Kyoto, 1922
Seigo Tada (多田正剛, Tada Seigō) was born on 18 February 1922 in Kyoto.1, 4 It was in that city that he would meet his teacher, found his school and train his first students. The name he gave the school carries his own: 正剛館 (Seigōkan) is, literally, the "house" (館, kan) of 正剛 (Seigō). Its second character, 剛 (gō, firmness), is the same one that opens the word Gōjū (剛柔), the style he practiced all his life.
Shanghai and the Chinese martial arts
The official biography published by the Seigokan headquarters records that in 1937, at the age of fifteen, Tada studied Chinese kenpō in Shanghai with a teacher named Chen.1 It helps explain why Goju-ryu, an Okinawan style with roots in southern China, made so much sense to him.
Ritsumeikan and Chōjun Miyagi
In 1939 Tada joined the karate club of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, where he was taught directly by Chōjun Miyagi (宮城長順), the founder of Goju-ryu.1 He later took charge of the club as its kantoku (監督), the head of the team.1 That teacher-student relationship is the source of the lineage Seigokan preserves to this day: Miyagi's Goju-ryu, as taught by Tada.
1945: the founding in Kyoto
In 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Tada opened the Seigokan dojo in Kyoto and founded the organization known today as 日本正剛館空手道士会 (Nihon Seigōkan Karate-dō Shikai, or the Seigokan Karate-Do Association).1, 2 The headquarters itself describes the purpose of that beginning: to educate young people through karate, understood as a path of personal improvement rather than mere physical exercise.2 The principles the school adopted remain the same: 誠実・謙虚・不屈, sincerity, humility and perseverance.2, 6
A builder of Japanese karate
Tada did not limit himself to his own dojo. In 1952 he developed protective equipment and held the first tournament fought with protectors.1 In 1964 he took part in the unification of styles that gave rise to the Japan Karate Federation and to the regional federations of Kansai, Kinki and the prefectures, where he held leadership positions. He chaired the Hyōgo Prefecture federation.1
In the following years he led the refereeing and organization of major competitions: he was chief referee of the 1st All Japan Championship in 1969, and took part in organizing the 1st WUKO World Championships in Osaka in 1970 and the 2nd in Paris in 1972.1 In 1981 he chaired the karate committee of Japan's National Sports Festival (国体) in Shiga and received the Hyōgo Prefecture Sports Merit Award.1
From Himeji to the world
The school's headquarters, the Sōhonbu Dōjō (総本部道場), is in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture.2 From there Seigokan grew into dojos and branches across Japan and university clubs. In 1967 Tada founded the Hong Kong and Macau dojos and from then on made yearly teaching and instructor-training trips to several countries, among them the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Italy, Portugal and Brazil.1
The legacy
Seigo Tada died on 18 September 1997.1, 4 He left a method and a code. The method lives in the school's curriculum, which brings together the classical Goju-ryu kata and two foundational kata he created, Kihon Tsuki no Kata and Kihon Uke no Kata.5 The code lives in the Seigokan Dojo-kun, written by Tada himself, which reminds us that karate-dō is first of all a spiritual path.6
The school remains in the family. Today Seigokan is led by Seigo Tada III (三代目 多田正剛), sōke and president of the organization, according to the headquarters.3 Seigokan Brasil exists to keep the path he left alive here. Read the history of Seigokan and the lineage that connects Tada to the Brazilian senseis.
