is the founder and director of Satojuku
Karateis a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, also known as Odo (The Champion's Way) karate. The Satojuku
honbu (headquarters) is located in Tachikawa, Japan.
Satō was born on April 4, 1946, on
Sakhalin IslandSakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
, then part of occupied Japan following the end of World War II. The
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had invaded the island during the closing stages of the war, but around 300,000 Japanese remained on the island, including Satō's family. In 1947, his family moved to Nakoso, in
Fukushima Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
.
In high school Satō trained-in
judois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
; after graduation, he continued to study it while working full-time as a journalist and studying part-time at
Chuo UniversityChuo University is a one of the Japanese leading universities. Thus it is competitive in several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:The university has been ranked 27th, 25th, 34th during 2008-2010 respectively in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai.-Research...
. However, at the age of 20, he injured his knee and shoulder and had to give up judo. Instead, he began training in Kyokushin karate in 1969. Satō studied karate from
Terutomo Yamazakiis a Japanese karateka from the Kyokushin Kaikan and professional lightweight kickboxer. He is the founder of Gyakushin-Kai and a Director of Karate in Japan. He presides over the International Budo Karate Organization Gyakushin-Kai from the headquarters of the organization in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama,...
for whom Satō has expressed much respect. Satō reached the rank of
shodan, literally meaning "beginning degree," is the lowest black belt rank in Japanese martial arts and the game of Go. The 2nd dan is higher than Shodan, but the 1st dan is called Shodan traditionally and the 1st dan is not called "Ichidan"...
(1st degree
black beltIn martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
) on October 1, 1971. He reached the rank of 3rd
dan in karate on March 18, 1973 and he had also attained 3rd
dan ranking in judo. He reached the rank of 4th
dan in karate on May 1, 1974.
Satō excelled in tournament competition. He won the 1971 (Third) and 1974 (Sixth) All-Japan Full Contact Karate Championships (AJFCKC), as well as the 1975 First All-World Full Contact Karate Championships (AWFCKC). He was part of a Kyokushin training group nicknamed "The Seven Samurai," which included
Jōkō Ninomiyais the founder and director of Enshin Karate. He presides over the Enshin organization from the headquarters in Denver, Colorado. His title as head of the Enshin organization is "Kancho" .-Early history:...
. Satō defeated Ninomiya on his way to taking the 1975 Kyokushin title. In 1976, he was listed at 5' 10½" (179 cm) in height and 183 lb. (83 kg) in weight. A later source specifies 1.8 metre and 90 kg (198.4 lb; 14.2 st). He then retired from full-time karate training and competition and devoted himself to assisting his family's business.
In 1977, Satō started his own karate style, Satojuku, in Mitaka, Tokyo, as a single
dojoA is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
(training hall). Satojuku has now grown to include
dojo in many locations in Japan. Satojuku is known as a similar style to Kyokushin, but emphasizes precise knockdown techniques over techniques designed to injure or "knock-out" one's opponent. The organization sponsors an annual tournament, the All-Japan Point & K.O. Tournament, held at
Yoyogi National Gymnasiumis an arena in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan which is famous for its suspension roof design.It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and diving events in the 1964 Summer Olympics. A separate annex was used for the basketball competition at those same games...
in Tokyo, Japan, with
full-contactFull contact karate is a wide term used to differentiate between competition formats of karate where competitors spar full-contact and allow knockout as winning criterion, and those competitions that use light contact/semi contact point sparring where a knockout is regarded as a foul.The term is...
, knockdown rules of competition.
Describing his art in 1987, Satō wrote, "Odo means the way champions must behave. It is based on humane feelings and courtesy, on being honorable, on being devoid of selfishness or bias. It is the antithesis of any martial art that relies only on force to conquer an opponent."
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