Shigeru Egami
江上茂
Japanese karate master (1912–1981), a student of Gichin Funakoshi and chief teacher of Shotokai, who developed a relaxed approach to karate and rejected competitions.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Shigeru Egami was a Japanese karate master, a student of Gichin Funakoshi and chief teacher of the Shotokai association, which developed a relaxed and fluid approach to karate without competitions. He was born on 7 December 1912 in Omuta in Fukuoka Prefecture and died on 8 January 1981 in Tokyo at the age of 68.
Before karate he practised judo, kendo and aikido. According to the official Shotokai website he entered Waseda University in 1933, where he met Gichin Funakoshi and helped found the university karate club. He studied under Funakoshi, his son Gigo and Takeshi Shimoda, and Funakoshi selected him as the youngest instructor for the grading committee. Before the war he also taught at the Nakano military school.
The Shotokan dojo was destroyed in an air raid in April 1945. After the death of Funakoshi he stripped techniques of unnecessary force and emphasised relaxation and a single decisive blow. He taught at Gakushuin, Toho and Chuo Universities. He rejected sport karate because in his view competitions change both the training and the spirit of karate. In 1958 he became chief technical adviser of Nihon Karate-do Shotokai.
In January 1976 the Shotokan dojo was reopened in Tokyo and Egami became its first director. In the same year he published the book The Way of Karate: Beyond Technique and taught in Taiwan and in five European countries. His students included Mitsusuke Harada and Tetsuji Murakami.
Early life
Shigeru Egami was born on 7 December 1912 in Omuta in Fukuoka Prefecture, and the official Shotokai website gives only the year 1912. Before university he practised judo, kendo and aikido. According to the Shotokai encyclopedia he met Gichin Funakoshi at the age of eighteen, when he began studying at Waseda University, and helped found the karate club there. The official Shotokai website gives his entry to the university as 1933.
Training and teachers
At Waseda University he studied under Takeshi Shimoda and worked with Gigo, the son of Funakoshi. He travelled around Japan with Gichin Funakoshi, Gigo and Shimoda, giving karate demonstrations. Funakoshi selected him for the grading committee, and Egami was the youngest instructor with this honour. Before the war he taught at the Nakano military school and other schools.
The Shotokan dojo was destroyed in an air raid in April 1945. According to his student Mitsusuke Harada, he was an assistant under Funakoshi in the Tokyu dojo and chief instructor after the death of Funakoshi. He taught at Gakushuin, Toho and Chuo Universities.
Contribution and innovations
According to the official Shotokai website, after the death of Funakoshi he stripped techniques of unnecessary force and introduced concentration of force and penetration of the strike. With Motonobu Hironishi he restored the main Shotokan dojo, with Egami leading the instruction and Hironishi the administration. In January 1976 the dojo was reopened in Tokyo and Egami became its first director.
In 1976 he published the book The Way of Karate: Beyond Technique with the publisher Kodansha, and according to Wikipedia The Heart of Karate-Do appeared posthumously, but we have not verified whether it is the same work. In 1973 he taught in Los Angeles, and in 1976 he toured Taiwan and five European countries.
Philosophy and principles
After 1957, according to the Shotokai encyclopedia, he placed emphasis on self-realisation, relaxation, perfect kime, the single decisive blow and techniques natural to the human body. He rejected sport karate because in his view competitions change both the training and the spirit too much. The official Shotokai website states that he did not introduce an external form but a concept and the spiritual world of karate as a martial art.
Legends and documented facts
The website karate.news states that Egami founded Shotokai in 1974. According to Mitsusuke Harada, the Dai Nihon Karate-do Shotokai existed under Funakoshi from 1936 and the Nihon Karate-do Shotokai from 1958, where Egami was chief technical adviser. The same website places the founding of the Japan Karate Association in 1948, while Harada and Wikipedia give 27 May 1949.
The style of Egami is sometimes called Egami-ryu. Harada states that Egami never wanted a school of his own and that such a label would have been an insult to him.
Legacy
From 1976 to 1981 he was chief instructor of the Shotokan dojo. After 1956, according to Wikipedia, he underwent two operations, and after a cerebral embolism he could not eat solid food for a long time, yet he continued to teach. He died on 8 January 1981 in Tokyo.
According to Wikipedia, his students included Mitsusuke Harada and Tetsuji Murakami. The Shotokai association still names Egami as one of its main teachers.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
An Okinawan striking art reshaped in the 20th century into Japanese budo and an Olympic sport. Built on kata and hand and foot techniques.
ShotokanMaster→A karate style from the teaching of Gichin Funakoshi in Tokyo, named after his dojo. It rests on deep stances, kihon and kata, and competition is scored by points for a controlled hit.
Organisations
- Japan Karate Association (JKA)Co-founder · 1949