HOW A FORGOTTEN KARATE PIONEER BUILT A BUDO MECCA
Most karateka will recognize names like Funakoshi and Motobu. Far fewer know anything about Yasuhiro Konishi even though he was a pivotal figure in the early development of karate in Japan and its evolution as a budo.
Konishi, who lived from 1893 to 1983, began training in the muso ryu of jujitsu at age 6. Shortly thereafter, he joined the takeuchi ryu, another school of jujitsu. Seven years later, he began training in kendo. He attended Keio University and became the university club’s kendo coach.
Konishi was utterly occupied attending Keio, a man named Tsuneshige Arakaki, was from Okinawa, and at a party, he demonstrated a karate Konishi was instantly intrigued. He began learning the art from Arakaki. After graduating, Konishi worked for a company for a short time, but in 1923, he opened his own called the Ryobu-Kan. There, he taught kendo and judo and continued to learn karate.
