IOGKF Goulburn
LAMBERT KARATE DOJO

The institute of traditional karate

Profiles

     IOGKF INTERNATIONAL SENIOR INSTRUCTORS

Sensei David John Lambert - IOGKF International Editor

David John Lambert (DJ) began training not long after his third birthday. The son of Australia's Chief Instructor, Shihan David Alexander Lambert, he was basically born into the Karate world and the IOGKF. He began his training at his family dojo, the Institute of Traditional Karate. Where he still trains and teaches Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do today.

DJ competed for 12 years in IOGKF tournaments, taking 14 IOGKF Australian tournament titles over that period of time. He retired from competitive Karate in 2004 to take a more deeper understanding of the subject. “I think sports Karate is fine for young people and beginners, but it should be looked upon as a step on the path to true Karate, only a small part of the whole subject.”

In 2000, Shihan David Lambert, Sensei Lambert's father and teacher passed away suddenly from cancer. The dojo passed to the latter's most capable students, one of which was a young Sensei Lambert.
From then Lambert's Karate study took an even more serious approach and he continued to study with Master Morio Higaonna and his senior IOGKF instructors whenever they were in the Oceania region. In 2004 he took out Gold at the Championships in both Kata (forms) and Kumite (free fighting) in the under 18's age group. To put his achievement into perspective, there was a 2 year age gap between him and the other competitors, making him the youngest and the smallest in the division he eventually won.

Since 2001 he has been around the World with Karate numerous times. He has traveled to Okinawa, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, England, Thailand, Singapour and Germany just to name a few!
In 2007 he spent two months teaching Karate in Scotland with his uncle and Scottish Chief Instructor, Sensei John Lambert and was also the only foreign instructor to teach at the English 2007 European Childrens Gasshuku, besides Japanese Karate Master, Terauchi Kazuo Sensei.

In 2008 he spent an extended period of time living in Okinawa - the birthplace of Karate, studying everyday under his Master, Higaonna Morio Sensei. During this time Sensei Lambert was training between 25-30 hours per week. While in Okinawa he attended the 2008 World Budosai where he was on the official organising staff that was in charge on running the festival that had over 800 people training. He was also used numerous times by the senior instructors who taught split sessions to assist in demonstrating. Along with this at the 2008 World Budosai Master's demonstrations, he was invited to be part of the Honbu dojo (Higaonna dojo-world headquarters) team that demonstrated traditional supplementary training and Physical body conditioning to the 1500 people present. He was also assistant to Sensei Eric Higaonna (Master Higaonna's son) at his performance at the Masters demonstrations at the same event.

Today with the blessing of Master Higaonna and many of the IOGKF senior instructors, he is now head instructor at his fathers Karate dojo, where he endeavours to pass on the same values and traditions that have been handed down to him as well as representing the IOGKF Australian organisation and Karate's morals as best as he can - something he is very passionate about.

In 2009 he was promoted to Editor for IOGKF International by Higaonna Sensei and Nakamura Sensei. His duty is to over see any published work by IOGKF members and he is incharge of the highly respected IOGKF International Newsletter, which is available through www.iogkf.com

SHIHAN DAVID ALEXANDER LAMBERT

1957 " 2000, Australian Chief Instructor Institute of Traditional Karate Founder.

Shihan David Lambert

was born on the 7th of November, 1957 in the county of Fife Scotland. He was the second son of five Children to John and Mary.

He left school in 1972 to work as an apprentice bricklayer and it was around the same time Lambert discovered Karate.

Sensei David™s older brother John had been training for two years under instructor James Johnston. The training was very severe and the club, which was run at the Fife sports Institute, was under the British Karate Federation (BKF) which was headed by Vernon Bell.
A few years later the BKF diminished and the club fell under the Scottish Karate Board of Control (SKB). James Johnston, after seeing a demonstration of Goju-kai was put into contact with a man named Peter Rousseau " this was their first introduction to Okinawan Goju-ryu.
Over the next few years, Sensei Dave, along with Brother John and friend James Flannigan, would be instructed from Mr. Peter Rousseau, Mr. Hiromi Suzuki and Peter™s brother, Mr. James Rousseau.
In 1979, in Poole, seeing the need to form an International organization due to his growing reputation and following, Master Morio Higaonna visited England and formed the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF). An organization dedicated to the preservation of the true Karate and philosophy of Miyagi Chojun Sensei. This would be the beginning of a life long friend ship between Master Higaonna and Sensei Dave.
Sensei John Lambert and Sensei James Flannigan formed the Scottish Goju-ryu Karate Association and became chief Instructors for Scotland, under the IOGKF.

