The Goju Ryu Eibu kan Organization



The Goju Ryu Eibu kan Organization - Who is Sakaue?

A recent search result in my daily blogger analytics sparked the idea for this post.  Many practitioners or web goers who are interested in Goju Ryu Karate in the United States (or around the world - as I have seen inquiries from Canada and Russia) may be asking what is Goju Ryu Eibu kan or who is this Sakaue who maintains an individual blog about his personal travels in studying Goju Ryu Karate?  Before I get into "Who is Sakaue?" Let me give you some background on how Goju Ryu Eibu kan settled here in Southern California.

Uniquely, Eibu kan has multiple roots extending from Shorei kan and Yamaguchi Goju Ryu due to our extraordinary instructors. 

Takafumi Hamabata, Kyoushi

7th Dan Eibu kan

7th Dan JKF

Goju Ryu Karatedo Eibu kan, Chief Instructor


Katsuhide Kinjo, Renshi
6th Dan Eibu kan
6th Dan JKF
Goju Ryu Karatedo Eibu kan, Senior Instructor

Hamabata Sensei hails from both Shorei kan and Yamaguchi Goju Ryu and has taught Goju Ryu Karate in Southern California, mainly through the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center in West Covina.  Kinjo Sensei comes to us through Okinawa, where he learned Goju Ryu Karate through his high school club.  Both Senseis are currently under the tutelage of many different Goju Ryu and Goju Kai Senseis in Japan but mainly through Eibu kan's Founder, Yoshihiro Hisanaga.



Yoshihiro Hisanaga, Hanshi

8th Dan JKF

Kagoshima Goju Kai

JKF Goju Kai, Okinawa Region Kyushu Prefecture Chairman

Goju Ryu Karatedo Eibukan, Soke

The three instructors above are the lifelines to Goju Ryu Eibu kan in Southern California.  Along with our sister Goju Ryu organizations such as Seiwa Kai (headed by Vassie Naidoo Sensei - Santa Monica, CA) and Okinawa Kyokai (headed by Ramon Veras Sensei - Houston, TX), Goju Ryu Eibu kan is one of the leading dojos supported by instructors from the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) to promote traditional Goju Ryu Karate here in the United States.



Kinjo Sensei, Left; Hisanaga Shihan, Center; Hamabata Sensei, Right

While Eibu kan is a small dojo with roughly 30 active Karateka, our roots grow deep as one of the earliest Goju Ryu dojos developed in the United States.  Where Eibu kan is relatively unknown, the reason being was that it was taught as Goju Kai Karate at the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center since the mid to late 1960s and at most demonstrations it was only publicized as "Karate."

Now going back to "Who is Sakaue?" again... I am Sakaue, however, the story you want to hear is about my father, Masato Sakaue, not to be confused with Masataka Sakaue, who is my uncle and a principle instructor at Covina Kendo Dojo also which is also being taught at the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center.

Just a little background... (sorry no pic... like Saigo Takamori, he doesn't like to take pictures much)

Masato Sakaue, Renshi

5th Dan Eibu kan

5th Dan JKF

Goju Ryu Karatedo Eibu kan Advisor (Ret)

My father grew up in a small town called San Dimas, CA (some of you may know it from the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure... yes it does exist) after my father's family immigrated to California from Kagoshima, Japan.  During the 1960s, the Japanese-American community was still very small, especially for Post WWII Japanese-Americans, and many gravitated to Japanese Community Centers.  There families gathered and exchanged knowledge and helped each other and coincidentally is where he met Hamabata Sensei.

Both Hamabata Sensei (and Albert Ige Sensei, another Eibu kan Instructor) and my father took lessons under Kiyonori Ikumura Sensei, Shorei Kan (who was Hisanaga Sensei's Kohai, at the time it was unknown) until he was recalled to Kagoshima, Japan.  The recall to Japan was so abrupt, that Ikumura Sensei was to leave a sole black belt at the time to take over his classes so that training could continue without his presence.  While there were no issues with training continuing, the fact that there was no true authority figure to help guide their training left a fundemental worry that my father could not ignore. To quench that worry, my father traveled to Japan to re-established connection with Ikumura Sensei.  That meeting led to Ikumura Sensei introducing his senpai and the founder of Eibu kan, Hisanaga Sensei, to my father.

Hisanaga Sensei's tutelage has helped evolve the organization's Karate to what it is today.  While still training using traditional methods, Eibu kan's instructors has found an equilibrium to develop their karatekas not only with the traditional methods but training using those methods as the foundation as we learn from some of the top Goju Ryu Karate minds from Japan.  Through our collaboration with Seiwa Kai and Okinawa Kyokai, we have had the honor with training with the late Tasaaki Sensei and his successor Fujiwara Sensei as well as Shiomi Sensei, Muramatsu Sensei. and Kiyohara Sensei... all high level Goju Kai Instructors in Japan.

So, "who is Sakaue?" He was one sensei of many who were acting as a catalyst in developing Goju Ryu Karate in Southern California.



Kay Sakaue

5th Dan Eibu kan

2nd Dan JKF Goju Kai

Goju Ryu Karatedo Eibu kan, Instructor