Shintani, Masaru (1927- )
Shintani Sensei was born February 3, 1927 in Vancouver, BC Canada (Shintani
and Reid, 1998) to Japanse parents who had immigrated there. Shintani
Sensei's mother, Tsuruye Shintani, was a daughter of the Matsumoto Samurai
family. He gained early training in a number of Japanese martial arts,
including eventual ranks in Judo (sandan), Aikido (shodan), and Kendo
(shodan). During the Second World War, Shintani Sensei and his family
were placed in a west coast Japanese-Canadian internment camp. This is
where he met one of his early karate influences, Mr. Kitagawa, who had
trained in Shuri-te style karate under Sokun Matsumura and Anko Itosu.
After close to a decade of training wth Mr. Kitagawa, Shintani Sensei
was awarded rukudan in Shorin style karate.
Shintani Sensei competed extensively in Japan in the 1950's, and it
was at this time that he first met Hironori Otsuka. Shintani Sensei began
training with Shihan Otsuka, and did so for well over a decade, becoming
a senior student. By 1968, Otsuka Sensei "...appointed Masaru Shintani
as head of all Wado Karate-do in North America and conferred on him the
title of "Supreme Instructor" (Shintani and Reid, 1998). In
1979, Otsuka Sensei graded Shintani Sensei to 8th degree, hachidan, in
Wado karate, and presented him with his 9th degree, kudan certificate
for future use.
The Shintani Wado Kai Karate Federation (SWKKF) centered in hishome
in Hamilton, Ontartio, is presently one of the largest martial arts organization
under a single style in North America.
Reproduced with permission from the website Wado Kai - North America:
http://members.home.com/swkkf. (Edited for punctuation and clarity)
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