The Japan Karate Association (日本 空手 協会; Nihon Karate Kyokai; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as Kyokai 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organizations in the world.

Origins

Gichin Funakoshi played a major role in introducing karate from Okinawa to Japan, adjusted to reduce injury and merged with approaches for athletic training. On May 27, 1949, some of his senior students including Isao Obata, Masatoshi Nakayama, and Hidetaka Nishiyama, formed a karate organization dedicated to research, promotion, events management, and education: the Japan Karate Association. Funakoshi, then around 80 years old, held a position equivalent to chief instructor emeritus, with Nakayama as the chief instructor. The JKA emerged from karate clubs at Japanese universities located in the Tokyo region. Most of these universities, however, distanced themselves from the JKA during the 1950s. Takushoku University always kept strong ties with the JKA, being the alma mater of many of the senior JKA instructors, such as Nakayama, Nishiyama, Okazaki, Asai, Kanazawa, and Enoeda, who were responsible for the JKA's consolidation during the 1960s and 1970s. General uneasiness on how karate was taught by the JKA instructors and disagreements on Funakoshi's funeral arrangements in 1957 motivated some of the senior karateka connected with Funakoshi, but not associated with the JKA, such as Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi, and Tsutomu Ohshima, to form their own organizations, such as Shotokai and Shotokan Karate of America). They claimed to practice a version of Shotokan karate closer to what Funakoshi taught, as compared to the JKA style. The JKA Shotokan approach is also based on Funakoshi's karate, but with significant adaptations introduced mostly by Nakayama, who was JKA chief instructor until his death in 1987. Under Nakayama's leadership, a generation of respected instructors spread karate worldwide, guided from the JKA headquarters in Tokyo. Nakayama's books, which include Dynamic Karate and the Best Karate series, are fundamental reference materials on Shotokan karate as practiced under the JKA. Clive Nicol, in his classic book Moving Zen, describes the karate practice at the JKA's honbu dojo (headquarters training hall) in Tokyo during the early 1960s, from his unique perspective as a western karate student going from white to black belt in a few years.

Splinter groups

The JKA experienced several divisions from the 1970s onwards. Notable splinter groups formed as follows: Due to these divisions, there is today the notion of a separate JKA karate style—that is, Shotokan karate that follows the JKA tradition to a large extent, but is taught by instructors who are not officially affiliated with JKA (though most of them are former JKA instructors and graduates).

Kenshusei (instructor intern) training program

In 1956, the JKA started its kenshusei instructor intern training program at the JKA honbu dojo, in Yotsuya, Tokyo, which had been built in 1955. This program was instituted by Nakayama Masatoshi. The training program has promoted the consistency and quality control of JKA training practices over the years, graduating some of the world's most well known karateka (practitioners of karate), as listed below.

Graduates

The following table lists JKA kenshusei training program graduates in order of year of graduation. The reported rank of graduates no longer with the JKA is that from their current organization. Such rank is not necessarily recognized by the JKA.

Note

This list is incomplete. For instance, it does not include some members who were expelled or resigned from the JKA see below: The list at the JKA's website, which includes most members who left or were expelled, may also be incomplete. The JKA has not included some former members who have completed the course and are not currently affiliated with JKA. In addition, during the troubled period between 1990 and 1999 each JKA faction held its own instructors' course. Currently, the JKA does not recognize graduates from the instructors' courses led by the JKS (Japan Karate Shoto Federation, which also held the name JKA between 1990 and 1999). Karateka such as Dave Hazard (UK), Ennio Vezzuli (Brazil), Nigel Jackson (South Africa), Peté Pacheco (Portugal), Malcolm Fisher (Canada), Leon Montoya (Colombia), Richard Amos (UK, US), Pascal Lesage (France) and others, are mentioned in karate forums as having completed the JKA instructors' course (or having had substantial participation in it) but do not appear on the list of graduates as published in 2008 on the JKA's website. In addition, the list does not include graduate instructors from the instructor programmes of splinter groups such as JKS and KWF, examples being Otsuka Masamichi (KWF - Japan), Langley Scott (JKS, now HDKI Ireland), Koike Yutaka (JKS - Japan), Inada Yasuhisa (JKS - Japan), Kyle Kamal Helou (JKS - Lebanon), Matsue Takeo (JKS- Japan), Makita Takuya (JKS - Japan), Nagaki Shinji (JKS - Japan).

Competition

Although Gichin Funakoshi wrote that there are no contests in Karate, Nakayama Masatoshi's teachings led to a more competitive approach to the training and in 1957 the first All Japan Karate Championship was held, and has been held annually since.

World championships

In addition, the JKA has organised a number of international tournaments amongst which the following have been considered to be the JKA's World Championships: †Cancelled due to financial crisis. ‡Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Male Kumite

Male Kata

Female Kumite

Female Kata