Hideyuki Ashihara
芦原英幸
Japanese karateka (1944–1995), former Kyokushin instructor, creator of the concept of sabaki and founder of the Ashihara Karate style and the NIKO organization.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Hideyuki Ashihara was a Japanese karateka, founder of the Ashihara Karate style and the New International Karate Organisation. He was born on 5 December 1944 in Hiroshima prefecture, Japanese Wikipedia gives 4 December, and died on 24 April 1995 in Matsuyama at the age of 50.
At fifteen he went to Tokyo, and in September 1961 he joined the dojo of Masutatsu Oyama, later the main dojo of Kyokushin. According to English Wikipedia he earned shodan on 26 March 1964, and in 1966 he became an instructor.
According to the affiliated organization Ashihara Karate International, he opened his first school in 1965 in Yawatahama in Ehime prefecture, Japanese Wikipedia gives 1970. He developed the concept of sabaki, a combination of defense and attack based on moving into the blind spot of the opponent. In September 1980 he founded the New International Karate Organisation in Matsuyama and became its kancho. He published several books, among them Karate ni moe karate ni ikiru (1986).
His students included Joko Ninomiya and Kazuyoshi Ishii. Late in life he fell ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and named his son Hidenori as his successor. The circumstances of his departure from Kyokushin differ in the sources. We have not found a quote with a documented origin.
Early life
According to the Ashihara Karate International website, Hideyuki Ashihara was born on 5 December 1944 in Hiroshima prefecture, Japanese Wikipedia gives 4 December in Saeki district. According to English Wikipedia, in 1960 at the age of fifteen he went to Tokyo and worked at a gas station for six years, while Japanese Wikipedia mentions a car repair shop. We have not found further details about his family and childhood in a reliable source.
Training and teachers
In September 1961 he joined the dojo of Oyama, later the main dojo of Kyokushin. According to English Wikipedia he earned shodan on 26 March 1964 at the age of nineteen. In 1966 he became an instructor at the main dojo, but a planned trip to Brazil did not take place, and Japanese Wikipedia connects this with a violent incident and a suspension of teaching. We have not found Jon Blumming as his teacher in the sources consulted.
Contribution and innovations
According to Ashihara Karate International, he opened his first school in 1965 in Yawatahama in Ehime prefecture, Japanese Wikipedia gives 1970. Construction of the dojo in Matsuyama began in March 1978 and the building was completed in 1979. In September 1980 he founded the New International Karate Organisation as Ashihara Karate Kaikan, based in Matsuyama. Sabaki is his term for a combination of defense and attack based on moving into the blind spot of the opponent. He published the books Ryuro karate (1981) and Karate ni moe karate ni ikiru (1986), and The Word of Life appeared posthumously in 1997.
Legends and documented facts
The circumstances of the departure from Kyokushin differ. Ashihara Karate International gives the year 1979, English Wikipedia March 1978, and Japanese Wikipedia permanent expulsion in September 1980. English Wikipedia gives the year of the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as 1987, Japanese as 1992. We have not resolved the dispute.
Legacy
Before his death he named his son Hidenori as successor at the head of the organization. According to English Wikipedia, his students included Joko Ninomiya, Kazuyoshi Ishii and Makoto Yoshida. Joko Ninomiya organized the Sabaki Challenge tournament in Denver from 1978. He died on 24 April 1995 in Matsuyama, and according to English Wikipedia more than a thousand people attended the funeral.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
Kata and forms
Organisations
- New International Karate Organisation (NIKO)↗Founder · 1980