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Tadashi Sawamura
Tadashi Sawamura (沢村 忠, Sawamura Tadashi; January 5, 1943 – March 26, 2021) was a Japanese kickboxer whose real name was Hideki Shiraha (白羽 秀樹, Shiraha Hideki). He is often credited with sparking the "Shōwa era kickboxing boom", being one of the era's most popular Japanese fighters, and enjoying great fame throughout his career.
Hideki Shiraha was born in Manchukuo in 1943. In his youth, he studied Gōjū-ryū-style Karate and some Chinese Martial Arts from his grandfather. As a child, he was part of a children's theater company called "Theatrical Company Broad Bean" (gekidan sora mame - 劇団そらまめ), with aspirations of becoming an actor in the future.
When he was in the third year of junior high school, he was scouted to Shintoho Studios as part of their "Shintoho Starlet" program. He had appeared in TV dramas under the stage name "Tetsuya Shiro", but due to the bankruptcy of Shintoho, he was forced to suspend his career in the entertainment industry.
Subsequently, he graduated from Hosei University Junior and Senior High School and joined Daiei Film Company. He enrolled in the Film Department of Nihon University College of Art as part of his training at Daiei. Around this time, he seemed to had given up his career as an actor and pursued to become a screenwriter. On the other hand, he had also joined the Goju-ryu Karate Club at university and won the All Japan Student Championship while he was still in school. He was undefeated in 60 fights.
In 1963 there was a competitive match between leading Japanese and Thai instructors, a karate vs Muay Thai tournament. Japan won the series although two of the Japanese participants Osamu Noguchi and Tatsuo Yamada wanted to create a full-contact sport similar to how Muay Thai is a sport in Thailand, and they started to create kickboxing.
Shiraha came to attention of Osamu Noguchi, who praised Shiraha's ability. Noguchi had invited Shiraha to pursue kickboxing, telling Shihara that "the sports version of karate doesn't have the training to win in a full-contact fight" and that "[Shiraha] would lose if he traveled to Thailand to compete in full-contact". Shiraha eventually left Daiei Film Company at the same time as graduating from college and started training at the Noguchi Gym.
The Japan Kickboxing Association was launched in April 1966, with Shiraha debuting as a professional kickboxer on April 11, 1966, under the ring name "Tadashi Sawamura". The ring name was chosen after Kyokushin fighter Tadashi Nakamura, who defeated a Muay Thai fighter by KO at Lumpinee Stadium in 1964 as a representative of Japan and Karate.
Sawamura's debut match held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium was a match called "Karate vs. Muay Thai" and won by 2nd Round KO over "Rākurei shīhāman" (ラークレイ・シーハーマン).
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Tadashi Sawamura
Tadashi Sawamura (沢村 忠, Sawamura Tadashi; January 5, 1943 – March 26, 2021) was a Japanese kickboxer whose real name was Hideki Shiraha (白羽 秀樹, Shiraha Hideki). He is often credited with sparking the "Shōwa era kickboxing boom", being one of the era's most popular Japanese fighters, and enjoying great fame throughout his career.
Hideki Shiraha was born in Manchukuo in 1943. In his youth, he studied Gōjū-ryū-style Karate and some Chinese Martial Arts from his grandfather. As a child, he was part of a children's theater company called "Theatrical Company Broad Bean" (gekidan sora mame - 劇団そらまめ), with aspirations of becoming an actor in the future.
When he was in the third year of junior high school, he was scouted to Shintoho Studios as part of their "Shintoho Starlet" program. He had appeared in TV dramas under the stage name "Tetsuya Shiro", but due to the bankruptcy of Shintoho, he was forced to suspend his career in the entertainment industry.
Subsequently, he graduated from Hosei University Junior and Senior High School and joined Daiei Film Company. He enrolled in the Film Department of Nihon University College of Art as part of his training at Daiei. Around this time, he seemed to had given up his career as an actor and pursued to become a screenwriter. On the other hand, he had also joined the Goju-ryu Karate Club at university and won the All Japan Student Championship while he was still in school. He was undefeated in 60 fights.
In 1963 there was a competitive match between leading Japanese and Thai instructors, a karate vs Muay Thai tournament. Japan won the series although two of the Japanese participants Osamu Noguchi and Tatsuo Yamada wanted to create a full-contact sport similar to how Muay Thai is a sport in Thailand, and they started to create kickboxing.
Shiraha came to attention of Osamu Noguchi, who praised Shiraha's ability. Noguchi had invited Shiraha to pursue kickboxing, telling Shihara that "the sports version of karate doesn't have the training to win in a full-contact fight" and that "[Shiraha] would lose if he traveled to Thailand to compete in full-contact". Shiraha eventually left Daiei Film Company at the same time as graduating from college and started training at the Noguchi Gym.
The Japan Kickboxing Association was launched in April 1966, with Shiraha debuting as a professional kickboxer on April 11, 1966, under the ring name "Tadashi Sawamura". The ring name was chosen after Kyokushin fighter Tadashi Nakamura, who defeated a Muay Thai fighter by KO at Lumpinee Stadium in 1964 as a representative of Japan and Karate.
Sawamura's debut match held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium was a match called "Karate vs. Muay Thai" and won by 2nd Round KO over "Rākurei shīhāman" (ラークレイ・シーハーマン).