I was introduced to karate by my wife. She wanted me to get more physical activity so one day in 2009 she insisted our family visited a karate demonstration by a local club. After the demonstration I was forced to sign up!
I put "my wife's insistence" as a reason for joining and this is how karate entered my life.
I joined the CFTS club in Wolverton under Sensei Bigsby in 2013 and later trained in Newport Pagnell under Renshi Kidby.
I achieved Shodan in October 2018. It is a significant milestone in my karate journey.
It was not easy to get there, I had doubts in myself and what I wanted from karate (or myself).
As Renshi Kidby once said: “Black belt is a white belt who did not give up”.
In my opinion, this is the main lesson karate teaches: hard work and perseverance will get you anywhere.