About the Master
Hidenobu (Kazumasa) Yokoyama, known as Kancho by his
students, was born in Japan in 1958. He started martial arts (Karate)
training at the age of seven years old. Kancho was a good athlete at
track, gymnastics, swimming, Judo, etc. When he entered high school he
helped teach judo classes to his fellow students. In high school Kancho
also studied boxing and college style wrestling while also continuing
his Karate training. It was during this period that he opened his eyes
to eastern martial arts and realized they were both physical as well as
mental and extremely advanced.
Before Kancho graduated from high school he decided to visit
Taiwan to research classical Chinese martial arts. During that trip he
was lucky enough to meet the legendary Kung Fu master Wei Xiao Tang.
Kancho learned 8-step preying mantis style Kung Fu and Wu Tai Chi from
Grandmaster Wei. In 1976 Kancho entered Kokushikan University in Tokyo
and traveled often to Taiwan to continue learning from Grandmaster Wei.
After one year of training in Taiwan he decided to integrate his
martial arts with Okinawan style Karate. Okinawa is the birthplace of
Karate. Kancho chose Shorin-ryu Karate to finalize his studies.
Shorin-ryu descended from Shuri-te which is the original Okinawan
Karate. Shorin-ryu is the root of Shotokan, Wado-ryu, and Shito-ryu.
Kancho became a student of Grandmaster Shugoro Nakazato in Okinawa where
he learned Shorin-ryu Karate and weapons.
In 1981 Kancho was invited to teach Karate in the United States
and Grandmaster Nakazato sent Kancho to America to expand Okinawan
classical Karate under the Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Organaization
in San Francisco,CA.
In 1985 Kancho moved to Texas for the challenge of teaching his
art in the southern United States. He competed in many tournaments and
he became a top competitor in Texas and Louisiana. Due to his quick
movements people gave him the nick names ‘Flash of Hawk’ and ‘Invisible
Hands’.
In 1988, Kancho founded a new concept for classical Karate under
Okinawan Shorin-ryu for human development, and he established the
Kenshin-Kaikan, which means ‘polish your soul and bodies with your
techniques’. That same year he published an instructional video called
Bukijyutu Hyaka which means ‘Weapons Encyclopedia’ sponsored by BAB
Japan Books & Videos in Japan. In two years he shot two more videos
of nunchaku and bo.
In late 1900 Kenshinkai supported an AAU(Amateur Athletic Union)
Karate program and Kancho became chairman for the Gulf area and a
member of the technical committee for Shorin-ryu at the national office.
In 2000 he stepped away from all tournament activity and only
focused on expanding the principals of real Karate. He closed his school
and kept only a few students with him to teach his arts and organize
his theory.
In 2005 Kancho became very popular as ‘Shungekishu’ which means
‘Lightning Flash Hands’ in Japan. His theory of classical Okinawan
Karate also gained populaity.
He responded to many requests from magazine companies to do
interviews and write articles.
In 2006 he published a second instructional DVD titled Real
Usage of Pinan-kata. This DVD became a big topic of interest for the
Karate community of Japan.
In 2007 Kancho starred in the feature films The Shadow Rises and
Never Say Goodby.
That year he also published the DVD Secrets of Naifanchi.
In 2008 he published a Karate book titled Karate no Genri Gensoku
(The Principles of Karate) explaining the principles and philosophy of
karate. Now Kancho is legendary and famous as ‘Shungeki-shu’ which means
‘Lightning Flash Hands’.
Kancho’s third movie called Green is finished.
All of his works are available by Online Amazon and
budovideos.com.
Kazumasa Yokoyama is a well known as the most humble,
knowledgeable and dedicated karate master of his generation.
His Shorin-ryu Karate is expanding along with his organization
Kenshin-kaikan.
