O'Sensei Hironori Otsuka I
On the 1st April, 1897, Ohtsuka Sensei started school where he studied Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu, under the supervision of his father. Later, when he was 13, he studied the style under Shinzaburo Nakayama Sensei, the third Grand Master of this style of Jujutsu. Unlike the other schools of jujutsu at the time, Shindo Yoshin Ryu specialized in kicking and punching techniques in addition to throwing, twisting, and locking techniques.
Ohtsuka Sensei continued to study the style while at Waseda University from 1910 to 1917. He also studied different styles of Jujitsu, concentrating on their positive aspects. In doing so, Ohtsuka Sensei learned a great deal about the body's vital points for both attacking and healing purposes.
Hironori Ohtsuka was born on 1st June 1892 in Shimodate City, Ibaragi, Japan. He was the first son, and the second of four children, of Dr. Tokujuro Ohtsuka, a Doctor of Medicine. Ohtsuka Sensei was first introduced to martial arts by his great uncle, Chojuro Ebashi, a samurai warrior, who began teaching him Jujitsu. This marked the starting point of his lifelong fascination with the martial arts.
In 1922, Ohtsuka Sensei attended the sports festival in Tokyo, where he encountered Karate taught by Gichin Funakoshi, a Karate instructor from Okinawa, and a man widely held as the "Father of Modern Karate". Ohtsuka Sensei was so impressed with this that he visited Funakoshi Sensei on numerous occasions during his stay. Funakoshi Sensei was, in turn, impressed by Ohtsuka's enthusiasm and determination to understand Karate and agreed to teach him all he knew about it. In the following years, Ohtsuka Sensei set up a medical practice dealing with martial arts injuries. His prowess in martial arts had led him to be the Chief Instructor of Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu at the age of just 30, and an assistant instructor at Funakoshi Sensei's dojo.
By 1929, Ohtsuka Sensei was a registered member of the Japan Martial Arts Federation. At this time, Okinawan Karate only concentrated on Kata, which is a set sequence of movements against an imaginary opponent (or group of opponents). Ohtsuka Sensei thought that the full spirit
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