Sensei Dave tested for his Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt) in Alicante, Spain the following year under Master Higaonna " this was the first time anyone from Scotland had ever tested outside of the UK. He sat his Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt) in Leopoldsburg, Belgium the year after, shortly before taking up residence in Australia.
Not long after arriving, he met his wife Angela and eventually built a home in Goulburn and opened the local Karate Dojo at JT™s fitness center, which was located in Knox Street, Goulburn.
In 1985 he journeyed to South Africa for the 4th IOGKF World Gasshuku where he sat his Sandan (3rd Degree Black Belt), again under Higaonna Sensei.
Four years after Sensei Dave sat his Yondan (4th Degree) and his Godan (5th Degree) five years after that.

Higaonna Sensei, Sensei LambertSensei Dave also received a rare honor when he passed the test for Shihan (Master degree) under Higaonna Sensei in the early 1990™s. This honor has only been passed onto a selected few. Before this in 1991, Higaonna Sensei appointed Sensei Dave as Chief Instructor for Australia and a few years after that, IOGKF International executive committee member for the Asian Pacific and Oceania region. He was also promoted to Chief Referee for the IOGKF.

 

 

A dojo (training hall) was soon after built onto the back of his Goulburn home and the Institute of Traditional Karate was established. Sensei Dave nurtured many students in his dojo including, Mark Hailston, Paul Parlett, Gavin Hill, and even his own son, DJ.

Sensei Dave also had the honor of teaching and demonstrating at large scale events all across the globe, including in Okinawa at the 1998 World Budosai Festival.

Shihan Lambert fell ill in early 2000 and sadly passed away in the evening of the 27th of May the same year. He left behind him a gapeing whole in the IOGKF world, but a wonderful legacy for all Australian students to follow through his home dojo and training methods.

The amazing friendship shared between him and his Sensei, exists still with his remaining family. A large stone sits in Lambert™s dojo from Higaonna Sensei with a special engraving. Higaonna Sensei also sent Lambert his Rokudan (6th Degree) certificate.

As a tribute to Shihan Lambert, the IOGKF created the Shihan David Lambert memorial trophy. The award is presented at the IOGKF Miyagi Chojun Festival to the person who has shown the most spirit throughout the training event. A replica of the trophy sits in his dojo.

Another tribute is the IOGKF Australia Shihan David Lambert club champions shield. Once a year an IOGKF tournament is held in honor of Shihan Lambert and used to promote friendly relations between young dojo members.

Memorial Sensei Lambert's final actual Black Belt was left to his family. In November 2003, he was inducted into the Goulburn region sporting hall of fame. Although it was made clear Karate is not a sport, his son DJ proudly accepted the award on his father's behalf. The Lambert family have placed Sensei Lambert's belt on display in the Goulburn RSL club, where the hall of fame is located, along with a list of his achievements and photograph. The belt sits along side awards from Olympic medalist and 1st grade Rugby League and Rugby Union players.

 

SENSEI JOHN LAMBERT - IOGKF SCOTLAND CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

I commenced my training in October 1973 at the Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE), under the auspices of the British Karate Federation (BKF), which was headed by Vernon C F Bell.

The style practised was called Yosiekan, which in real terms was a mish mash of Shotokan, mixed with a bit of this and that.

James Johnston was the first instructor to lead me through the learning path of Karate-do.

The training was very intense, even in some instances it could be described as brutal, it was a different education the emphasis was on being tough and durable rather than seeking perfection or understanding.

This was around the "Bruce Lee" phenomenon, when movies like Big Boss and Enter the Dragon hit the screens, classes were bursting at the seams and the student turnover was high, but numbers were consistent.

Sensei Jim Flannigan and I became good friends, as well as regular training partners and headed off to as many classes are there was in a week, in some cases we were training every day of the week, some of the days had two training sessions, Sunday was different it was three, morning at the FIPRE, afternoon at the YMCA with the legendary Ju-Jitsu training sessions and in the evening off to Abbeyview in Dunfermline, it is no wonder I did not make work on numerous Monday mornings!!

We were joined in the early part of 1974 by my late brother David, who got the bug and just enjoyed the training and the experiences that followed. David sadly passed away in May 2000 leaving a gaping hole in the world of Karate-do and in those that knew and loved him.

