Soke Takayuki Kubota (1934-2024) became a martial arts legend, developing his own karate style and amassing a worldwide following. And for more than 40 years, he taught his methods to the Occidental community as well
As a graduate student at USC half a century ago, Lynn Mehl was attending a karate tournament in Hollywood when she decided that she wanted to train with Takayuki Kubota—known to all as “Soke,” the title bestowed upon him as the creator of his own karate style called Gosoku-ryu. (“Soke” means “founder” or “grandmaster.”) There was one slight hitch—“Soke wasn’t overly excited about training a woman,” Mehl recalls—but she persisted. “Week after week, month after month, year after year I was fortunate enough—and stubborn enough—to train with Soke and ultimately teach for him.”
By the time she arrived at Oxy in 1977, Mehl had received her second-degree black belt and was interested in bringing karate to Oxy. “I gave several lectures on the martial arts in what would be comparable to first-year writing seminars today,” says Mehl, who retired from Oxy in 2022 as professor emerita of kinesiology and psychology, “and each time I asked Soke to accompany me with a demonstration. This was always well received.” Eager students asked Mehl if she would help organize a karate class and karate club. “With Soke’s encouragement, I did, and the rest is history,” she says.
Founded in 1981, the Occidental College Karate Club exists to this day, and its longevity can be traced to Kubota. Like clockwork, he personally taught the club every Monday, going years without missing a session. He loved the College and teaching its “young ones,” as he called them, and as his students graduated from Oxy, many of them continued to train at Kubota’s dojo in Glendale or elsewhere, spreading his style and legacy.
Kubota also brought his annual tournaments to Rush Gym, putting the College on the map internationally in the karate community. Competitors of all ages and all styles traveled from afar to participate in Kubota’s tournaments, “which were at an Olympic scale with their programs, medals, and emotional wins and losses,” says Sami Asmar ’85,
Kubota—who died August 14 at his home in Glendale at age 89—originated the karate style called Gosoku-ryu, an offshoot of the traditional Japanese Shotokan style. As a 19-year-old living in Tokyo, Kubota founded the International Karate Association (IKA) in 1953. The IKA distinguished itself from the Japan Karate Association (JKA), founded four years earlier, which taught Shotokan karate, the style developed by Gichin Funakoshi in 1928. Building on the primary linear style of Shotokan, Kubota developed a complementary rounded-motion style that became his signature move. The IKA taught the two styles at the same time, Shotokan and Gosoku-ryu, which means “hard and fast.”
“I started karate with Soke Kubota when I was 18 and trained continuously for the last 43 years under him,” says Rod Kuratomi, who was named IKA president last year. “I lost my own father at the age of 2, and in many ways, Soke Kubota became the father figure in my life. He not only taught me karate but also discipline and respect. When I first came to his school, I was undisciplined and impulsive. Soke Kubota turned my life around and gave my life discipline and structure and taught me the importance of respect. More importantly, he gave me a family though karate that was even closer than my own family.
“The bonds created through karate training by sharing blood, sweat, and injuries creates a camaraderie like no other,” Kuratomi continues. “It is a journey of self-improvement. We have a set of rules for the dojo. The first one is ‘Each seek perfection of character.’ Since perfection is not humanly possible, it becomes a lifelong endeavor using karate training as a vehicle to strive for perfection.”
Born in 1934 in Kumamoto, Japan, Kubota was one of five brothers, all of whom pursued careers in various martial arts and other sports (with one becoming the Japanese Olympic volleyball coach). At age 4½, he began training with his father, Denjiro, with an emphasis on bamboo weapons. During World War II, he trained under the guidance of two soldiers stationed nearby from Okinawa, the birthplace of Japanese karate.
Seeking a better life, Kubota left home for Tokyo at age 13 despite his parents’ misgivings, taking trains for several days with little more than the food his mother had packed for him. He found himself homeless in the capital city, devastated in the aftermath of the war, and was eating out of garbage cans and sleeping in the park when he witnessed a crime in progress that would change his fortunes. After helping the police control a civil disturbance using his martial arts technique, a police sergeant named Karino offered him a place to live in return for training the officer in his techniques. That began an association with law enforcement agencies that would endure for the rest of his career.
