Instructors Annual Awards 2009

IAN SOAME (Black Belt 5th Dan/Degree)

Ian has been practicing Tae Kwon Do since 1982 and achieved 1st Dan in 1987 with the Ji Do Kwan, run locally in East Anglia.Following a break up of the Association shortly afterwards, Ian joined the UKASKO/UKMAF in 1988 and was promoted to 2nd Dan in 1990. Ian’s Dan grading successes have culminated in his promotion to 5th Dan, following a technical grading, in 2004.

Apart from a 5th Dan Black belt, Ian is a qualified Black belt examiner for the UKMAF and undertakes many Dan Gradings.

Ian also holds a level 3 coaching course qualification (coaching assessment officer) and conducts annual Instructor Coaching courses.

Ian has been in the UKMAF top ten Instructors since 1997, in the top five since 2001. Ian's success as an Instructor can be measured by the success of his students - which amongst the 95 Black belt passes include 22 2nd Dan, 9 3rd Dan and 3 4th Dan Black Belts. Despite his role as a Dan grading officer, Ian insists on all of his Black belt candidates being examined by a respected and non-biased examiner - which has been Sensei Stanhope. 2009 is targeted to be a milestone year, with the likelihood of the club's 100th Black Belt pass.

Ian founded Saracen Martial Arts in 1985 with Ray Morley, a serving NCO in the RAF. Following Ray's departure to foreign soils, Ian took over the running of Saracen Martial Arts in 1988 with the capable assistance of Saracen's First Black belt, Dave Robb, now 5th Dan.

Saracen Martial Arts has created 'An Encyclopaedia of Tae Kwon Do' CD ROM with the help of producer Phil Davies and large numbers have been sold over the world.

Saracen's Demo team, capably led by Chris Hemstock 4th Dan, has performed at Seni, at various shows and theatres and has been on Radio 1, with DJ Scott Mills.

Ian is happily married to Teresa and has 3 children- Portia, Connor and Sadie. Not surprisingly, all three children train in Tae Kwon Do!

Ian can be contacted on Tel: 07971-038365 or by e-mail isoame@mansell.plc.uk

JOHN FARLEY (Black Belt 6th Dan)

John has been training in Martial Arts since 1984, and after attending courses with the likes of Soke Jim Bryson In Shirinitsujujitsu, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, and 23 times World Kickboxing Champion Jean-Yves Theriault, John decided that Freestyle was the way to go.

As a full time professional instructor since 1984, John decided to join UKASKO because, as well as its policy of non-interference and technical support, he had a completely free hand to design his own syllabus. John now runs a number of clubs in the Aberdeenshire area under the group name of 'JORUKAI'.

As well as Freestyle Karate, he teaches self-defence and impact training, which he describes as a must in today's environment. He specializes in weapons training with the Bo-Staff, Nunchaku and Samurai Sword as his favorites.

John holds a level 2 coaching qualification. and teaches children from 5 years old, with the oldest adult being 58.

John has competed in both Kata and Kumite for a number of years and was runner up in the individual Kumite at the UKASKO Scottish Championships in 2004 and winner of the Weapons Kata in 2006. As far as teaching goes, he is a open minded person and is always looking to please his students by offering them as many different aspects of the Martial Arts as possible.

On a number of occasions, John has been the top instructor in the Association's annual awards and because of his tremendous support for UKASKO, he was more than qualified to be awarded a Dan Grading. Instead he opted to take a technical grading and passed his 6th Dan in 2004, where he excelled with various weapons techniques.

John can be contacted on Tel: 01888 562192. Mobile: 07759591689 or by e-mail john@jorukai.freeserve.co.uk

MICHAEL TATTERSALL (Black Belt 5th Dan)

Michael started Shukokai karate in 1983 at the age of 10, and obtained his Black Belt at the age of 14. He started his own club at 17, and now runs 3 clubs, teaching almost every day. He joined UKASKO in 1993 and has been a regular member of the UKASKO England Team since 1997.

Michael has competed at all levels in both Kata and Kumite since the age of 10, and still does. A couple of competition highlights have been winning the UKASKO National Championships in 1998 and coming second in the English Karate Governing Body (EKGB) National Championships in 2004.

Michael was awarded his 5th Dan in 2004 at the age of 31 making him one of the youngest Karate-Ka in the country to achieve this. He is also a qualified Dan Grading Officer.

Additionally he has been in the top twenty instructors annual awards list since 1999 and has been appointed the Associations child protection officer. Michael has now been a professional full time instructor since 1998.

Michael can be contacted on Tel: 07904 240569 / 0113 2947098 or via e-mail: leedspremierkarate@ntlworld.com

JOHN ANDERSON (Black Belt 5th Dan)

John's first introduction to the Martial Arts started in 1971, where he began to study Kung Fu and Freestyle Karate. It wasn't until he was introduced to Shotokan Karate in 1982 and trained with the likes of Sensei's Enoeda and Kawazoe that his career began to take off. Having tried various styles, including a course with Bill (Superfoot) Wallace, John decided that the best way forward was with Shotokan Karate.

This decision resulted with the birth of the highly successful Ippon group of Karate clubs back in 1988. Although John's style had a very strong Shotokan base, he felt that because of his past experience with other Martial Arts, it would be foolish not to incorporate some of this vast knowledge within his own syllabus. Looking for a reputable association, and very much aware of the fact that he didn't want a chief instructor interfering in his teaching methods, he decided to look for a multi-style organisation with a reputation for fairness and non-interference. This resulted with John joining the UKASKO in 1992. From then on it's just been one long successful journey.

