 He began training in karate whilst at Takushoku University under the then-head instructor of Shotokan karate, Masatoshi Nakayama.Kanazawa also learned from the founder of the Shotokan style, Gichin Funakoshi, and was one of the last living "karateka" (practitioners of karate) to have done so.Kanazawa was promoted to the rank of 1st "dan" in Shotokan karate with less than two years of training in the art; promotion to 2nd "dan" came three years later.