In the early part of 1974 our relationship with the BKF diminished drastically and we parted company. ** We reformed as the Scottish Yosiekan Karate Federation (SYKF). Classes were still running with high numbers, we joined the Scottish Karate Board of Control (SKB) in this period too, which paved the way for those of us who were daft enough to take part in competitions and also train to become referees, the latter being one of the worlds' most thankless tasks.

**An interesting little story before our departure from BKF. Mr Bell introduced us to two new Kata he had learned from a "Japanese Instructor", Getsu No 1 and Getsu No 2, the resemblance to Gekkisai Dai Ichi and Dai Ni was amazing. It transpired a few years later that the "Japanese Instructor" was a chef at Heathrow and at some point in his life had trained Goju-Ryu and by some sheer coincidence literally bumped into Mr Bell, the rest from there is history.

Training was simpler then, for me that is, you trained, you socialised and then went home, someone else then had the responsibility of running classes and dealing with day to day issues that were raised.

Late 1974 was the first time we saw a style of a different nature, more Goju-Kai than anything else. It was a demonstration we went to in Glasgow, we saw a guy by the name of Steve Morris perform some mean feats, including bending an iron bar against the ground with his throat!. Amazed by this Jimmy Johnston had a chat and was passed a contact to get in touch with.

Peter Rousseau, a South African ex pat living in England was our first introduction to Okinawan Goju-Ryu. The introduction itself did not last for long, the decision was made to make a change of style, SYKF disappeared and we became the Scottish Amateur Goju-Ryu Association (SAGA), to link up names with our bothers in South Africa, the change took place in early 1975.

The training in general was very different, even difficult at some stages, but still a challenge. I tested for shodan in December of 1975 in the FIPRE with Sensei Jim Flannigan, the test itself was hard both physically and mentally, I remember being very nervous to the extent that I almost never got through the grading.

Peter was around training us until the start of 1976. I think this was around the time that Sensei Frank Sargent came on the scene too.

Enter our new taskmaster, Hiromi Suzuki, the first Japanese instructor to teach Goju-Ryu in Scotland and boy did he make us work hard indeed. His kata we had never seen the like of, it just looked so elegant and powerful, the emphasis on feeling in the kata was such a pleasure to watch. Hiromi was from Okinawa and I believe he trained with Higaonna Sensei for some time in Naha before heading off to Stockholm to open a dojo.

The training and relationship with Suzuki lasted to the latter part of 1977. A group of Scottish students in this year travelled to Stockholm to train at the Hornsgaten Dojo, an experience never to be forgotten, an entire book could be written on this alone.

After Suzuki in 1978 was Sensei James Rousseau, brother of Peter, temporarily based in the UK, he was next to lead the path to Goju-Ryu. By this time a well renowned international teacher and a respected student of Higaonna Sensei. Sensei James spent many occasions in Japan training under Sensei at the famous Yoyogi Dojo in Tokyo, the base at that time for Sensei Higaonna.

Sensei James was a key figure in promoting Okinawan Goju-Ryu and the skills and travel of Sensei to Europe and indeed the UK, he was the main player in the setting up of the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF) in Poole in 1979. Before '79 we trained extensively and learned vast amounts of Goju-Ryu from Sensei James and Teruo Chinen, another well-known Okinawan Sensei, renowned for his hard training methods and strict regimes.

My first introduction to Sensei Higaonna was also in Poole, this was the first of the International Gasshukus to be organised on behalf of the IOGKF. The Gasshuku training period was a gruelling two weeks, with week 1 for black belts only and the second for all grades. Training with Sensei for the fist time was a unique experience, I had never seen karate being performed at this level and also training with so many other people from different countries was an awesome opportunity. I made many new friends at this Gasshuku and still meet them to this day.

The IOGKF was born at this Gasshuku, it was also the first time I had seen Chojun Miyagi's family crest, the Kenkon. I was very fortunate to be involved with the start of the IOGKF and continue to support it, now and in the future.

After this Gasshuku, some turbulence was appearing within SAGA, in particular I was unhappy with the way things were progressing in the pursuit of Okinawan Goju-Ryu and decided to part company.

On my departure, I was given the support of so many SAGA black belts and students that we decided to form our own organisation, The Scottish Goju-Ryu Karate-do Association, this organisation was run for many years jointly by Sensei Jim Flannigan and I, supported by Sensei Frank Sargent and numerous other SGKA members, to whom I express my sincere thanks.

