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Sensei
Shiomitsu is the Chief Instructor of the Wado-Ryu
Karate-Do Academy.
Born in 1940 in the Kagoshima area on
the Southern island of Japan, Sensei Shiomitsu was
probably destined to become a leading martial artist.
Kagoshima is very traditional area and is famous for its
Samurai traditions and this history became part of the
character of Sensei as he grew up. Because of this
history, Sensei has always studied his karate as a
martial art and not a sport and there is a huge difference
between the two, as you will know, if you have ever
trained with him!
Masafumi Shiomitsu
began his study of karate when 15 years old in 1955 with
the Shorin-Ryu style of karate and with a local teacher.
In 1959 aged 18 years old he moved to Tokyo and entered
the famous Nihon University, subsequently becoming a
member of the university Wado Ryu karate club. At the Tokyo university dojo Sensei
trained at, there were three main coaches at that time, Tanabe Sensei
and two brothers named Arakawa, along with the original Grandmaster,
Hironori Ohtsuka. Sensei Shiomitsu quickly adapted to
the punishing karate lessons and became notorious for
his ferocious attitude towards karate free fighting and
became particularly feared for his dynamic and
technically excellent kicking techniques. In 1963, he
was officially appointed captain of the university team
and was graded for 4th Dan in 1964.
As Sensei recalls, in
those days competition karate as such was unknown. The
"meetings" that took place between the universities were
known as "exchange exercises", although this was hardly
an accurate description! In reality, they were blood
baths, with both sides doing their utmost to win and
knock out their opponents.
From an excerpt from
his book, "Dynamic kicking method" Sensei
recalls that once, after three
days of exhausting training, one of his instructors told
him to kick on the spot for one hour, using the same
leg! Half way through, he thought he would
 pass out, but
if he slackened at all, then his instructors would beat
him extremely hard with a bamboo sword to make him concentrate even harder. He was not allowed once during
the hour, to put his leg down and was told to kick at
full power in each and every kick. Sensei says the
memory of the ordeal remains with him to this day, but
he is eternally grateful for the lesson, as it showed
him that with good character and a strong spirit, there
is almost no limit to what a person can achieve.
Sensei also recalls that
during his university days, as well as the brutal
fighting at the clubs, he was often taken to some of the
roughest. most notorious bars in Tokyo after training by
his Sempai. After downing a few drinks, his Sempai would
point at the toughest looking person in the bar and tell
Sensei Shiomitsu to "go tell them to shut up!" Sensei
quickly learnt how to adapt his infamous karate skills
in the dojo, to practical skills in the street. Although
well known to the local police, he always escaped
charges as he was acting in self defence, because he
never threw the first punch!
In 1965, following a
series of demonstrations in 1964 in the UK from Sensei's
Suzuki, Takashima and Arakawa, Shiomitsu Sensei was
appointed chief instructor to Great Britain. During this
period. he helped popularise and shape both Wado karate
and karate in general throughout the 60's, 70's and
80's, throughout Great Britain, Europe and the world. Sensei was often challenged
to fights by numerous
hard men during this period! He soon earned the nickname the
"mighty mawash", after the roundhouse kick, "mawashigeri".
It was said that very few people ever saw his kick
coming, the first they knew about it was when they came
around and were told they had just been knocked out by
him!
Sensei Shiomitsu taught
briefly in Spain, France and Madagascar during the late
sixties and early seventies. He quickly progressed to be
regarded as one of the very best instructors of the
style anywhere in the world and in 1981, was awarded 7th
Dan by the founder of Wado Ryu, Hironori Ohtsuka.
In 1989, he established the Wado
Ryu Karate Do Academy, which is part of the Wado Ryu
Karate Renmei in Japan, headed by Grandmaster Ohtsuka.
He now has no full time dojo in the UK, where he
resides, but travels the world extensively ,providing
expert instruction in this unique style of karate to all
who wish to study it with an open mind and a martial art
mind set.
Sensei Shiomitsu is one of only
eleven Japanese instructors officially recognised by the Wado Ryu
Karate Do Renmei as being authorised to instruct Wado Ryu karate
overseas.
Sensei also ensure that
he visits all his UK clubs at least twice a year to
instruct and maintain the high standards he expects of
them. He additionally teaches the Wado Academy
instructors courses and Winter and Summer courses in
Guildford and Devon respectively. A testament to Sensei
Shiomitsu's amazing instructional prowess is that high
ranking students come from all over the world to attend
these seminars and learn from such a uniquely talented
karate man. Australia, USA, Canada, Portugal, Norway
etc.......they all want to come and train with one of
the worlds finest instructors.
It is probably fair to
say that Sensei's teaching methods have been refined
down the years. To quote Arthur Meek 6th Dan, who has
trained with Sensei for over 35 years,
"I think it’s
fair to say he
has mellowed somewhat, but
don’t take that as a sign of weakness in any way. His
ability to bring Kata technique alive is second to none
and the old fighting spirit of his younger days is never
far away. Shiomitsu Sensei, despite his early days as a
young fearless fighter, has evolved into a Wado pioneer.
His innovative teaching methods and demonstrations of
relaxed power are testimonies of his own research into
today’s Wado Ryu Karate. His loyalty to Grandmasters
Ohtsuka's ideas and concepts has not jaded his ambition
to bring other things to the Wado table. Change? I call
it development".
Sensei Shiomitsu
continues to develop his Wado Ryu karate, demanding
effort and progress from all of his students. He still
has the ability to fix a stare or shout a few words
which make even the most seasoned black belts top lip
quiver! He continues to and always has, commanded the utmost
respect and admiration from all of his students.
In 2006, Sensei was
awarded 9th Dan by Grandmaster Ohtsuka, whilst on a trip
to Japan. Ohtsuka Sensei had offered the award the
previous year, but Sensei had declined. This year,
Ohtsuka Sensei gave Shiomitsu Sensei a bag of items to
take home with him to the UK. On arrival at the airport,
Sensei opened his bag and saw a 9th Dan certificate that
Grandmaster had written (without telling him) and
immediately phoned him to say thank-you. What a contrast
to so many other high ranking Dan grades and what a
lesson in humility.
Sensei Shiomitsu continues to be one of the most
respected and highly graded Wado instructors in the
world and also one of the most approachable. A truly
humble karate master, his expertise leaves nothing to
the imagination.
We at the Wado Academy
are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to train
regularly under him and encourage all of our students to
take every opportunity to do so and listen, learn and
take on board the methods that he teaches.
As Sensei says, he is
now teaching what he has learnt at over 50 years of
training, at the highest level. It's not for fun, but
very practical and real instruction from someone who has
fought full contact karate and developed his
understanding of Wado karate day after day , whilst
remaining loyal to the original Wado principles.
Further details and
information on Sensei Masafumi Shiomitsu 9th Dan Hanshi
can be found at the following links.
Interview with Sensei Shiomitsu from Wado Academy France
Video footage of Sensei Shiomitsu on national TV
Sensei Shiomitsu performing Tanto Dori (Knife Defence)
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