Kancho Bio
Chief Instructor: Kancho Takemasa Okuyama 10th Dan
- President and Chief Instructor of Hachi-O-Kai, International Karate Association in Canada, Argentina, Bosnia, China, Columbia, Croatia, Ecuador, Hungary, Israel, Macedonia, Palestine, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, and India.
- President of the Universal Peacekeeping Martial Arts Organization
- General Director of the International Karate Association
- Received "Key to the City" of Cali, Columbia
- Special medal and recognition from the Moscow Police Department in Moscow, Russia
- Hall of Fame: Builder Division of Karate Ontario
- Honourary Member of the Official International Association of Private Security Manpower, and in the North American Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
- Hachi-O-Kai World Budo Federation
ABOUT Master Kancho T. Okuyama 10th Dan
Master Okuyama received the Key to the City of Cali, Columbia from Mayor Ricardo Cobo, for his efforts in the movement for peace, and has received special awards from the City of Be'er Sheva, Israel from Mayor Kakuv for peace work between Israel and Palestine.
The martial art journey of a true karate master lasts for a lifetime. Takemasa Okuyama is an example of someone who has risen to the top of his discipline with a never-ending desire to train and expand his knowledge about his chosen art. It has taken him to five continents as a teacher and tournament official, and he is now recognized internationally for his karate instruction.
Kancho (director or Principal) started training in sumo and judo as a seven-year-old, with his father Takemi and brother Takao, who was captain of the Nippon University Nojui Gakubu judo team. Young Takemasa Okuyama trained hard and was eventually made captain of the Hachijo High School judo team. His introduction to karate came when he was 13, through a karateka from Okinawa named Mr. Kinjo.
Okuyama entered Takushoku University in April 1960 and studied political science and received a degree in foreign trading. At the same time, he studied Karate under Senseis (Teachers) Tabata, Hamanaka, Ozawa, and Tsuyama. This university has produced some of the finest karateka and instructors in the world, and Takemasa Okuyama took advantage of his opportunity to learn. Okuyama came to Canada in 1969 and organized the IKA Canadian chapter under Soke Kubota.