SGKA continued to thrive with the assistance of Sensei James and also Sensei George Andrews from London, both visited Scotland on many occasions and numerous amounts of our students travelling south to train.

The next few years saw SGKA students travelling to European and international destinations to train under Higaonna Sensei and many other well renowned Sensei's'.

We hosted the 1984 European Gasshuku in Glenrothes, with Higaonna Sensei and James Rousseau heading the weeks training with over two hundred IOGKF members from around the globe attending

I have been very fortunate to have trained in Okinawa on many occasions under the watchful eye of Higaonna Sensei, accompanied by Anichi Miyagi Sensei, the latter being a direct student of Chojun Sensei, I have also trained in Naha with Suichi Aragaki Sesnsei, who was also taught by Chojun Sensei.

SGKA have supported me to attend numerous Gasshukus in many different countries, I wish to take this opportunity to thank SGKA members past and present for the encouragement and support.

I still train and teach and hope to continue for many years to come

Grading Record:

Shodan under Peter Rousseau in Glenrothes in 1975
Nidan under James Rousseau in Reading in 1980
Sandan under Sensei Higaonna/James Rouseau in July 1986
Yondan under Sensei Higaonna in Okinawa in 1991
Godan under Sensei Higaonna in London in 2000

IOGKF INTERNATIONAL SENIOR INSTRUCTORS

MASTER MORIO HIGAONNA - IOGKF WORLD CHIEF INSTRUCTOR & OKINAWAN GOJU-RYU 10TH DAN

Higaonna Sensei was in Okinawa born on Christmas day in 1938. As a young boy he trained with his father in another style of Karate and was immediately taken in by what he saw and learnt. Soon after he began training with a school friend, Tsunetaka Shimabukuro Sensei, in his front garden. Shimabukuro told Higaonna Sensei of the immense power of Goju-ryu and that he should join the garden dojo of Miyagi Chojun Bushi.

So at the age of 16, and with the appropriate introductions arranged, the young Higaonna presented himself at the garden dojo of Miyagi Bushi to train. Miyagi Bushi had since passed away but one of the seniors told Higaonna Sensei ‘Anichi Miyagi is the most knowledgeable, go and learn from him.™

This began a life long relationship between Higaonna Sensei and his teacher, Master Anichi Miyagi. Anichi Sensei is a direct disciple of Miyagi Bushi and spent extensive time training with the latter in private at his home in the legendary garden dojo.

When his mentor, Anichi Sensei™s, work took him over seas, Higaonna Sensei decided too, to see more of the world. He attended Tokyo™s Takushoku university and opened the legendary Yoyogi dojo.

Yoyogi would become one of the most famous and most attended dojo™s by foreigners in the world during the 1970™s and early 1980™s. Higaonna Sensei began extremely well known and earned the description as ‘the most dangerous man in Japan in a real fight™.

In July, 1979 in Poole, England, Higaonna Sensei founded, with the permission of many of Chojun Sensei™s senior students, the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF) " a federation dedicated to spreading the true Karate, philosophy, and teachings of Miyagi Chojun Sensei throughout the world. Today the IOGKF has over 50,000 members in over 45 different countries.

Higaonna Sensei now lives back in Okinawa where he has since established the famous Higaonna Dojo and has credit for turning out such fine instructors such as Sensei™s Bakkies Laubscher, Kazuo Terauchi, George Andrews, Ernie Molyneux Nakamura Tetsuji and David Lambert, just to name a few.

He travels Internationally regularly to conduct seminars around the world and with the aid of some of his most senior and dedicated students. His is as humble as any human could be and is a true Master of the Martial Arts. He was graded to 10th Dan in September 2007 by his Masters, Master Anichi Miyagi and Master Shuichi Aragaki - both direct decendents of Miyagi Chojun Sensei, the founder of Goju-ryu Karate.

He also has a large range of Instruction tools. He wrote the History of Karate, the definitive work on his art in 1995, and the Goju-ryu Technical series which is avaliable on video and DVD. He is currently working on his newest book along with the Encyclopedia of Goju-ryu DVD series- all of which is avaliable through Dragon associates inc (see links)

www.iogkf.com

Yamashiro SenseiYAMASHIRO KATSUYA SENSEI -  IOGKF INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN. IOGKF JAPAN CHIEF INSTRUCTOR. OKINAWA GOJU RYU 7th DAN

NAKAMURA TETSUJI SENSEI - IOGKF INTERNATIONAL VICE-CHIEF INSTRUCTOR, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR. IOGKF CANADA AND USA CHIEF INSTRUCTOR. OKINAWA GOJU RYU 6th DAN

Nakamura Sensei Sensei Nakamura, head-instructor at Shudokan Family Karate & Fitness Centre, has been training in Goju-Ryu Karate for over 25 years. He was a student in Okinawa, Japan, the birthplace of karate. He received instructions from the karate master who is the direct student of the founder of Goju-Ryu Karate - Master Chojun Miyagi. Sensei Nakamura has won 3 World Championships - twice in kumite (sparring), and once in kata (forms).

