Born in 1913 Nakayama was instrumental in popularising Shotokan worldwide. Upon entering Takushoku University in 1932, Nakayama immediately joined the university’s karate club, studying under Funakoshi and one of the master’s sons, Yoshitaka Funakoshi.
Following his studies in China he returned to Japan, and along with his former fellow university practitioners, he formed the JKA: the Japanese Karate Association. JKA dojos began appearing across Japan widening the Shotokan Karate principles of Funakoshi.
It was during the growth of the JKA that Nakayama introduced the first match system. It is under this system that the adaptation of Kata and Kumite were introduced, proving to be hugely successful and Shotokan Karate began growing in popularity. Not only in Japan and America, but worldwide!
Nakayama valued the spiritual aspects of karate that his teacher, Funakoshi espoused—especially the virtue of modesty and the spirit of harmony. Nakayama enjoyed teaching and he continually reminded his students to keep in mind that “the way of karate we pursue is a bare-handed martial art which we practice with an unwavering heart in a state of emptiness; it is a way of developing the personality.”
In his later years he summarized all his techniques and philosophy in his book Dynamic Karate which you can find on the recommended reading list on the Useful Resource page. This was also broken down and published as an 11 volume set.
