Some of the boys from Merthyr KC which was then run by Lyn Powell under the Wado Ryu system. Lyn Powell was a highly successful and well respected karate-ka, and it was Ged Moran’s good fortune to meet up with Lyn in1976.
Ged Moran interview for Martial Arts View channel with Tommy Casale and James Leporatie
As I approach my 49th year of training, it occurs to me that perhaps I’ve been lucky in more ways than one, in connection with the martial arts.
I’m often asked why Legend doesn’t produce more ‘modern’ programmes based on competition events that are current, or at least from the last decade. The answer is simple: resulting sales from current events would not even cover their production costs.
In various interviews I’ve talked about falling standards in martial arts which I feel is possibly as a consequence of the huge variety of competitions available these days and to which people are attracted and which, to a great degree, allow them to avoid the painful and often boring repetition of doing basics over and over.
Following my resignation from the KUGB after 21 years of top class Shotokan training, I was persuaded to start my own organization, despite trying to run Legend Productions. The reasoning behind this decision was put to me by the late Danny Connor, one of the first karate-ka to go to Japan to train in the 1960’s - Danny pointed out that as I was still finding time to train, why not also continue teaching. So eventually the BSF (British Shotokan Federation) was formed and ran successfully from 1993 until 2004 when I closed it down.
I’ve just had a sneak preview of a new Shotokan Hoodie:
A couple of Karateka have made something for themselves and I think it’s good enough to share.
I recently interviewed Gerry Breeze about his Shotokan karate history, and his views on the current state of karate in the UK.