Ο Δάσκαλος Hirokazu Kanazawa γεννήθηκε το 1931 στη συνοικία του Iwate στην Ιαπωνία.
Αν και, ο πατέρας του και ο θείος του ήταν Δάσκαλοι της πολεμικής τέχνης Jiu Jitsu, ο Δάσκαλος Kanazawa ξεκίνησε να προπονείται την πολεμική τέχνη Kendo και Judo.
Αργότερα προπονήθηκε ακόμη και σε αγγλικό Boxing. Από έναν παιδικό φίλο του έμαθε για το Karate-do και από τότε αποφάσισε να αλλάξει πανεπιστήμιο και να εγγραφεί στο πανεπιστήμιο Takushoku όπου τότε ήταν διάσημο ότι είχε το καλύτερο karate-do dojo στην Ιαπωνία.
Όλα τα υπόλοιπα είναι γνωστά. Ο Δάσκαλος Kanazawa άρχισε να εκπαιδεύεται σκληρά ώστε να κατορθώσει να φθάσει στο μέγιστο επίπεδο που έχει σήμερα (10 Dan). Ο Kanazawa είναι ένας από τους τελευταίους μαθητές του Μεγάλου Δασκάλου Gichin Funakoshi, του ιδρυτή του σύγχρονου παραδοσιακού karate-do.
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Hirokazu Kanazawa (born 1931) is a world renowned shotokan karate instructor.
He is currently the Chief instructor and President of Shotokan Karate-do International Federation, an organization he himself founded after he left the Japan Karate Association (JKA). Kanazawa is one of the few masters to have achieved 10th Dan (the highest rank that can be awarded to a living Shotokan karateka). Kanazawa won the very first ‘All Japan karate Championship’ Kumite championship in 1957. He had registered in the kumite competition with a broken hand from a prior event, but not wanting to disappoint his mother who had traveled from far away to watch him compete, he fought anyway and won the title. The following year, Kanazawa won the Kata title and shared the Kumite title with Takayuki Mikami in one of the most spectacular moments in Shotokan tournament history. Mikami and Kanazawa had been classmates and roommates for the entirety of their karate careers, but had never fought the previous year because Mikami was away teaching in the Philippines for two years. When they fought one another in the final round, very few techniques were thrown, they knew each other too well. They circled searching for openings until time was up. For that reason, it was decided that both instructors were All Japan Kumite Champions for 1958.