Ryu Kyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinko Kai
In the early years Shihan Jayakody trained under Sensei Bonnie Roberts a renowned Karate exponent at the time. Shihan Jayakody had an illustrious carrier as a young karateka proficient in kumite winning numerous tournaments in Sri Lanka as well as abroad.
He was the national champion in kumite in the years 1975 and 1976.
By this time he had dedicated his life to karate and was determined to proceed to Japan to train under the renowned masters of the art and one day become a master himself.
In 1979 he left for Japan in pursuit of training in authentic Japanese karate. He was fortunate to have been admitted as a student of Grandmaster the late Gogen Yamaguchi the well known exponent of Guju Ryu karate, who was popularly known as the "Cat".
While in Japan he took the opportunity to train himself under another renowned Grandmaster the late Sensei Motokatsu Inoue
who prior to his death was the world's leading exponent of Ryukyu the art of the use of traditional weapons
Having made remarkable progress under the two Grandmasters he received his grading as a San dan Black Belt in both Goju Ryu Karate as well as Ryukyu Kobujutsu. Thus Shihan Jayakody became the first Sri Lankan to be graded by not one but two Grandmasters in two different disciplines of martial arts.
Realising his goal of being graded by real masters he returned to Sri Lanka and worked tirelessly to develop the International Karatedo Gojukai Association and Ryu Kyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinko Kai which he had formed earlier with the long time practitioner of martial arts Sensei S B Herath as Kicho. His main endeavor was to propagate the authentic forms of Japanese martial arts in Sri Lanka.
He opened his Dojo on 1st January 1980 in a make shift building in the backyard of his parents residence at Nugegoda. Soon his reputation as an excellent teacher of authentic Japanese Karate spred far and wide throughout Sri Lanka. Students began to flock to his classes in large numbers. As the make shift dojo could not accommodate the numbers classes were conducted in a number of centres both in Colombo and the outstations.
During this period his longtime colleague and friend Sensei Kumara Wijeratne took to Goju Ryu Karate and became an active member of the association. Sensei Wijeratne heads the Hill Country activities and has a large following having trained a large number over a period of over two decades. His main dojo is in the scenic city of Nuwara Eliya
Shihan Jayakody's committment to the propagation of karate was such that he often traveled great distances by public transport to conduct classes.
The contribution he made towards the development of karate in Sri Lanka is invaluable Being the first Sri Lankan to represent a major authentic style with direct accreditation from the parent body in Japan he used his good offices to introduce other serious exponents of karate to the main bodies representing other styles. This resulted in a number of Sri Lankans proceeding to Japan to train under masters of the art and receive accreditation to represent the respective styles in Sri Lanka.
He worked tirelessly to unify the different bodies representing different styles as well as those having their own under one umbrella. This he thought was essential if karate is to be developed in any meanigful way. His efforts bore fruit in the formation of the "Federation of Karatedo Associations-Sri Lanka". The first head of the federation was the shihan's mentor and kaicho of GujuKai Sri Lanka Sensei S B Herath one of the most senior exponents of karate in the country.
Shihan Jayakody himself functioned as the head of the federation on a number of occasions and continued to wield considerable influence over its affairs throughout. He functioned as the technical director of the federation The position was bestowed on him on account of the deep technical knowledge and the commitment to keep himself updated with the latest developments.
He was the first Sri Lankan to qualify himself as an international judge in karate. Most of the judges now active in Sri Lanka received their initial training under the shihan at the Honbu Dojo.
On 24th May 2003 Shihan Jakody met with his tragic death in a motor accident. His funeral was attended by thousands who grieved the loss of an illustrious son of Sri Lanka. It was indeed a sad day for all those who had the good fortune of associating with the exceptional personalityin whatever capacity.
May he attain Nibbana.
