Growing
up in the early 80’s, the advent of the video recorder was
inspirational to me starting Martial Arts. Like many of the
Instructors around today I was inspired to take up Martial Arts from
what I saw on the TV.
I
first started training in 1985 in Wado Ryu Karate and Kendo under the
late Sensei Bill Prytherch, a student of Suzuki Sensei. His methods
were old school and I have fond memories of being struck on the back
of the legs with a Bokken for minor stance imperfections - imagine
doing that in today’s world!
I also trained with Dave Jenkins and
Anthony Jones, who introduced me to the competitive side of Karate. I
gained my 1st
Dan Black belt in 1991 and 2nd
Dan in 1994, but I quit Martial Arts not long after this. I don’t
really know why, but at the time I think in my own head I believed I
had come full circle and there was nothing left to achieve.
The
years went by and I left School to join the RAF, soon settling into
my new career. The only problem was I became too settled with the
Squadron lifestyle of rapid deployment all over the world and even
more rapid drinking, I ballooned to 22 stone. In 1999 I was posted to
RAF Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland. I had promised to take my
eldest son Kieran to a club to learn Karate, (I was actually looking
for myself but because of my size was to embarrassed to admit it).
I
found a local club “The Moray Black Belt academy”, and not
knowing what to expect I took Kieran as my human shield. My first
impression was simply amazement as I had never seen a full time
academy before, in fact I didn’t even know they existed. I think I
enrolled the both of us on the spot. My first class was taken by the
chief instructor, Master Lee Sansum, he took time to introduce
himself and was really encouraging, we became good friends and
through his encouragement and high expectations of me not only did I
trim down to a very lean and powerful 16 stone but I also became a
good competitor on the national Freestyle circuit. I remember with
great fondness my days at MBBA (Later SBBA) it really was my
‘eye-opening’ moment in Martial Arts.
Whilst
in the RAF I took full advantage of what they had to offer and was
able to train with many different instructors from literally all
around the world and in many different styles. It was with Master Jan
De Vry that I reignited my passion for traditional Martial Arts. Jan
teaches Tang Soo Do and Haedong Kumdo and is such a character, we
remain firm friends to this day. He introduced me to the Late Master
John Horan who inspired me to open my first club “Kaizen School of
Karate”. John graded me to 2nd
Dan in Shukokai Karate and with his help Kaizen became a thriving
club.
In
2006 I made the decision to leave the RAF and go full time, so with
no job, no house and a pregnant wife, I started my transformation
into a full time Martial Arts instructor. It’s been a bit of a
rollercoaster ride so far, but I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed
every minute.
The
Martial Arts Show Live, returning for the third consecutive year at
the NEC Birmingham. Hope to see you there on 12th-13th of May 2012.
Nest Management will be at Stand 21
NEST has an exciting and
varied agenda for the next client Network Event on Wednesday 25th
April 2012.
