Yoshinao Nanbu

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1943

Date of Death4/28/2020

Country of OriginFrance

Biography

Yoshinao Nanbu was a Japanese karateka, founder of the styles Sankukai and Nanbudo, who lived mostly in Europe. He was born in Kobe, according to Shuriway in 1943, and the International Nanbudo Federation celebrated his 75th birthday on 13 February 2018. According to Shuriway he died on 28 April 2020.

He came from a martial arts family, his father Hideyoshi Nanbu held 5th dan in judo and taught the police in Kobe. He began judo with his father in childhood, and he learned kendo from his uncle. At eighteen he entered the university of economics in Osaka, where he began Shito-ryu karate with Chojiro Tani, and in 1963 he became the university champion of Japan.

In 1964 Henri Plée invited him to Paris. In 1966 he won the Coupe de France in Cannes as the first Japanese at a European competition, and in 1968 Tani entrusted him with developing Shukokai in Europe. In 1970 he left Shukokai and founded Sankukai. In 1974, according to Shuriway, he withdrew into seclusion in Cap-d'Ail, and in 1978 he founded Nanbudo.

The International Nanbudo Federation was established in the summer of 2010 seated in Geneva and grants him the title Doshu Soke. We have not been able to document the claim from discussion forums that he never lost as a competitor. We have not found a quote with a documented origin.

Early life

According to the Shuriway website, which takes over the text of the Worldwide Nanbu Federation, Yoshinao Nanbu was born in 1943 in Kobe. The International Nanbudo Federation celebrated his 75th birthday on 13 February 2018, from which we infer the date of birth of 13 February 1943. French Wikipedia names as his great-grandfather the 13th yokozuna Kimenzan Tanigoro and as his father Hideyoshi Nanbu, who held 5th dan in judo and taught the police in Kobe. According to Shuriway he began judo at the age of five with his father, and he learned kendo from his uncle. According to French Wikipedia he learned karate and aikido with the master Someka, and in aikido he reached 3rd dan.

Training and teachers

At eighteen he entered the university of economics in Osaka, where he discovered karate and trained with Chojiro Tani and the master Tanaka. In 1963, according to Shuriway, he became the university champion of Japan in a competition with 1250 competitors. In 1964, according to French Wikipedia, Henri Plée invited him to Paris, and in 1965 he traveled to Great Britain for the first time. In 1966 he competed at the Coupe de France in Cannes as the first Japanese at a European competition and won the final with the technique ashi-barai against Patrick Baroux. In 1968 Tani entrusted him with developing Shukokai in Europe.

Contribution and innovations

In 1969, according to French Wikipedia, he was president of the Scottish and Norwegian karate federations and technical adviser of the Belgian federation and the Yugoslav team. He founded the Sankukai style in 1970 after organizing the third Shukokai world championship in Paris and leaving Shukokai. In 1974, according to Shuriway, he withdrew from the martial arts to Cap-d'Ail, and in 1978 he founded Nanbudo. The International Nanbudo Federation wanted to unite the organizations by the end of 2018, for the fortieth anniversary of the style.

Legends and documented facts

The sources differ on whether the famous sumo wrestler Kimenzan Tanigoro was his great-grandfather, as French Wikipedia states, or his grandfather, as a discussion forum writes. We have not been able to document the claim from forums that he never lost a match as a competitor, only the winning result at the Coupe de France in 1966 is documented. According to the same forum, Nanbu later described Sankukai as incomplete, which led to the creation of nanbudo, but this too is a weak source.

Legacy

The International Nanbudo Federation was established in the summer of 2010 with its seat in Geneva and grants him the title Doshu Soke. As late as November and December 2017 he led, according to the magazine El Budoka, an international seminar in Edinburgh. According to Shuriway he died on 28 April 2020, and French Wikipedia cites an obituary in the daily Diario del Alto Aragón. The eighth world championship in nanbudo took place in September 2026 in Istanbul.

Associated Martial Arts