My love affair with Martial Arts and Karate in particular came about through unhappy circumstances. When I was 10–11 years old my mother was being subject to domestic violence of a rather nasty nature. One day she decided 'enough was enough' and set about making changes to herself and the situation that would encourage this man to leave us. One of the most memorable things she did was to start Shotokan Karate, and she trained diligently every Tuesday and Thursday at the local club. She had been training for a few months, gained her 1st grade, and then one day the final showdown between her and this man arrived. She had the strength, the spirit and inner power to fight back . . . that day blood was spilled and it wasn't mum's! We never saw him again. After this event mum casually suggested I go along to the club and try it out . . . this was the only prompting that I ever needed. I trained heart and soul throughout my teens. I have so much to thank this art for, I feel like it saved my life, it kept me straight, keen and focussed through those notoriously stormy teenage years! When I was about 20yrs old due to unbalanced training (only sport karate) my injuries would not clear up so I began training in the wonderful art of Aikido, the most memorable and surprising moment being when I gained my black belt whilst being 5 months pregnant!
To cut a long story short I have come full circle after encountering Shoalin Kung Fu (tiger crane style), Capoeira and Living in Sweden for 5 years. But throughout these years away from Karate I have hankered after what it gave me and have always looked forward to returning home. Finding the right club has been the main issue and I am so overjoyed to be training with Sensei Mark and Libby who through thick and thin have kept a link with a truly inspiring school of Shotokan Karate, that being the SKIF. and Kanazawa sensei.
Shi-Gaku-Kan is a challenging, intense and highly rewarding club to train in and be part of. The technical level and brilliance of the instruction that we receive is truly rare and I thank my lucky stars every time I set foot in the Dojo and receive more experiences of this fine art.