David Akutagawa was a martial artist active during the late 20th century. He held 8th Dan in Shitō-ryū was 6th dan, shihan, and renshi in Chitō-ryū

Chito-ryu

is a style of karate founded by , . The name of the style translates as: chi - 1,000; tō - China; ryū , "1,000 year old Chinese style." The character tō refers to the Tang Dynasty of China...

; his karate history spanned a half-century. Akutagawa first came to Canada after receiving a degree in Economic Science from Kohnan University in Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Japan. His karate background at that time was in Shitō-ryū and Shōtōkan-ryū

Shotokan

is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...

 styles. In 1967, he began teaching karate at the RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 Self Defense Depot in Penhold

Penhold, Alberta

Penhold is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Penhold is surrounded by the county of Red Deer No. 23, south of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 2A and Highway 42. It is located north of Calgary, along the Red Deer River...

, Alberta and at the RCMP Academy in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Saskatchewan. He taught the RCMP Instructors there for over a decade.

In order to further his karate career, Akutagawa traveled to Toronto to meet and train under Masami Tsuruoka

Masami Tsuruoka

Masami Tsuruoka O.Ont is a Canadian born karate instructor and practitioner recognized as "The Father of Canadian Karate" by Black Belt Magazine. Although mainly responsible for establishing the Chito-ryu style in Canada, Tsuruoka is also known as founder of his own karate style known as Tsuruoka...

, the “Father of Canadian Karate”, as well as the head instructor of Chitō-ryū in Canada. In 1966, Tsuroka introduced Akutagawa to Tsuyoshi Chitose, founder and supreme instructor of Chitō-ryū. Thus began Akutagawa's training in Chitō-ryū, until Chitose's death in July 1984. Akutagawa resigned from the International Chito-kai in December 1996 and founded the Renshikan (連士舘) Karate Association in January 1997. On June 1, 2006, Sōke Kenei Mabuni of Shitō-ryū Karate-dō promoted Akutagawa to 8th Dan and Shihan. Akutagawa also enjoyed studying Okinawan Kobudō

Okinawan kobudo

Okinawan kobudō is a Japanese term that can be translated as "old martial way of Okinawa"...

, iaidō

Iaido

is a modern Japanese martial art associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard...

 and jūjutsu

Jujutsu

Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....

with various experts.

On Wednesday, October 8, 2008, Akutagawa suffered a massive heart attack and died at the Vancouver General Hospital.

Sources