FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Karate Builds Character and Transforms Lives:
The Philosophy of a Master Martial Artist

PHILADELPHIA, PA-November 17, 2006-Teruyuki Okazaki, the world’s highest ranked
active karate master, is a man with a mission. He says, “Karate is not merely a system
of self defense, most importantly it is a way to become a better human being in all
aspects of one’s life.” To promote and explain this vision, he has written a new book
called Perfection of Character: Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life.

Master Okazaki is 75 years old, but you’d never know it were you to see him practicing
Shotokan Karate in the early morning hours at his small store front dojo in West
Philadelphia or giving classes in the evenings. And when he discusses Perfection of
Character, his enthusiasm is evident.

“My teacher, Gichin Funakoshi, who was known as the father of modern karate, always
emphasized that the primary purpose of karate was to perfect one’s character. He
believed that one must not just practice the physical aspects of karate, but must focus
daily on the spiritual and ethical aspects of karate. As a guide to help students to work
towards this lofty goal he gave us 25 principles: five general principles, and 20 sub-
principles for us to study daily.

“I want to share my insights on my Master’s principles. Martial artists often lose track of
what’s really important about the martial arts, and the larger public also has a false
impression of what karate and other martial arts are really about. Anyone, whether he or
she practices karate, kung-fu, tai-chi, or jiujitsu, whether he or she is a
businessperson, a student, an athlete, or a scientist can benefit from reading this book,
and from learning karate.

“In the fifty-plus years that I’ve been teaching karate, I’ve seen so many students
transform themselves physically, spiritually, mentally, medically, and morally through
the practice of karate. I’ve seen children who seemed destined for prison turn their lives
completely around. I’ve seen people diagnosed with clinical depression become
functional, happy people without medication simply through practicing karate. Karate
teaches the virtues of discipline, persistence, respect, humility, courage, courtesy, and
honesty in a very practical, fun, and challenging manner. It is not a sport, and it isn’t
merely a self-defense system: it is a way of life. ”

Master Okazaki  was born in 1932 in Fukuoa, Prefecture Japan, to parents of the
Samauri class. He entered Takushoku University at age 16 to pursue a degree in
economics, and it was there that he began studying karate with Master Gichin
Funakoshi, the founder of modern karate, and with Master Masatoshi Nakasaki, Master
Funakoshi’s first assistant,  who went on to found the Japanese Karate Association.
Master Okazaki graduated from Takushoko University in 1953, and subsequently
became the coach of the university’s karate team. He then helped Masters Nakayama
and Funakoshi build the Japanese Karate Association from the ground up, while at the
same time teaching karate in Master Funakoshi’s dojo, and developing the JKA’s first
instructor trainee program..

In 1961, Master Okazaki came to the United States on a six-month teaching
assignment for the U.S. Strategic Air Command. Subsequently he opened the first
Shotokan karate dojo on the east coast of the United States, in West Philadelphia. He
still trains and teaches there daily more than forty years later.

He founded the International Shotokan Karate Federation in 1977, and has built it into
the premier Shotokan karate organization in the world with over fifty thousand members
in over thirty countries world wide. He has been happily married since 1962. He is a
ninth dan black belt. He is also the co-author of The Textbook of Modern Karate. His
new book Perfection of Character is available on-line at www.nijukun.com.