Harold Long

10th Dan

9-3-30 to 10-12-98
"Gone but not forgotten"

Harold Long is a native of Tennessee. He joined the United States Marine Corps and saw action during the Korean War. Whilein Korea, he studied Korean martial arts. On being sent to Okinawa by the Marine Corps in 1956, he set about to find the best karate instruction on the island. He was told by the natives that the top instructor was Tatsuo Shimabuku in the village of Chun.

After repeated visits, Master Shimabuku accepted Harold Long as a student. Working in the sun and rain, eight hours a day for seventeen months, Mr. Long progressed from kata to kata, technique to technique, until Master Shimabuku announced that he was awarding Mr. Long the Black Belt. During this period of time, Mr. Long and other Marines interested in karate secured a teaching position for Master Shimabuku, and Master Shimabuku moved to Agena to be close to the Marine base.

After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1959 with the rank of technical sergeant, Mr. Long returned to East Tennessee. As a result of a local newspaper article about his would-be students than he could manage. He opened the first dojo in the Southeast and, over the years, several other dojos.

In August, 1974, Mr. Long returned to Okinawa to see Master Shimabuku. In December, 1974, Mr. Long met with the highest ranking instructors in Isshinryu Karate in the world. From that meeting the International Isshinryu Karate Association was formed, with Mr. Long as the first elected president.