Tetsuji Murakami

Tetsuji Murakami (; March 31, 1927 – 24 January 1987) was an early Japanese karate representative to Europe.

Early life He was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1927. When he turned nineteen, he started learning Karate-do under Masaji Yamagushi, a student of Gichin Funakoshi. He trained for ten years, also learning the styles of kendo, aikido and iaido. In 1968, he traveled back to Japan where he trained with Shigeru Egami.

Influenced by Egami, Murakami improved his techniques, integrating a technique called irimi. Using what he observed, he decided to make a profound transformation in his technique and practice. He returned to Europe as the representative of the style Shotokai. His students included Louis Carvalho, Patrick Herbert, Antonio Maltoni, Borko Jovanovic, Pierre-John Boyer, on Portugal; Mário Rebola, Alexandre Gueifão, Raul Cerveira e Leopoldo Ferreira. and José Ivo Pinto Mendes, who taught Shotokai in Panama City.

Tetsuji Murakami died in 1987 in Paris.