I have been training in martial for many years. Here in the Welcome area you will find a brief description of a few forms of martial arts and learn how I got into them.

That's me, by the way

As a kid, I wasn't particularly sporting. I never showed any interest in football, cricket or rugby, and I tried my best to avoid such sports wherever possible. Hence it was no surprise that whenever I attempted any such activity, I didn't immediately take to it. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say I displayed total ineptness.

Martial arts, or more specifically - karate - was another matter. I started karate when I was about seven years old and, surprisingly for me, turned out to be quite good at it. I say quite good at it, because there are certain aspects of karate that I never really mastered... More on this later.

I tried various styles of karate, starting with Wado Ryu. In my early teens I had attained a brown belt, but was then forced to quit due to an adolescent knee condition known as Osgood-Schlatters. (This is a condition whereby the rate of bone growth is higher than the tendons can sustain, resulting in inflammation and significant pain.)

A few years later when the condition had subsided, I returned to my old club but found that the standard of teaching had somewhat deteriorated. So I looked for an alternative and tried a style called Wu Shu Ky. That didn't last long as I didn't agree with the club politics. I then tried my hand at a 'freestyle' form of karate, where I attained my first black belt. This particular style placed significant emphasis on the 'flash' side of karate... jumping-spinning kicks and the various sorts of moves you would find in a Van Damme movie. It looked great (and we got to wear a black gi - the name for a karate suit), but wasn't a particularly effective form.

Looks like I'm about to lose two of my best friends.

Unfortunately, that particular club ceased to exist. Once again, I sought another style. By this time I was at university. The Oxford University Karate Club (OUKC) officially practiced the style of Shotokan.

Shotokan is a very traditional form of karate. Despite being the largest style practiced in the world today, I didn't initially feel that it fitted in with my previous 'flash' training. However, after a few months I rapidly began to appreciate the folly of my former ways as the sloppiness and ineffectiveness of my techniques became apparent. As far as karate goes, I have never looked back since.

Two years after starting Shotokan, training some five times per week, I attained my Shodan (i.e. first degree black belt). I then became an instructor for the OUKC and became captain of the squad in 1999/2000. I received a Full Blue from Oxford University the following year; this is an award presented by the university for sporting achievement and dedication to benefit a university club. As captain, it was generally my duty to be the first person to get pounded by the opposition!

With the OUKC, I was very fortunate to be trained by some superb instructors, such as Sensei Yoshinobu Ohta (6th Dan), Sensei Paul Coleman (6th Dan), Sensei Angelo Sanna (4th Dan), Sensei Mick Daniels (4th Dan), Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda (8th Dan) and Sensei David Graham (5th Dan). Karate is a discipline that is taught predominantly by example. Therefore it is more important than ever that the standard of teaching should be high. I've been very lucky in this respect.