BSI Karate was established in 1994 and became a part of BSI the same year.
BSI Karate practices a style of karate (Matsubayashi-ryu) the way it was originally taught and still is taught on Okinawa to this day. The club had in over 10 years direct contact with Soke Nagamine Takayoshi (10. dan), who is the son of the style’s founder Grandmaster Nagamine Shoshin. Now Yoshitaka Taira, Hanshi, 10th Dan, has taken over as the leading instructor of our style. We have direct contact and train with Taira Sensei, as well as other 8-10th dan Senseis on Okinawa. Taira sensei had a big seminar here in Bergen in September 2017, with participants also from several other countries in Europe.
Chief instructor in BSI Karate is Ole-Bjørn Tuftedal, Kyoshi, (7. dan). He is the head of Matsubayashi-ryu in Europe and also the highest graded instructor in Europe. Kyoshi Ole-Bjørn visits Okinawa each year and is trained by the masters there, including Taira Sensei.