Kazuyoshi Ishii
| Kazuyoshi Ishii | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 10, 1953 Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
| Residence | Japan |
| Style | Seidokaikan Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Hideyuki Ashihara |
| Notable students | Masaaki Satake, Nobuaki Kakuda |
Kazuyoshi Ishii (石井 和義 Ishii Kazuyoshi, born June 10, 1953) is a Japanese master of Seidokaikan karate and founder of the K-1 fighting circuit, a widely televised international martial arts competition combining Muay Thai, karate, sanshou, taekwondo, kenpo, boxing, and kickboxing. His karate training began with Kyokushin karate, but he formed his own karate organization in 1980, began promoting televised karate competitions, and started staging K-1 events in 1993.
Ishii was born on June 10, 1953, in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He is one of three siblings. As a boy, he was interested in sumo and baseball, and was also introduced to gymnastics. While Ishii was in junior high school, a book by Masatoshi Nakayama sparked his interest in Shotokan karate, but a Sonny Chiba film later inspired him to pursue training in Kyokushin karate.
Ishii began training in Kyokushin karate under Hideyuki Ashihara, who was then a senior instructor in Kyokushin's International Karate Organization (IKO). By the time he was 16 years old, he had established a local Kyokushin dojo (training hall) under his instructor's supervision. Six years later, in 1975, he opened a Kyokushin dojo in Osaka, and this was a very successful venture.
When Ashihara left the IKO a few years later, Ishii followed, but then left Ashihara's organization after only a few months. He founded his own organization, Seidokaikan Karate, in 1980. Ishii's organization had dojo in the Kansai region. Within the next two years, he was promoting televised full-contact karate tournaments. In 1983, Ishii became the first Chairman of the newly formed All Japan Budo Promotion Association. Seidokaikan's reputation grew as Ishii's students, such as Masaaki Satake, Toshiyuki Yanagisawa, and Toshiyuki Atokawa, earned tournament victories.
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