, on August 1st.

 

■2006
Itosu-ryu Karatedo International Federation Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 13th.

 

■2007
Itosu-ryu Karatedo Kata vol.1 DVD release. (Jan. 20)
Itosu-ryu Karatedo Kata vol.2 DVD release. (April 20)

 

■2008
Itosu-ryu Karatedo Kata vol.3 DVD release. (April 19) 
Itosu-ryu Karatedo Kata vol.4 DVD release. (Oct. 20)

 

■2009
2009 Itosu-ryu Karate do World Championship was held in Kuala Lumpur on July 25th.

Itosu-ryu International Conference was held at Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, on July 26th.

Itosu-ryu Karatedo Kata vol.5 DVD release. (Aug. 20)

■2013

 Itosu-ryu Karate do World Championship was held in Osaka Japan on July 28th.
 

■2017

 Itosu-ryu Karate do International Championship was held in Shanghai, China on August 18th and 19th.

■2021

 Itosu-ryu Karate do International Championship will be held in Kolding, Denmark.

Itosu-ryu Karatedo World Championships 
Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia in 2009

Itosu-ryu Karatedo International Federation (IKIF) logo
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