Tadashi Nakamura (martial artist)

As the Kyokushin style became more popular, Nakamura started to feel the quality of the instruction was slipping. He also began questioning the philosophy of his mentor Mas Oyama. In 1976, he respectfully withdrew from Kyokushin Karate, severed links with the Japanese Karate world and established his own style, Seidō juku.

On April 5, 1966, the head of Kyokushin Karate, Masutatsu Oyama, selected Nakamura to go to the US and spread the spirit of karate. Aged 24, he moved to New York City to begin teaching Kyokushin Karate. His first dojo was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Over the next 10 years he served as the American head of Kyokushin Karate. In 1971, he established the North American Kyokushin Karate headquarters on 14th Street in Manhattan.

When he was 19 years old (1961) he made his first tournament appearance, the All-Japan Student Open Karate Championship, where he was placed first. In 1962, he took part in a match against a Muay Thai of the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The contest had been to determine which country had the 'best' martial art.

It was around this point in his life that Nakamura started passing his knowledge and experience onto others. Firstly at Camp Zama (a U.S. military base near Tokyo) from 1961 to 1965. He also coached the karate team for the Toho Medical University for three years. He also served as chief instructor at the Kyokushin Karate Honbu in Tokyo while earning his seventh dan.

Tadashi Nakamura (中村 忠, Nakamura Tadashi, born February 22, 1942) is the founder and Kaicho (chairman) of World Seidō Karate Organization headquartered in New York City.

Tadashi Nakamura was born on February 22, 1942, in the town of Maoka on the island of Karafuto. Nakamura trained in various martial arts including Goju-Ryu, Kendo, and Kyokushin. In 1956 he started studying with Mas Oyama (founder of the Kyokushin style of karate) and he had reached the rank of shodan(1st degree black belt) on May 6, 1962.