Teruyuki Okazaki

Teruyuki Okazaki (岡崎 照幸, born June 22, 1931), a tenth degree black belt in Shotokan Karate, is the founder and chief instructor of the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF). Along with Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama, Okazaki helped found the Japan Karate Association's instructor training program.

History

Early years

Okazaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture Japan. As a young man, he grew up studying judo, kendo, and aikido. In 1948, at the age of sixteen, he entered Takushoku University. It was here that Okazaki began his karate training. Teruyuki Okazaki studied primarily under Gichin Funakoshi (Shotokan's founder) as well as Masatoshi Nakayama. In 1953, Okazaki graduated and was immediately appointed coach of the Takushoku team. Later that year, it was decided that Okazaki would be trained as a "test case" for the still formulating JKA Instructor Trainee Program. In 1955, he was appointed head of the program, which produced some of modern Shotokan's most integral leaders. Takayuki Mikami, Eiji Takaura, and Hirokazu Kanazawa were among the first graduates from this program.