raised to the 7th Dan of the Spanish Karate federation. On 20 December 1983 he founded the European Shitō-kai Association, and became its technical director. He earned the 7th Dan of the Japan Karate Federation in 1985, and was awarded the title of Master of Shitō-ryū by Master Mabuni Kenei. In 1988 Master Manzo Iwata, President of the Shitō-kai school, named him European representative of this school. Ishimi was raised to the Spanish Karate Federation's 8th Dan in June 1995, and to its 9th Dan in July 2005. In 2010 Infanta Cristina of Spain awarded him the Medal of Merit for Sports. Master Ishimi regularly provides seminars to members of Shitokai Europe in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal. As of 2020 he was living in Madrid and continued to teach and practice Karate Do in his Dojo. The Ishimi gym on Calle Alonso Cano is . It also gives other types of gym training with music for cardiovascular development and muscle toning using modern equipment and computer-based teaching methods. Philosophy Yasunari Ishimi teaches a form of karate closer to its original values as opposed to the purely competitive spirit often found in modern karate. He says that the old masters learned to move by observing nature. The wind teaches us to breathe, the trees, to stay firm, the bamboo, to be flexible. Many techniques are based on qualities of wild animals: the strength of the tiger, the speed of the snake or the elegance of the crane. The practice of these techniques, somehow, returns us to contact with nature from deep inside. He explains that karate is believed to be a martial art and is mostly seen as fighting, but in its practice it involves the whole body: the breath, the mind ... As with other disciplines of Zen philosophy such as yoga and taichi, you feel a whole internal energy. It serves as a defense technique, but also to improve your health. Kata Yasunari Ishimi created his own Kata Chanan Dai, which is an assembly of the five Pinan kata. He introduced this kata in his summer Gushakku in Murcia 2022. Notes Sources 1943 births Living people Japanese male karateka