The History of Karate and the Masters Who Made It: Development, Lineages, and Philosophies of Traditional Okinawan and Japanese Karate-Do

MARK I. CRAMER has had a long involvement with sport karate-do and has competed in kata, kumite, and kobudo (weapons) divisions in the United States, Canada, and Japan. He began his karate-do training in 1971 at Kent State University, and began training in goju ryu in 1974. He is a member of the Seiwa Kai Goju Ryu Karatedo, the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) Goju Kai, and the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. Cramer has practiced extensively at JKF Goju Kai Seminars and Seiwa Kai Seminars in Japan, Mexico, Canada, and the United States and has trained more than forty individuals to the black belt level and beyond. In over forty years of training and competing, he has won many awards, including an induction into the USA Karate Federation's Hall of Fame in 2001. He edits and is a contributing author for the Pan-American Seiwa Kai Goju Ryu Karatedo Newsletter.