Sensei Tadashi Yamashita
The style of Karate taught by Yamashita Karate Studio – Murrieta is that of Sensei Tadashi Yamashita. Yamashita Sensei is a world-renowned and respected master of martial arts. Yamashita Sensei is a 10th-degree black belt in both Karatedo and Kobudo. (Yamashita Sensei is also the President and Director of the United States Shorin-Ryu Karate Association, and the U.S.A. President of the Zen Okinawan Kobudo Association.)
Yamashita Sensei is one of the few that has trained under notable high ranking masters such as the late:
Chosin Chibana of Shorin Ryu,
Shuguro Nakazato, founder of the Shorin Ryu Shorin Kan.
Shinpo Matayoshi, founder of the Zen Okinawan Kobudo Renmei.
“Hanshi” Tadashi Yamashita, a student of both Chibana Chosin and Shuguro Nakazato has dedicated over 60 years of his life to the practice of Okinawan Karatedo and Kobudo. He is a world renowned expert and practitioner of martial arts and is specifically known for his explosive open hand techniques. Yamashita Sensei combines many progressive fighting tactics with traditional aspects of Karatedo, which today has resulted in his development of a devastating fighting system, known as Suikendo where each defensive counter becomes an offensive attack. Sensei’s dynamic fighting system known as “Suikendo,” translates to, “fist flowing like water.” This is a non stopping, flowing system of fighting, allowing the Karateka to simultaneously block and strike his opponent with blinding speed and accuracy. This style of Shorin Ryu has become known throughout the martial arts community as ‘”Yamashita Shorin Ryu Karate-Do”
Sensei’s fighting system integrates the mastery of what he believes are the 7 essential skills of karate techniques: 1) Balance 2) Coordination 3) Speed 4) Power 5) Distance 6) Timing, and the most important, 7) Relaxation. The ability to relax while in the midst of an altercation does not come from just a loose feeling in the muscles but comes from knowing the material totally, to where you don’t have muscle tension. This knowing comes only from years of training in the way of Karate-Do.
Yamashita Sensei keeps close tabs on what his instructors are teaching, so the style doesn’t get “watered down”. Many believe him to be one of the fastest humans on the face of the earth. He holds records for throwing punches, 13 in two seconds. He did this on an old TV show called “Thrillseekers” hosted by Chuck, “The Rifleman”, Connors. You can see him with Chuck Norris in “The Octagon”, and with Sean Connery, and Wesley Snipes in “Rising Sun”. He plays the “Black Star Ninja” in American Ninja, one of his bigger parts, and himself in American Ninja 5, and also the movie Gym-Kata with Kurt Thomas.
In addition to his mastery of open hand combat, Sensei Yamashita is a world-renowned weapons master. During the 1973 Pro-Am Karate Tournament, Sensei illustrated to a standing audience of over 7,000 spectators, his mastery and skill of ancient Kobudo weaponry.
