Norman Robinson (karate)
| Norman Robinson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 17, 1936 South Africa |
| Style | Judo, Shotokan Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Keinosuke Enoeda, Masatoshi Nakayama, Masahiko Tanaka, Tetsuhiko Asai |
| Rank | 8th dan karate (JKA) 7th dan Judo |
| Website | Japan Karate Shoto Federation South Africa |
Norman Robinson is a South African master of Shotokan karate. He and Stan Schmidt were the first practitioners of Shotokan karate in South Africa and they instigated the establishment of the South African branch of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1965 and popularized the art across the country. In 1970 he was one of the first westerners to be invited into the JKA's famous Instructor Class in the Tokyo Honbu dojo, the invitation having been offered by Masatoshi Nakayama himself. Latterly, he established Japan Karate Shotokai South Africa (now known as Japan Karate Shoto Federation South Africa), having remained loyal to Tetsuhiko Asai after Asai established Japan Karate Shotokai. Norman Robinson is also a distinguished student of Judo, holding a 7th dan in that art, and is also known for his acting roles in several martial arts films.
Robinson was born on 17 September 1936 in South Africa. He was the youngest of eight children and his father was a famous judo instructor having pioneered judo in South Africa in 1930. He had wanted to be a doctor, but through his father's influence devoted his time to martial arts, and travelled extensively to both practice and compete.
During a South African Judo championship, Robinson was challenged by Sebastian Hawkins, an ex-student of his father, to take on a number of his students. Robinson defeated all of them, and one of these students was Stan Schmidt with whom Robinson became friends following their bout. Schmidt had been studying karate from books and practicing it within his dojo and in Robinson found someone that shared an interest in martial arts that went beyond Judo. Together they attempted to learn karate out of a book called “Mas Oyama Book of the Five Pinan Katas”. They continued their training and in 1963 approached the Japanese Consulate asking for further information on Japanese Karate organizations. The Consulate put them in touch with JKA Tokyo and Schmidt actually travelled out to Japan to train with the JKA. In 1965 four instructors were brought to South Africa: Taiji Kase; Keinosuke Enoeda; Hirokazu Kanazawa; and Hiroshi Shirai. These instructors stayed for six months and from April to October 1965 Robinson trained 3 times a day, predominantly with Enoeda, and achieved his Shodan ('black belt') on the 4th October 1965. Enoeda then left South Africa for the United Kingdom.
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