John was awarded his 2nd Dan in 1994 and gained a Level 2 coaching award two years later. He was awarded his 3rd Dan in 1997 and his 4th Dan in 2001. Gained a Level 3 coaching award in 2004 and became the associations Director of Coaching for Scotland the same year. His recent noticeable success was being awarded his 5th Dan, together with being appointed the UK Director of Coaching. His clubs have provided many champions both regionally and nationally, particularly in Kata, where his students excel year after year in our national championships. This dedication to the Martial Arts has resulted in John's clubs being in the top ten places of the associations annual awards every year for the past eleven years.

John can be contacted on Tel: 01205-870851

STEVE LANGBRIDGE (Black Belt 4th Dan)

Steve started training in 1972 under Master Tatso Suzuki in Wado Ryu at the Judd Street Dojo in London. Sensei Meiji Suzuki took over the running of the club in 1974 and together with Sensei George Canning developed the Mugendo system where Steve continued to train for many years.

In 1978 he joined a small club at his home town of High Wycombe; the Sands Club which taught a style based on Kyokushin. In 1980 Steve also joined a local Wado Ryu club where he trained for 4 years before leaving to join a Shotokan club run by a student of Master Kanazawa.

In 1991 Steve obtained his Black Belt 1st Dan, and shortly after reformed the Sands Karate Club as the Prestwood Karate Club.In November 2008 this was reformed as the South Bucks Karate Academy

Steve has this unquestionable thirst for knowledge, and because of his open minded policy regarding teaching; he decided to look for a multi-style organisation with a reputation for non-interference. Eventually this search led him to joining the UKASKO, where he continues to train with some of this countries leading instructors.

Steve was awarded his 4th Dan by Roy Stanhope in May 2007 and currently runs clubs at Prestwood, near High Wycombe, and at St Piran's School in Maidenhead. www.sbka.co.uk

Steve can be contacted on Tel: 01494 863949 or via e-mail steve@sbka.co.uk

PETER WILSON (Black Belt 4th Dan)

Peter was harshly bullied in school which made him think about defending myself in a type of Martial Art. This resulted in him joining a Wado club under the auspices of John Judge 4th Dan.

Several years later the club closed and Peter joined a Shotokan club in 1995. The instructor there was Ron Jones 3rd Dan with Vic Charles 6th Dan officiating at the gradings. A year later upon achieving green belt 6th Kyu was asked if he would assist in teaching the lower belts which he did and later this resulted in him conducting his own classes achieving the grade of 3rd Kyu.

Peter achieved his 1st Dan in 1997 and 2nd Dan in 1999. In 2001 he started his own Karate club at Thanet Judo Kwai in Margate and at the same time joined UKASKO.

In 2001 he passed his Level 2 Coaching Award and also achieved 3rd Dan under Phil Snewin. Later he attended the 16th Annual Gasshuku in Birmingham and won 1st place in the Kata Competition.

In 2004 he achieved his Level 3 Coaching Award.

In 2006 he was awarded 4th Dan under Kevin Barlow 6th Dan who is the associations National Coach, and at that same time qualified as a Dan Grading Officer.

He now considers Karate as a major part of his lifestyle, and especially enjoys learning new Kata's together with their applications. He also enjoys helping people to learn to defend themselves, together with a great sense of pride and satisfaction each time his students are successful at their grading examinations.

Peter can be contacted on Tel: 01843-280684 Mobile: 07890 461115

TOM CARRUTHERS (Black Belt 4th Dan)

Tom began training at the age of 18 with sensei Bob Aikman and sensei Bob Lord in the Shukokai Karate Style with the Shukokai World Karate Union and found that the style suited him perfectly and now 35 years later he has lost none of his enthusiasm for the Martial Arts.

Over the years Tom has trained with many top Japanese and European Sensei including Chojiro Tani, the founder of Shukokai. He has also trained in other arts such as Aikido, Jujitsu and Kobudo.

He has represented his association at both National and International levels and was a silver medalist in the Shukokai European Championships in Paris.

Tom joined UKASKO in 1999,and is now an association Dan grade examiner, a level 2 coach and chief instructor of the Lincoln Shukokai Karate centre.

Tom can be contacted via the club website just type in Lincoln Shukokai. Tel: 01522/500546.

GARRY LEWIS (Black Belt 4th Dan)

Garry began the art of Shukokai Karate in 1985 at the age of 17 under Sensei Ossie Rowe in the Shukokai Karate Federation.

During this time he had the chance to train on numerous occasions with Sensei Eddie Daniels and Master Shigeru Kimura and won the National Championships in Kumite.

He joined the United Kingdom All Styles Karate Organisation in 1990, during which time he has represented the association at both Kata and Kumite.

Garry passed his Black Belt 1st Dan at the national black belt gradings under Shihan Stanhope in 1994 going on to pass his 2nd Dan in 1999, 3rd Dan in 2002 and being awarded his 4th Dan by Shihan Stanhope in 2007. During his time with UKASKO he has had the privilege of attending various courses including Shihan Roy Stanhope 8th Dan, Sensei Terry Pottage 8th Dan, Sensei Kunio Miyake 8th Dan and Sensei Kevin Barlow 7th Dan.

Garry started Komayaka Karate Club in January 2007, which he now runs with his assistant instructor Duwain Chase 2nd Dan.

Garry is also a Level III Coach and Association Dan Grade Examiner.

Garry can be contacted on Tel: 01616284170 or Email: garry@komayakakarateclub.co.uk
or via his Club Website www.komayakakarateclub.co.uk