Sosui Ichikawa

Sosui Ichikawa died in 2005. Kenjiro Chiba (千葉 拳二郎), Masashi Sudo (須藤 雅史), Fusaaki Hattori (服部 房明), Masaaki Sakai (酒井正明), Tadahiko Ohtsuka (大塚 忠彦), Kiyoshi Yonemoto (米元 清), Kazunobu Tsubamoto (鍔本 和伸), Shojiro Jibiki (地引 昌次郎), Tadashi Yokoyama (横山 忠衛), Christopher Clifford and Robert Taiani were among his students. Each one of them would carry on his legacy in their respective dojos.

Sosui Ichikawa died in 2005. His resting place is at Takashimadaira Cemetery in Misono, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo.

The Okinawan Karate-Do Renmei accepted Sosui Ichikawa as Hanshi (範士), Jūdan (十段) in 1983, with Yuchoku Higa (比嘉 佑直) issuing the certificate. Yuchoku Higa was one of Ichikawa's few confidantes. Later, Ichikawa founded the All-Japan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Renmei. Ichikawa's teachings stressed the notion that a smaller, weaker individual should be able to defeat a bigger, more powerful one. Ichikawa was also a strict perfectionist. He believed that even the slightest error in technique could be the difference between life and death. Ichikawa Sensei also studied and practiced other styles, including Daitō-ryū Jujutsu (大東流 柔術) and Jūdō (柔道), and held dan ranks in both. Due to his expertise in martial arts, other masters from other styles such as Ninjitsu instructor Masaaki Hatsumi, Okinawan Goju instructor Meitoku Yagi, and Shotokan instructor Hirokazu Kanazawa would go to the Sosuikan dojo to discuss concepts.

Ichikawa devoted more than a decade studying under Kanki Izumikawa. In 1951, Ichikawa was authorized to open his dojo, which he called Sosuikan (素水館) after his first name. Ichikawa grew the number of students within a brief time when he first began teaching; therefore, classes had to be, temporarily, taught in a nearby park. Sosui would travel back and forth from Tokyo to Kawasaki to continue his training with Izumikawa. Ichikawa studied obsessively and dedicated himself to mastering karate. He did not stop until he had fully understood a technique. Sosui was very tall for a Japanese man (6" feet tall); he used his big frame to overpower his rivals and was known as the Senbukan's fiercest fighter. Kanki Izumikawa finally promoted him to 6th dan and gave him the Bubishi with Izumikawa's handprint to recognize him as the formal successor.

Sosui Ichikawa (市川 素水; August 29, 1924 - March 7, 2005), was a Japanese martial artist born in Ueno, Tokyo, Japan who was the 4th Sōke of the Zen Nihon Goju-Ryu Karate-do Renmei (全日本剛柔流空手道連盟) and founder of the Sosuikan (素水館). He would teach Goju-Ryu karate while still doing his research and development. Ichikawa's studies were often focused on the Bubishi (武備志), and would ultimately come to write his texts, the Kōshu-do (交手道) and other documents. Sosui Ichikawa was accepted as Hanshi (範士), Jūdan (十段) in 1983 by the Okinawan Karate-Do Renmei.

Sosui Ichikawa (市川 素水) was born in Ueno, Tokyo in 1924. He was drafted into the military and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy throughout World War II. Eventually, Ichikawa rose through the ranks and soon had the command of five men in his Anti-Aircraft Artillery Unit. Two Okinawan men in his unit were also students of Karate-do, when they were not engaged in naval duties during their time at sea together, he was able to learn karate from them while aboard a battleship. He returned to his parents' home in Ueno in Tokyo after the war ended and was relieved from his unit.