OKINAWA KOBUDO

SENSEI ZENEI OSHIRO

Sensei Zenei Oshiro was born in 1953 in Naha. He began karate in 1969 at the age of sixteen at the Jundokan of Goju-ryu Master Eichi Miyazato, one of the direct students of Master Chojun Miyagi, the founder of this school.

At eighteen, he also began kobudo under the direction of Master Shinpo Matayoshi. In 1973, he returned to the University and continued Goju-ryu karate at the Shodokan school with Master Seikichi Higa, the son of Master Seiko Higa.

At twenty five, for professional reasons, he left for Germany where he taught karate and kobudo for four years. He then returned to Okinawa and participated in the Okinawa Championships where he finished as a finalist.

In 1986 he left Okinawa and moved to France where he still lives and teaches karate and kobudo.

An 9th dan in Goju-ryu karate and 9th dan in kobudo, he is one of the Japanese experts of the French Karate Federation where he is responsible for Goju-ryu karate and Okinawan Kobudo.

He is the technical director of Okinawa Goju-ryu Shodokan Europe (OGSE) and the International Academy of Okinawa Kobudo (AIKO). These two associations bring together numerous dojos from all over Europe and beyond.

SENSEI KAZUNARI HIURA

Kazukan honours the late Sensei Kazunari Hiura and was was founded on September 5th, 2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany. "KAZU" from Kazunari and "KAN" Japanese word for school or training hall.

Sadly, after returning to his native Japan in July 2007, Sensei Hiura passed away on March 24, 2008 in Okinawa after a long and serious illness.

Kazukan

Shihan Hans Bäuml

The trainer and co-founder of the Düsseldorf Kazukan Dojo, Shihan Hans Bäuml, 5th Dan Okinawa Kobudo, has devoted himself to studying kobudo and karate since 1987.

After the passing of Sensei Hiura, he continues to work closely with Sensei Zenei Oshiro. During several visits to Okinawa he trained together with Sensei Yamashiro and Sensei Ishiki in the Komesu Yamashiro Dojo. With Sensei Oshiro, he trained at the Matayoshi Honbu Dojo Kodokan in Naha. As the successor of Sensei Hiura in Germany, he is the chairman of the German Okinawa Kobudo Association.