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h i s t o r y s e n s e i c l a s s c a l e n d e r n e w s m e m b e r l i n k |
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the history of karate
Karate did not as is generally believed originate in Japan It
can be traced from India to China to Okinawa to Japan and to the West India has many martial arts which are thousands of years old but generally unknown This is due to the popularity of Chinese Japanese and Korean martial arts
In AD527 an Indian monk named Boddhidarma arrived in China at the invitation of Emperor Ling Wu to teach Buddhism After being dismissed by the emperor Boddhidarma travelled China and eventually reached the northern Shaolin Temple where he taught monks fighting techniques From this starting point many different styles of Gung Fu developed This was due to the way Chinese society was structured Large cities developed on the coast but the mainland consisted primarily of small villages Each of these villages taught their own form of Gung Fu for protection against thieves and rival villages No one knows for certain how Gung Fu moved from China to Okinawa but it is thought that the Okinawan fighting systems were influenced by Fourteenth Century Chinese settlers known as the 'thirty six families' who taught the Chinese arts to the Okinawans Karate was originally known as Toudi-jutsu. Tou meaning China di meaning hand and jutsu meaning art or science Under Kanryo Higaonna [1840-1910] and Chojun Miyagi [1888 -1953] Naha-te was developed into Gojo Ryu It is from Shorin Ryu that the Shotokan Shotokai and Wado Ryu styles were delvoped A combination of all three styles was developed by Mabuni Kenwa known as Shito Ryu from which Shukokia was developed It was not until Owkinawan Masters went to Japan to teach their art that the name Karate-jutsu was first used Kara meaning empty and te meaning hand This was later replaced by karate-do [the Way of Karate] However it was not until 1936 that the name karate-do was officially recognised in Okinawa The popularity of Karate today is due to the sports form that was developed in the Japanese school system
club history
The history of Edinburgh Shukokia Karate Club covers a great number of years It originated in 1978 under the auspice of Sensei Kenny Grant At that time Sensei Grant was a member of the Kobe Osaka but as happens with most large organisations changes were made The club was originally called St Ann's Karate Club after the name of the hall in which they trained
Some years later Sensei Grant passed the running of the club to well respected instructors Sensei David Nelson and Sensei Michael Blainey who took the club into membership of the Amateur Martial Association [AMA] In the mid I980's Sensei Nelson's brother Steven became an assistant instructor and some years later he gained the rank of Shodan under the watchful eye of Sensei Grant and Sensei David Bellingham
At the start of 1989 the club underwent two major changes Firstly it lost the knowledge of Sensei Blainey and Sensei David Nelson who left because of other commitments This left Sensei Steven Nelson in charge of an ever-growing club
The second change was the name of the club It was felt that the club name should reflect the area in which they trained and so it was renamed Edinburgh Southside Shukokai Karate Club
In December of that year Sensei Stephen A McKenzie and in July of 1990 Sensei Derek Spratt achieved the rank of Shodan from Sensei Grant Sensei Steven Nelson and Sensei David Nelson Shortly afterwards Sensei Steven Nelson left the club to pursue his own training
This left Sensei McKenzie and Sensei Spratt with three possible options for the club First to pass the club on to another more senior instructor Second to close the club and let students find new clubs of their own Lastly to run the club together as had been the case with their predecessors They decided that taking over the club would be more beneficial to the club's existing members
They ran the club successfully together for over seven years expanding the club in 1994 to a second dojo within the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh Together the two clubs formed a solid teaching base for the students with Sensei McKenzie focusing on kata's and Sensei Spratt focusing on the more physical side of fitness and sparring or kumite
Sadly in 1997 the two clubs split to become separate entities with the students being divided between the two clubs Sensei Spratt took control of the Gilmerton club and maintained the name of Edinburgh Shukokia Karate Club while Sensei McKenzie maintained the Cowgate dojo renaming it the Takumi Karate Do which roughly translated means 'Skilful' or 'Clever'
As a separate entity the Edinburgh Shukokia Karate Club flourished going from strength to strength greatly increasing the size of the club's student base with Sensei Spratt passing on his knowledge and skills to his students one of which [Sensei Tracy Kirkpatrick] now helps teach and run the club
Today both clubs are again working closely together on furthering Shukokai Karate in Edinburgh and building an ever stronger base for the students of the clubs It is hoped that there will be additions to this set up in future years with new clubs or branches being opened throughout Edinburgh
There is a positive future for The Edinburgh Shukokia Karate Club with lots of activities and training programs for the students
Our policy is quite simple The club is there to serve the needs of its members not its instructors This has always been and will continue to be our golden rule
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