Shihan Shalom Avitan
- New Chief Instructor of WCSKKAI
Shihan Shalom Avitan is the head of theWest Coast Shoto Kan
Karate Association International.
He was born
in Morocco on April 18, 1952 and immigrated to Israel in 1955.
His activities in sports began when he was a young kid. At
the age of 11, he practiced Greek/Roman wrestling and had many achievements,
among them a gold medal in the Israel championship.
His training in Karate began in 1968 and in 1972 he reached his first Dan.
His first introduction to Shihan Ed Hamile, the establisher
of West Coast Shoto Kan Karate Assn. International was in 1978 when Shihan
Hamile arrived in Israel for the first time to visit his former student - Bob
Betwin.
In 1980 Shihan Hamile was invited to Israel by Shihan
Shalom Avitan to run a training camp. During this visit, warm relations were
established between the two and
due to this, Shihan Shalom Avitan was nominated to be the official
representative of the West Coast Shoto Kan Assn. in Israel.
Shihan Avitan, a very well known and dominant character in
Karate in Israel, has a very rich history in tournaments and in representing
Israel in championships in Europe and also world tournaments between 1983 -
1989. He also competed in two
Maccabia games. He was a referee in other two Maccabia games, one as chief
referee. He participated in "Ha'Poel" conferences, once as a
competitor and once as chief referee and also as the tournament administrator.
Shihan Avitan retired from tournaments in 1989 after
achieving a triple win in this
year - first place in the Grand Championship of South California, a gold medal
in the Israeli Championship, and a gold medal in Hamaccabia the 13th. He was chosen five times in
a row as the Sportman of The Year on behalf of Hed Hakrayot newspaper. In 1994
Shihan Avitan was nominated as the chief instructor of the Israel Karate Assn.
and also the secretary of the assn. which is recognized by the Israeli Sport
Authority and the Olympic Committee. In May 1996, he was nominated to be the
Chief of the World Federation of Karate Do Organization in Israel. In 1997, he
was nominated to be a member of the first Ranking Committee in the Israeli
Karate Assn. On June 6, 1999 Shihan Avitan together with his wife and son, flew
to L.A. to spend time with Shihan Hamile due to information received that his
medical situation had become worse, since he had cancer. On June 8, Shihan Hamile
- Chief Instructor of The West Coast Shoto Kan Karate International in Temple
City, had invited to his house Sensei David Hurlbut, Sensei Randi Tyrell and
the local minister - Rev. Philip B. Wood who is also a very good friend of
Shihan Hamile's. At this event Shihan Hamile announced that Shihan Avitan will
be the chief of the West Coast
Shoto Kan Karate Ass. International after his death and as a sign of respect he
awarded Shihan Avitan the ring of the association with the seal of the West
Coast Shoto Kan Karate International. On June 11, 1999 a meeting was held in
Shihan's house in which the senior instructors of the West Coast Shoto Kan and
WFKO were invited. Both organizations were established by Shihan Hamile. This
meeting was arranged in order to announce which instructors would be in charge
of the West Coast Shoto Kan Karate in the different countries. Also an official
announcement was made that Shihan Avitan would be nominated as the one who
would continue Shihan Hamile's work after his death. In June 1999, Shihan
Hamile awarded Shihan Avitan his Dan 7th - the highest rank in the
West Coast Assn. On June 16, Shihan Avitan had to return to Israel and on June
22, the bitter news about Shihan Hamile's death was received. On June 26th,
in a special memorial ceremony for Shihan Hamile which was held in the central
dojo in Temle City, his last will was read in which he indicated that Shihan
Avitan is officially nominated to be the Chief of West Coast Shoto Kan Karate International for the rest of
his life and that he is now Hachi-Dan, Dan 8th.
Shihan Avitan is committing himself to continue Shihan
Hamile's work and activities and to invest the rest of his life keeping the
West Coast Shoto Kan Karate alive and keep advancing
and developing it as per the philosophy of Shihan Hamile's
- may his soul rest in peace.
RESPECT - BUT FEAR NO MAN