Stan Schmidt 1936

Stan Schmidt 1936 –

“The South African Tiger of Shotokan”

Schmidt originally from South Africa began training in karate in the late 1950’s. Like many of that era, he was introduced to karate through judo, which, along with jujutsu, had been established in the Western world for some years. Already training in judo, in which he achieved 1st Dan, it was an accident resulting in a broken ankle that proved decisive in his switch to karate.

During his recovery Schmidt was given a book on karate, a martial art few in the West had heard of back then, and in it he read a line that changed the course of his entire life: “The karate man never stops training.” Capturing his imagination like nothing else he had known, this single line caused him to jump headlong into karate training. In the absence of an instructor, he gleaned what he could from the few books he was able to find. In this way he began to absorb an art he was destined to practice for the rest of his life. Then in 1963, he went to Japan to seek proper instruction in Shotokan karate.

In 1965, he hosted the late Keinosuke Enoeda, who lived at his home for six months, taking the standard of Shotokan karate in South Africa to a new level.

His organization in South Africa was absolutely legendary in size and quality as they always seemed to produce a strong team of fighters to represent such a small country.

Today Sensei Schmidt is the senior non-Japanese sensei within the Japan Karate Association, a member of the JKA Shihan-kai, and regularly sits on the panel of examiners for higher Dan gradings.