Kubota started his first karate school, or dojo, in Tokyo in 1954, and made his international debut by performing a demonstration at the Long Beach International Karate Competition in August 1964. He immigrated to the United States that same year and was hosted by Harvey Eubanks, training lieutenant for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The IKA relocated to the United States with him. Kubota set up his school first in Long Beach, then in Hollywood, and finally in Glendale, where it has been located since 1979. Thousands of students and followers from around the world made the pilgrimage to Glendale, coming from branch dojos around the country and on every continent to enhance their learning experience, training, or testing for higher belts with the founder, grandmaster, and general instructor.
Owing to his martial arts prowess—he was a 10th-degree black belt, the highest possible rank—Kubota became an in-demand actor for commercials and films and amassed close to 300 credits over his career, including movies The Mechanic (1972), starring Charles Bronson, and The Killer Elite (1975), starring James Caan. (“What a memory of having both James Caan and Charles Bronson having to bow when we met, as I outranked them,” Mehl says.) On a memorable appearance on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, Kubota sliced Carson’s desk in two with a samurai sword.
Over the years, hundreds of Tigers studied with the Occidental Karate Club. Asmar and Victor Chico, Occidental’s Postal Operations Center manager, trained under Grandmaster Kubota and helped him run the club as longtime trainers. “Soke’s influence on my life was profound,” says Chico, who studied under Kubota for 45 years and co-taught karate at Oxy with him from 1994 to 2017. “He didn't just teach me karate; he became a mentor and father figure.”
“I started taking karate at Oxy not long after I started working here 26 years ago,” says Beatrice Gonzales, academic support administrator in the Office of the Dean of the College, who now co-teaches the class (PHAC 149) with Chico and his wife, Sylvia, senior program coordinator for Oxy’s Urban and Environmental Policy Department and Institute. “Soke wasn’t just an instructor, he was a mentor. Like all good teachers, our success was his success. He made me love karate and I always looked forward to seeing him. He and I would get to class early and chat while we waited. I will cherish those minutes we spent together just talking.”
“I had the honor of meeting Takayuki Kubota in 1989 when I started working in the Athletics Department,” says Olivia Sabins, department services coordinator. “One day Mr. Kubota came into the office, greeted me with the traditional Japanese bow, and introduced himself with the biggest smile. After that, he would always come to the office before his classes to say hello. Over the years I learned about his life in Japan and how he made his career in karate. I soon realized this humble karate master who I saw every week was an inventor, actor, author, and a grandmaster of karate.
“In the last few years, I saw less of Mr. Kubota,” Sabins says. “Victor mentioned it was getting more difficult for him to get Occidental for 5 o’clock classes. Victor was now teaching the classes since he had trained with Mr. Kubota for so many years.” On one of his last visits to Oxy, she adds, “I shook Mr. Kubota’s hand and told him how much I had enjoyed his friendship. He bowed, smiled, and thanked me. I will forever remember his kindness and miss his presence.”
Preparations were underway for a 90th birthday celebration when Kubota died in August after a long illness. (A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 20—Kubota’s birthday—at 12:30 p.m. at Forest Lawn—Hollywood Hills.) Survivors include his wife, Thea, and his two daughters, Amy and Sara. He was preceded in death by his son, Tyler ’95.
“When Tyler began looking at colleges in the early 1990s, Occidental was No. 1 on his list,” Mehl recalls. He majored in English and comparative literary studies and, of course, participated in the Occidental Karate Club. “Soke was so proud that his son graduated from Oxy.”
As news of Kubota’s passing rippled through the karate community and beyond, a host of tributes poured out from those who knew him. “I am forever grateful to Soke Kubota for his guidance, love, and friendship,” Kuratomi says. “He continues to live through all of us through our karate training unique to the style he created.”
“His passion, humor, and unwavering dedication to his students set him apart,” Chico adds. “I was privileged to teach with him and I am committed to upholding his legacy of the art of Gosoku-ryu with the utmost respect for my grandmaster.”
“I'm not sure Soke knew he changed my life forever,” says trustee Leo Olebe ’97, who studied with Kubota as an undergraduate. “He introduced me to a way of being rooted in character, integrity, faith, and honor. He taught us we can achieve more. He introduced me to lifelong friends and mentors. He will always be our Soke. Rest in Power.”
Sami Asmar ’85 is a physicist and program manager at the Interplanetary Network Directorate, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He still trains and teaches at the dojo with the rank of fifth dan and title of Shihan.
Postal Operations Manager Victor Chico continues to teach karate at Oxy with the rank of fifth dan and title of Shihan. He is the father of two Oxy graduates, sons Christian ’18 (who studied karate with Kubota) and Lee ’23,
