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Karate History:
I started training in 1995 at Taunton Shotokan Karate Club under
Dominic Jones; and then under Norman Welch when Dominic left.
I was introduced to karate by a friend, when he asked if I would
like to go to a karate club, I wasn't sure what I was getting into,
but after that first session I was hooked!
All my Kyu gradings were taken with Sensei Ohta.
I passed my 1st Dan in 1997 and 2nd Dan in 2000, both of which
were taken at Crystal Palace under Sensei Enoeda.
 I
have trained on many special courses with various top instructors
including, Enoeda, K Funakoshi, Tabata, Osaka, Sherry, Poynton,
O'Neil, Rhodes, Higgins and Brennan. I have tried to go on as many
courses as possible to increase my knowledge of karate. I have found
the multiple day courses very beneficial, (Crystal Palace and Torbay
Leisure Centre).
I have represented the club in competitions, in the South West
and National Championships in both Kumite (fighting) and Kata (forms).
I encourage all other members to take part as it is a good experience.
One memorable time was when some of the club and myself took part
in a Karate demonstration at a fete. This consisted of a warm up,
basics, Kata and pre-arranged sparring. Afterwards, some of the
people watching asked us if we got injured during the sparring,
because they thought we were really hitting each other hard. This
was not the case, we were using good control and were acting as
if we were getting hit.
Since I started training at Taunton Shotokan Karate Club I have
met many people from all walks of life and made some good friends.
Our club has good social activities including trips away skiing,
surfing and general socialising.
One of the reasons I have enjoyed Karate is because there are continually
ways to improve. Also in any athletic sport, I have always tried
to push myself to my limits and this is what I think is required
in Karate.
For the future I hope to continue my own training in karate, also
to pass on my knowledge to other karateka at the Taunton Club to
further spread the martial art Shotokan Karate.
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