Our Thoughts - Ticky's Summer Course
Ticky Donovan’s Open All Styles Summer Course
Sensei Donovan is the current England National Squad Director and his annual course gives any Karate-ka from any style the chance to train solidly for 6 days with some of the best Instructors in the World.
Instructors teaching throughout the week included:
- Ticky Donovan 8th Dan OBE
- Dave Hazard 7th Dan
- Moira Barber 6th Dan
- Philip Francis 6th Dan
- Pepe Suarez 6th Dan
- Greg Francis 5th Dan
- Eddie Gillespie 5th Dan
- Richard Condon 5th Dan
- Lee Smith 4th Dan
- Jonathan Mottram 4th Dan
A special mention has to go to Greg Francis 5th Dan who takes his 'Fit2Fite' classes throughout the week. This can only be described as Karate to Music and in his own words "If you are still cold at the end of it then you must be dead."
Training begins at 07:00 hrs on Sunday morning and the final bow is taken at 17:30hrs on the Friday evening. The weeks training consists of basic Katas, Combinations, Fighting Techniques and Special Competition Techniques. Every student receives a Diploma on the completion of the course.
It is an AMAZING week. The instruction is outstanding and every student gives their all. There is a fun run and a fancy dress evening that is wicked and ......... well, I could go on and on about it but I think you are getting the general idea!
It is such a good week. Every base is covered and not just the Karate. If you look at the whole package it still leaves you gob smacked. The accommodation is clean and the camp site is really nice. It is situated right on the beach and all the staff are friendly and helpful. The food isn't reasonably priced it is cheap and I mean dirt cheap and, yet, it tastes lovely. The bar staff are welcoming and friendly.
There are T shirts on sale and I you are able to purchase Ticky’s videos and these prove invaluable for training.
Ticky and his team have everything planned down to the last minute detail it is like watching a well-oiled machine roll into action. It's not hard to see why it is now in it's 33rd year!
This is a guy who is passionate about his students and his Karate and that shows in everything that he does. He puts his heart and soul into making sure that the week is a success for everyone assembled and he pulls it off seemingly effortlessly.
I have a background in Karate where I have seen it turned into big business purely for financial gain and this has been at the detriment of the Instructors and Karate-ka around them and it is not pleasant to see the results of that. Here we see the opposite. This is what happens when someone with a business mind gets passionate about the Art that they love and can afford to invest their time and money into it for the benefit of everyone. This is someone who has made it happen and who is living the dream.
Ticky thoroughly deserves his OBE for services to Karate and I just can’t rate him highly enough.