He was a head-assistant instructor under Master Morio Higaonna (10th degree black belt, Chief Instructor of IOGKF) at the world headquarters in California, USA (1991 " 94) as well as Japanese headquarters in Tokyo (1995 " 1997). He moved to Canada 1997 as a technical advisor for IOGKF Canada. He was soon appointed as a Chief Instructor for IOGKF Canada & North America as well as the Administrative Director for IOGKF International. Sensei Nakamura travels internationally to teach karate seminars. He holds a law degree and teacher™s license for philosophy, politics, and economics from Kagawa University, Japan. He is currently a 6th degree black belt in Goju-Ryu Karate and a 2nd degree black belt in Judo.

SENSEI BAKKIES LAUBSCHER - IOGKF INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ADVISOR AND HEADQUATER GRADING PANEL MEMEBER. IOGKF SOUTH AFRICA CHIEF INSTRUCTOR OKINAWA GOJU RYU 8th DAN.

SHORT BACKGROUND

Bakkies Laubscher Sensei was born on 30 November 1948 in Bethlehem in the Free State, but has been living in the wine lands of the Cape, Stellenbosch, for the past 49 years.

After High School, he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education as well as a Higher Teachers Diploma. He spent six years as a schoolteacher before joining the South African National Defence Force as a Sport and Physical Training officer, where he was applied as head of the Defence Force Sports Club Western Cape Command with rank Lieutenant colonel. As a Senior Staff Officer, he was trained in management skills and was exposed to various levels of corporate management and decision-making. He is currently retired from the military and spends most of his time on karate.

KARATE BACKGROUND

He started karate as a boy in 1964, in the Kyokushinkai style. In1965, his teacher changed to JKA (Shotokan), in which he was graded to Senior Sho dan at the age of 16 by the well-known JKA icons, Senseis Taiji Kase and Hiroshi Shirai.

At the age of 16, he also won the Cape Province Grand Champion (Kata and Kumite) title for the first time to put this achievement in perspective, there were no age or weight categories in those days!

He changed to Goju Ryu in 1966, when James Rousseau, also previously JKA, introduced Goju Ryu to South Africa, and later to the UK and Europe. His association with Higaonna Morio Sensei, began in 1972, when Higaonna Sensei came to South Africa for the first time and spend three months teaching in Cape Town.

At this time, Higaonna Sensei invited him to Japan to further his study and in 1973 he left for Japan. He spend almost six months in Japan training in the famous Yoyogi Dojo with Higaonna Sensei, Higaonna Sensei being in his early 30™s at this time.

He subsequently visited Okinawa for the first time later in the year with Sensei Higaonna and a group from Yoyogi Dojo for the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of Chojun Miyagi Sensei™s death, and was one of a few foreigners that gave a demonstration during this festival.

Since 1973, he has returned to Japan and Okinawa on nine more occasions for training with Higaonna Sensei and has had the great honour and privilege of meeting and being instructed by Sensei Higaonna™s mentor, An™ichi Miyagi Sensei, since 1981.

He is currently maybe one of only a handful of foreigners left in the IOGKF who actually spent considerable time training in Japan in the 'old' days.

He believes that™s the principals of the martial arts must stay the same " it is not a sport.

GENERAL

He was graded to Hachi Dan (8th) by Higaonna Sensei in 2004 in Okinawa during the World Budosai.

He gets invited to teach all over the world on a regular basis and has taught in England, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Namibia and Spain.

He is married with his wife, Denise, and has two sons and a daughter.

To hear and interview with Bakkies Sensei visit media section of this website.

SENSEI KAZUO TERAUCHI -  IOGKF INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ADVISOR AND HEADQUATER GRADING PANEL MEMEBER. OKINAWAN GOJU-RYU 8TH DAN

Terauchi Kazuo Sensei is an 8th dan in Okinawa Goju Ryu karate-do. He has over 35 years direct training experience with the I.O.G.K.F chief instructor, Higaonna Morio Sensei, and is currently vice chairman of the International Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Federation. Terauchi Sensei is renown throughout the I.O.G.K.F for his fighting spirit, and hard training.

