celebrating 25 YEARS Shotokan Karate England – 25 Years of Karate Published in 2010 by Karate-London PO Box 566 Waltham Abbey Dear Members, Parents and Relatives Essex EN9 3WU It is with great pride I welcome you to the celebration of our 25th Anniversary. It is hard to believe that I have England been seriously teaching Karate for 25 years and even more difficult to remind myself that I started my own Karate 35 years ago. To celebrate our special 2010 Anniversary we have some special courses with some of the Copyright Rod Butler © leading figures in Karate today. There will be weekend courses with Sensei Dave Hazard, Paul Herbert, Scott Langley and our own Sensei Kasajima. I hope that you will all take advantage of these opportunities and enjoy The right of Rod Butler to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of training with these wonderful instructors. the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Things are a lot more organized and professional now than they were in years gone by, although we certainly have to deal with much more administration and paperwork than we did when I first started. Karate technique A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library has improved although karate itself is not really much different. The standards of teaching however have greatly improved and we are now aware of the dangers in teaching Karate techniques incorrectly; we also understand ISBN 0-9546947-3-2 how to encourage children and less able students to achieve success. We have held dozens of courses, championships and gradings and the high standards of our members would be difficult to find in most others All rights reserved. clubs and associations. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers. During these years there have been some fantastic successes and I have felt so much pride in the achievements of many of our members Nationally and Internationally. We have even managed to help severely disabled people to enjoy karate and experience the pleasure that karate brings. However, I am a great believer of balance in life www.karate-london.co.uk and believe that what we receive in pleasure and enjoyment has to always be paid for in some way, therefore the disappointments that we have all experienced at some time, balance our fulfilling lives and the Karate that we all enjoy and sometimes take for granted. www.shotokan-karate-england.co.uk I hope you enjoy reading and looking at this little book which contains all of the highs and lows, the successes and the disappointments, of the last 25 years. The strong roots of SKE as you can see here, have now been well and truly established and I hope that all of the SKE instructors will pass on their skills to the younger generation of Karate students so that they can carry on with the success and the work that has begun. Lastly I would like to thank you all for helping with the success of SKE. Without the parents, children and adult members, we would not be able to be part of your lives and share your enjoyment of Shotokan Karate. Rod Butler – April 2010 In The Beginning The KUGB a fantastic reputation for being hard April 1st 1985 working and successful. Sensei Enoeda had been watching the The roots for SKE were started 25 years ago in Chingford. Sensei Rod started a small Chingford Club and had not missed class while he was recovering from an operation on his leg. It was never envisaged any of the activity and excitement that that the club would grow to the extent that is has or that it would develop into such a was happening. He decided to visit successful entity. This is where it all started; The Judo Bay at the Waltham Forest College the club on a regular basis and greatly Annex in Chingford, now demolished to make way for a housing estate. enjoyed his visits to the club now based at Rushcroft School. Later on when the The posed kneeling picture shows the class just a few months after starting, with founder Wanstead club opened, he gave an member Sensei Chris Lafbury on the far left of the opening celebration course and also shot (with a moustache). Some members had made regular visits there as well. taken their first gradings and are actually wearing their orange or red belts. In the A bond had started. Club members too action shot you can see sensei Rod leading enjoyed these visits greatly. The courses the class in Kihon. The dojo was a small usually finished up in the local Indian matted area used for Martial Arts called the Restaurant with drinks and curry and with ‘Judo Bay’. There were no windows, no air everyone being a little ‘worse for wear’ vents and no heating. Everyone worked so Rod had to often drive Sensei Enoeda hard in that small matted area just to keep In 1988 it was decided to move to a home in the early hours of the morning. warm in the Winter. larger organisation. As a club, we were not allowed to take part in open courses Rod recalls with horror the time when In those early days Karate and Martial Arts in and competitions were not organized Sensei Enoeda arrived at the Chingford general were not allowed in schools and so particularly well. After checking a few club to give two one hour courses. He moving to a larger and more suitable premises of the larger Karate organisations we was injured and said Rod would have to was virtually impossible. However, Rod made decided to join the KUGB. This was not take both sessions. Rod nervously got friends with the councilors of Waltham Forest quite as easy as it sounds. Rod had been on with the job while sensei Enoeda and subsequently joined the Sports Council. a Black Belt for 8 years and a Nidan for sat for the whole two hours watching Rod encouraged some of the councilors to 3 years. The KUGB insisted that Rod go proceedings. Rod sweated for the whole come along and watch a Karate class, so that back to 1st Kyu and re-take his Shodan two hours but was later on enrolled by it could be seen that Karate was a respectable if the club was to become part of the Sensei Enoeda as a regular instructor at pursuit and suitable for schools. One of the KUGB! This was the price of joining but the Marshall St Dojo in London’s West councilors actually joined the Karate Club, and in typical Rod fashion he signed the End. the Mayor of Waltham Forest became involved and gave his support too. This was really club up to join the KUGB and re-took the start of Karate in Chingford and Waltham Forest and councilors eventually agreed to his Shodan under Sensei Enoeda. Rod allow Karate classes to take place in schools within Waltham Forest. was not interested in ‘chasing gradings’ so didn’t worry too much about moving down ‘the ladder’. It was a good move. The club had access to competitions, courses and events such as instructor and referee courses. Rod went on to retake his 2nd Dan and during the next fifteen years his 3rd and 4th Dan. The club soon made an impact on the KUGB. Medals and trophies were won at the Southern area Championships and the Nationals. It was not long before the club had quite a few members on the National Squad too. Tony & David Ives, Tim Ahmet, Tony Aidoo, Billy Merrifield, Holly Sterling, Donna Kilroy and Jason & Samantha Plumb were all Black Belts recommended by Rod for the National Squad and all were accepted. The club was always an avid fundraiser raising in excess of £80,000 for various charities. The KUGB followed this creating its own charity. Chingford again pulled out all the stops and raised £3,500, more than any other KUGB club in the UK. Rod took instructor, judge and referee exams and soon the club had gained The First Black Belt Chingford Karate Club’s first black Belt was 10 year old Michael Gallop, the date; 22nd October 1989. Although the club had many Black Belt members, Michael was the first Chingford member to go from beginner to Shodan. He was aged just 10 years and it has to be said that he was a star pupil from the very beginning, passing each Kyu grade with a distinction. Michael was also the star of the ‘Karate Kid’ team and was always the first to volunteer for Karate displays, competitions and events. Michael passed his black belt – again with a distinction and unfortunately packed up Karate two weeks later! That’s children for you. Since then over 200 students who started as beginners have gone on to reach Black Belt level and many more have gone on to reach Nidan, Sandan, and in 2009, Godan. Michael Gallop made a social visit to the Chingford club in 2005. Now a six foot adult he lamented ‘I wish that I had carried on with my karate!’ Competitions SKE is continuing to produce a high standard of competitors. The habit started in the early days of the Chingford Club, and now there are not just champions from Chingford and Wanstead, but some excellent talent coming from Harlow, Tring and the other SKE clubs.