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.
I intend to do a few articles on some of the Shotokan men and women who were such an integral part of the history and development of Shotokan in the UK.
Have been asked to give my views on modern day shotokan karate. It’s my view that 75% of clubs are a sham. These days there are so many different types of fight clubs, such as MMA, sport karate etc that people want a quick fix and this has had an effect on traditional shotokan.
Wellington said, “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. He knew, through bitter experience that in battle all the careful, detailed and intricate tactics seldom came to pass when the enemy was engaged. We refer to the ‘chaos’ of war and “the fog of war” - Carl Von Clausewitz (from his treatise ‘On War’).
I recently received an e-mail from a guy in Australia, telling me in no uncertain terms that I was ‘a dinosaur’ and needed to ‘move with the times’