People - S
Important people within Karate
Gusharan Sahota 6th Dan
Chief Instructor of TISKA - Traditional International Shotokan Karate Association
Telephone: 01234 376809
Email: info@tiska.com
Website: www.tiska.com
Kuniaki Sakagami 7th Dan Honbucho
Chief Instructor of JKF-Wadokai and the WAKF - Wado Aiwakai Karate-do Federation.
Sakagami-Kuniaki Sensei started training in Wado-ryu in 1959 when he was a teenager.
He originally wanted to train in boxing but found that the nearest boxing gym was thirty miles away; in those days this was a great distance to travel. A friend then told Mr Sakagami he could easily find a Karate Dojo, so Mr Sakagami decided to do that instead.
The Dojo happened to be one of Mr Tatsuo Suzuki's, a very famous instructor with a good reputation.
At this time Mr Sakagami did not know anything about Karate ‘styles’, it was only by chance that it happened to be a Wado-ryu dojo. The training was a little different then in those days you would do jogging in bare feet and the discipline was military style, you never said "no" in the Dojo, only "yes", "hai", you were allowed to question if you were not sure of something but you could not question the teachings.
Mr Sakagami won the Middle Japan Kumite two years running and then went on to take a British Wado team to Japan to participate in the World Wado Karate Cup. This was a proud moment for Mr Sakagami, as he had always wanted to take an English team to Japan.
The WAKF – Wado Aiwakai Karate-do Federation – is a democratic body controlled by its membership and operates under an approved constitution. All positions on the committee are elected by its members at the Annual General Meeting.
It consists of over 50 clubs nationwide, all of which practise Wadokai karate. It was established in 1989 by Kuniaki Sakagami 7th Dan for the development of Wadokai Karate and is affiliated to the Federation of European Wadokai (FEW) and the Japan Karatedo Federation Wadokai.
Telephone: 01922 407576
Website: www.aiwakaikarate.co.uk
Brian Seabright 6th Dan
Chairman of the BKA - British Karate Association
Telephone: 01617 736456
Email: brian@thebka.co.uk
Website: www.britishkarateassociation.co.uk
Trevor Seddon 4th Dan
Chief Instructor of Derby Karate Club
Telephone: 01332 372786
Email: sensei@derbykarateclub.freeserve.co.uk
Website: www.derbykarateclub.freeserve.co.uk
Satinder Sehra 3rd Dan
Chief Instructor of Khalsa Karate Federation
I started Lau-Gar Kung-Fu in 1979 when I was 8, with one of the greatest Kung-Fu fighters that this country and world has ever seen under Neville Wray. I remember Sensei Neville Wray alongside his squad were at there height the top fighters in the country and I could only remember trophy after trophy after trophy that were brought back from the weekends competitions.
As a young lad you get easily strayed away with your ambitions and although my plans were to continue to train hard, my focus got strayed and my commitment went with it. It wasn’t until I was seriously injured in a racial attack at the age of 20 that I realised that I must do some form of self defence, and wasn’t until I was 21 that I joined the Washinkai Karate Club in New Malden under Sensei Chris Thompson.
I had many good years of Karate there and eventually gained my Shodan Grading (1st Dan) and subsequently gained my 2nd Dan two years later under Chief Instructor Chris Thompson 7th Dan. I am now currently a 3rd Dan.I opened my own school at the Kingston YMCA on 10th September 2001 and started with 3 students and now have in the region of over 160 students.
I have trained with many of the great instructors this country has to offer such as Chris Thompson, Joe Anderson, Wayne Otto, Terry Daley, Alton Brown, Mervyn Etteiene, Junior Lefevre, Chris Kent, Neville Wray, England Squad to name but a few.
I believe Martial Arts is a never ending journey of knowledge, and its this knowledge that I have yet to find out that continues to make me strive in the search of perfection, and my knowledge of promoting good karate will never cease.
I will end on saying that Karate if practised in a safe environment under correct guidance and recognised, bonified Karate schools can be very rewarding not just in physical but also in self confidence.
Remember have fun and enjoy karate
Email: khalsakarate@hotmail.com
Website: www.khalsakarate.com
Dave Sharkey 7th Dan
Chief Instructor of EKO - English Karate Organisation / European Karate Organisation
Website: www.englishkarateorganisation.co.uk
Martyn Skipper 4th Dan
Henka ryu and writer / reporter on all things Karate
Karate means a million things to a million people, so here’s my take.
If you really want to learn to fight, go to a boxing gym, or take up with unsavoury characters down at your local gin palace. If you want to improve your physical health, do yoga, or aquarobics. If you want to pursue sporting excellence, team sports are socially better than solo pursuits, much better funded, and to a large extent better organised and managed than martial arts.
Karate however offers all of the above and more: the nod towards Japan and her cultural influences; the notion that we are carrying on some sort of tradition (although how old a tradition, and how truly accurately we propagate it are matters for some conjecture); the idea of the perpetual struggle to improve; the old favourite, “self discipline”; and the aesthetic considerations, for my money all lift karate far above all other disciplines.
I began the writing that led to the Henka Ryu website as a reaction to a lot of nonsense and misunderstanding that I saw (and continue to see) proliferating in the martial arts in general, and karate in particular.
I seek to ask questions of those who pontificate and posture about karate, and more importantly, to encourage others to ask those questions.
I got involved with the EKGB, and Karate England (2005) Ltd because I wanted both to help promote the wonderful pursuit of karate around the nation, and to get some sense of healthy scepticism into the karate establishment.
