Masami Tsuruoka Its foundation is in Chito-Ryu and Shotokan and it blends in effective techniques from many martial arts. Masami Tsuruoka , was a Japanese Canadian karate instructor and practitioner recognized as "The Father of Canadian Karate" by Black Belt Magazine. Although mainly responsible for establishing the Chito-ryu style in Canada, Tsuruoka is also known as founder of his own karate style known as Tsuruoka Ryu. Masami Tsuruoka kept Chito-ryu karate before the Canadian public from 1958 to 1968 through newspaper articles, magazine articles, and frequent public appearances, demonstrations and exhibitions across Canada. He formed the National Karate Association of Canada (presently
Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu dharma name, Zenkitsu (善吉, also read Zenkichi). He was the chief Buddhist priest of the Tennji Temple near Kyoto. Although his life was short lived he did manage to pass on the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu to Togo Shigekata (東郷 重位, 1560- 1643), a samurai from the Satsuma domain, who after 3 years of having returned to Satsuma synthesized the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu with the Taisha Ryu to create the Jigen Ryu. According to tradition, the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu would remain a well-kept secret through the Jigen Ryu and Yakumaru Jigen Ryu lines, and passed down through a series of dai