Katherine Loukopoulos

INTRODUCTION

I (Theo Theloesen) met sensei Katherine Loukopoulos, during the WTKA Championships in Viareggio – Italy. I was present in Viareggio as a WTKA-referee and member of the WTKA Dan-grading Committee. The WTKA kata championships were organized in four style divisions: Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Shito-ryu and Goju-ryu. On the Goju-ryu tatami I had the honor to work long hours with Katherine sensei.

Katherine sensei performed the referee job with great enthusiasm. Her knowledge of Okinawa karate and also Okinawa Kobudo came to my attention. Katherine sensei devoted all her life to martial arts. She started training in 1969. For fourteen years she lived and trained in Okinawa, Japan (January 1986 – December 2000). Katherine sensei studied on Okinawa with Miyazato Eiichi, Yasuda Tetsunosuke, Uehara Ko, Uehara Yonekazu, Kamimura Takeyuki and many others.

BIOGRAPHY

Katherine was born in 1952 and spent her early years in Greece. Katherine moved to the USA at the age of fourteen. She started her martial training in 1969.

In 1976 Katherine became Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at the City College of the City University of New York.

In 1978 Katherine became Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

From 1979 until 1985 Katherine was a member of the United States National Karate Team. She became a ten-time All American Champion and three-time All-round/All American Champion.

Katherine made her first trip to Okinawa and visited the Jundokan (headquarter of Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate-Do with chief-instructor Eiichi Miyazato) in December of 1982.

In 1986 Katherine moved to Okinawa. She lived and trained there for 14 years (January 1986 until December 2000).

In May of 1992 Katherine was invited to travel from Okinawa to the city of Alma Ata in the former Soviet Union in a region which is now called Kazakhstan. There she introduced for the first time Ryu Kyu Kobudo to 74 teachers who came from all over the former Soviet Union.

In 1997 Katherine participated in the World Karate and Kobudo Tournament on Okinawa and was a Gold Medalist in Bo-kata.