Master Shoko Sato is considered to be one of the great masters and pioneers of Japanese Traditional Karate. He was born in 1945 in Miyagi , Japan and began practicing Karate when he was a teenager in the early 1960s under Great Grand Master Manzo Iwata, a direct disciple of founder Kenwa Mabuni.

Master Sato then enrolled in the prestigious Toyo University in Tokyo, also known as a Karate powerhouse, and focused on competitive Karate. While there, his skills were highly regarded and as a result, he was appointed as the captain of the Toyo University team that led them to become All Japan Karate Championship during the late sixties. Upon graduation, he worked as an Economist for a short time and then was called upon to diffuse the teachings of Karate in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, where he is today credited as the father of traditional and competitive Karate.

These days, Master Sato continues to travel throughout the world teaching Karate. He is currently the Pan-American Director for World Shito-Ryu Karate-Do Federation (WSKF) and one of the youngest and highest ranking 8th dan black belts in Shitoryu Karate today. He has now turned his attention to developing Shitoryu atheltes worldwide. His teaching style is geared toward all students, regardless of rank, gender or capacity. He lets them advance at their own pace, encouraging them but never pushing them beyond their abilities.

Kyoshi Shoko Sato

He always maintains a level of familiarity, understanding, flexibility and respect for all his students. He feels that by not interacting with the students, they learn bad habits, and thus, bad karate. He is willing to teach karate to anyone willing to learn, and he has often compromised his time, money and personal life to achieve that goal. But that is what makes him truly unique among martial arts instructors. Teaching karate is not really a job to him, it is a way of life that he enjoys.

Courtesy Shoko Sato

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