When KE failed I was very keen to offer my help to the English Karate unification process. Whilst it appears that that process has stalled (I am ever the optimist) I give my support to the WKF-recognised English Karate Federation. That said, I remain resolutely non-political, and continue to support, and to train with members of the other bodies, counting many of their members as friends and colleagues.
I consider myself a “Traditional Karateka” and am happy to exchange views - and share the tatami - with like- and differently- minded practitioners.
Website: www.henka-ryu.co.uk
Lee Smith 4th Dan
Chief Instructor of Woodlane Ishinryu
Telephone: 020 8270 6880
Email: Lee.Smith@Ishinryu.org
Website: www.woodlane-ishinryu-karate.co.uk
Pepe Suarez 6th Dan
Chief Instructor of Upminster and Hornchurch Ishinryu
Upminster Ishinryu Karate club started in 1983 and is now one of the largest Ishinryu Association clubs in North East London.
Telephone: 01375 480138 0 138
Email: john.2.bonas@bt.com
Website: www.upminster.ishinryu.btinternet.co.uk
Tatsuo Suzuki 8th Dan Hanshi
Chief Instructor of Wado International Karate-do Federation (WIKF)
Professor Tatsuo Suzuki was born in Yokohama in 1928 and became interested in Karate at the age of 14 and within six years of beginning his study of Karate, Professor Suzuki was awarded his 3rd Dan at the age of 19. In 1951 at the age of 24 he was awarded the then highest grade in Wado Ryu, 5th Dan for his outstanding courage and ability. At 45 he was awarded his 8th Dan and also in the same year was given the title of Hanshi (Master) by the International Budo Federation and was presented with a special silver cup by Higashi Kuni no Miya, the uncle of the Late Emperor of Japan.
From 1945 to 1956 he received direct instruction from the founder of Wado Ryu, Hironori Ohtsuka Sensei at the Wado Ryu Headquarters. Thereafter, as Ohtsuka Sensei's most senior student, he travelled with Ohtsuka Sensei both domestically and internationally performing demonstrations and teaching at the Headquarters and in such places as Hawaii.
From 1956 to 1964 Master Suzuki founded the first Wado Federation in England and from his base in London he spread Wado Ryu throughout Europe. Overcoming many difficulties, he brought senior students from Japan, taught them how to be instructors and sent them to various European countries. Within just a few years Wado Ryu became the most popular style in Europe. In 1991 Master Suzuki took over from Ohtsuka Sensei in protecting the essence of Wado Ryu and established the Wado International KarateDo Federation (WIKF). In addition to his accomplishments in Karate, Professor Suzuki is a 2nd Dan in Tenshin Koryu BoJitsu (stick fighting) and a 1st Dan in Judo. He has also studied Zen doctrine with the high priests, the late Genpo Yamamoto and Soyen Nakagawa. Suzuki Sensei is also a member of the International Budo Academy (IBA) as an Associate Professor and has been award the title Doctor of Philosophy for his life long work and commitment to teaching Wado Ryu Karate.
Website: www.wikf.com
Gary Swift 7th Dan Kyoshi
Chief Instructor of British Wadokai Karate (BWK)
Gary Swift was born in Leigham Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, in 1956. He started his martial-arts training at the early age of 10 at his junior school at Laira Green. His first taste of martial-arts was learning the popular systems, at that time, of Ju-jutsu and Judo. After a move to Prince Rock Senior School he was also introduced to the skills of Thai-boxing, known then as Kickboxing, by one of his gym teachers. Upon his arrival to the South of England in 1972, from Liskeard, he started Wado-ryu Karate in Guildford and Bisley (Surrey), under his most influential Instructor Mick Rapley 5th Dan, in 1974 (affiliated to the United Kingdom Karate Federation (later to be known as the United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai)).
Regular instructors at this time included Suzuki Tatsuo Hanshi, Maeda Tadayuki Sensei, Shiomitsu Hanshi and Kobayashi Katsumi Sensei. From this day onwards he studied numerous other forms of Karate, as well as Shorinji-kempo, Muay-Thai, Malaysian Taekwondo (Thoi-kuen-do), Korean HoSin-sul Hapkido, various weapons systems, and a variety of other Japanese, Korean, and Chinese martial-arts. Today he is holder of numerous titles and ranks in martial-arts including 7th Dan in Wado-ryu Karate, 2nd Dan in Korean HoSin-sul Hapkido, and 1st Dan in Malaysian Taekwondo. He has over 30 years teaching experience and over 40 years (including international) training experience.
Chief Instructor to British Wadokai Karate (est 1976). British Wadokai Karate was formally called Domei Kokusai Wadokai (DKW) until being re-named in May 2007. He is also recognised within the Japanese Karate Federation's Wadokai England (to which he is General Secretary) and the English Karate Federation (EKF)
Gary Swift Kyoshi has also had the honour of training, and being graded, under Ohtsuka Hironori Meijin 10th Dan (founder of Wado-ryu) in 1976. Other instructors have also included the famous: Tomiyama Keiji 10th Dan Shihan (Shito-ryu), Hoi Hean Thow 7th Dan (Thoi-kuen-do, Tong-long, Bo-jutsu, Escrima), Dr. Julian S Lim 8th Dan (Hapkido, HoSin-sul). His return to Plymouth, in July 2004, has allowed him to open new clubs within British Wadokai (BWK).
Telephone: 01752 493210
Mobile: 07719 773898
Email: garyswift@wadokai.co.uk
Website: www.wadokai.co.uk
Website: www.wadokai-southwest.co.uk
