Richmond’s oldest karate school will be starting its 49thyear of operation in 2016.
The Richmond Kyokushin Karate Club opened in the early spring of 1967 at the St. Anne’s Church Hall at Francis & No. 1 Road. The minister at the time, Reverend John Patrick, ran a program through the church for disadvantaged youths. An agreement was reached in return for free lessons for the youth members of his program.
In the early 1970’s the club affiliated with the South Arm Community Association as a community-based program. Classes have been held at the South Arm Community Hall on Monday and Thursday evenings since 1972.
Over the years, the club has hosted many tournaments, events, seminars and international guests. It has also provided local, regional, national and international opportunities and exchanges for the many students who have trained with the club.
Hundreds of local community members have been trained over the years, with well over 30 black belts of all ranks.
In May 1989, the Richmond hosted the founder of Kyokushin Karate, Sosai Mas Oyama, to oversee the 6thCanadian Kyokushin Karate Championships. Twenty-four years later, the club once again welcomed the current leader of Kyokushin Karate, Kancho Shokei Matsui, to Richmond for the 30thCanadian Championships.
Kyokushin Karate is presently the single largest karate organization in the world under one banner. Recently, the International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan, the parent organization, entered into a strategic partnership and alliance with the Japan Karate Federation and the World Karate Federation in a unified effort to bring karate into the 2020 Olympics in Japan.
At last month’s the 11thWorld Open Karate Championships in Tokyo, Richmond head instructor and longtime club member, Shihan Stuart Corrigal, was promoted to the rank of 7thdegree Black Belt. Corrigal began training with the Richmond Kyokushin Karate in 1968.
