People - C
Important people within Karate
Steven Carless 5th Dan
Chief Instructor of Shotokan.co.uk
- Twice SKIGB Grand Champion
- 7 Times Individual Kata Champion SKIGB Nationals
- Former Individual Kata Champion FEKO National Open
- Former Team Kata Champion FEKO National Open
- 3 Times Individual Kumite Champion SKIGB Nationals
- 3 Times Individual Kumite Champion Shiro Asano Nationals
- 4 Times Team Kumite Champion SKIGB Nationals
- 4 Times Team Kumite Champion Shiro Asano Nationals
- Former Team Kumite Champion VSO Karate Aid
- Twice SKI European silver medallist Team Kumite
Telephone: 0800 085 2683
Email: info@shotokan.co.uk
Website: www.shotokan.co.uk
Tom Clarke 2nd Dan
JKF-Wadokai Squad Manager 2007 - 2008
Email: tomafb@hotmail.co.uk
Ian Cole 4th Dan
England National Coach and Former International
Richard Condon 5th Dan
Chief Instructor of Corringham and Dartford Ishinryu
Every so often someone explains something so well that it leaves an imprint on your mind forever. I struggled with algebra for decades until my husband, Jel, explained the concepts with sausages and apples. Once I could ‘see’ that, of course, it was not possible for an apple to combine with a sausage I had my algebra ‘eureka’ moment and it all became clear. No amount of teaching had ever been able to get this point across to me before then. However, once I was able to relate it to something that I did understand then it all made perfect sense.
I had another such moment last week whilst ‘sitting in’ on a Karate lesson instructed by Richard Condon 4th Dan the Chief Instructor of Corringham and Dartford Ishinryu and former England Karate Team Sports Therapist & Fitness Coach. He is also the founder and chief instructor at KOKUA Personal Fitness.
Richard was first appointed sports therapist to the England Karate Team in 1993 and is now funded by the National Lottery to be in attendance at all of their training sessions and tournaments throughout the world, including 3 World championships. As well as sports therapist, Richard was recently appointed as Fitness Coach. Richard was explaining the concepts of Kata to his class but he did so by explaining it to them in a way that they could all relate to – reading.
If Kata was rushed through it may make sense to the person that is performing it but not to the onlooker. Kata needs to be performed in the same way that an author writes a book. Each word has to be separated by a space otherwise you just see a jumble of letters that make no sense. Therefore, every move in Kata must have an end and a pause so that someone who knows nothing of Karate is able to understand it. He took this concept further by explaining to his class that a series of single words still mean nothing and are still hard to interpret and that is why sentences are structured. If Kata moves are structured to form sentences and punctuation marks are added to enhance them then Kata can be performed and viewed as it was intended. Blinding!
I sat in on many of his classes and watched hours of Instruction and I am able to say that even at my age and grade I took something away with me from every lesson. Again, all relative. I can throw a pretty mean side kick but it took me a good eighteen months before I knew how to do it properly and many years later before I was comfortable with it. Of course, I got the concept in the end but not from the many hours of tuition from my endlessly patient Sensei but by watching a higher grade run his leg along a stair banister whilst waiting for the start of the class! Last week I watched Richard teach a class a half decent thrusting side kick in under 90 minutes using their own belts and explaining quite simply that side kicks thrust along the line and roundhouse kicks rotate to the line. Simple! but more than that effective. Using his knowledge of the human body and its mechanisms he was able to instruct his class in a way that was relative to their own understanding.
Many more ‘Eureka’ moments were to hit me before the week was through. If you ever get a chance to train with this guy or he hits your neck of the woods then grab it and learn. There is something for everyone and he is a really friendly and helpful guy. He is definitely one of the good guys of Karate. He is also an instructor on Ticky Donovan's annual Summer Course.
Established in 1988, Corringham Ishinryu has become one of the premier Karate clubs in Essex. It is often featured in the sports sections of local newspapers and has an incredible record in competition Karate.
He always stresses that practice makes permanent, not practice makes perfect so always practice correctly.
Telephone: 01268 794404
Mobile: 07850 870151
Email: getfit@kokua.org.uk
Website: www.kokua.org.uk