Terauchi Sensei's profile

Goju-ryu 8th dan
IOGKF Vice-chairman
East Japan All Goju-ryu Kumite Champion (1978)
IOGKF World Championship Kumite Champion (Okinawa, 1981)
Tokyo All styles Championship Kumite 2nd place (1981)
Goju-kai All Japan Championship Kumite Champion (1981)
IOGKF All Japan Championship Kumite 2nd place (Okinawa, 1984)

SENSEI ERNIE MOLYNEUX - IOGKF INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER - CHIEF INSTRUCTOR IOGKF EGKA ENGLAND - IOGKF 7th Dan

Ernie Moylineix Sensei Ernie Molyneux™s first involvement with the Martial Arts was when he was a boy. Although he started by practicing Judo, he soon found himself losing interest and decided to leave. A few years later, he started practicing boxing and although he found it very good, the class had been geared for those students who had been selected to fight in the Amateur Boxing Association Championships.

Ernie eventually started practicing Karate in 1972, when he was 18 years old. He had made some inquiries into Okinawan Karate after seeing an advert for it, which he can still remember today. It read: ‘Classical Okinawan Karate Do™. He decided to go along and watch a class, not only to satisfy his curiosity but also with the hope that it would be the style of Martial Art that he had been looking for. The Dojo was situated close to the Docks of Liverpool on the outskirts of China Town. The class that he watched left such an impression on him that he couldn™t wait to join. It lasted for three hours, starting with a strenuous warm-up, basics and moving basics. The class then went on to practice Kata, Sanchin Kata and Makiwara (Okinawan striking board) and finished with a bout of sparring, the seniors taking on two opponents at a time. Ernie threw himself into this close quarter combat style of Karate, practising it seven days a week. The instructor who ran the Dojo was a professional Karate-ka called Bob Greenhalgh. Ernie trained at the Dojo until it closed down in 1977. He continued to train with Bob Greenhalgh at his Dojo in Manchester at the same time also teaching at a Dojo in the Childwall District of Liverpool.

It was around this time that Ernie began to participate in tournaments. As a Dojo, it did not enter any tournaments due to the lack of experience of its fighters. Ernie started to train at a Shotokan Karate Dojo once weeks to gain some experience in Kumite. The Dojo had a large number of Black Belts, some being 2nd and 3rd Dans. The Dojo™s kumite was very strong and some of it™s senior fighters went on to become British and European Champions. It wasn™t long before Ernie was invited to fight for its team. In 1978, he fought in his first International Tournament. This was a tour of Scandinavia and Ernie was a 1st Kyu at the time. He said how much he enjoyed fighting and has listed some of the highlights of his tournament career:

Quarter Finalist - 1974/75 British All Styles under 21™s
3rd - 1978/79 British National Championships
2nd - 1981/82 European Goju-Ryu Championships Team Kumite
3rd - 1982/83 European Goju-Ryu Championships Individual Mid Weight Kumite
1st - 1983/84 European Goju-Ryu Championships Team Kumite
3rd - 1984/85 European Goju-Ryu Championships Team Kumite& Kata
1st - 1989/90 1st Miyagi Chojun Festival Open Kumite
1st - 1990/91 Mid West England Individual Kata
1st - 1990/92 Mid West England Individual Kata
1st - 1990/92 Mid West England Team Kata

Ernie took over the Bournemouth Karate Academy in 1982 which Sensei James Rousseau had been running since 1977.

Over the past 10 years, the Dojo has seen it™s fair share of success. It boasts an impressive collection of trophies from both National and International Tournaments in both Kata and Kumite. Ernie believes that if they had developed Iri Kumi 10 or 15 years ago, it would have probably been as popular today as Knock Down is in Kyokushinkai.

When Ernie began practising the Martial Arts there was not such a wide variety of styles for people to practice as there are today. Shotokan Karate was the most popular style in Liverpool at the time, however, Goju-Ryu Karate was still very well respected. The realization of the depth of Karate had dawned upon him and he wanted to learn as much about it™s history as he could.

In 1974, Bob Greenhalgh had heard from a friend that a 5th Dan Okinawa Goju-Ryu Instructor called James Rousseau had recently arrived to England fromSouth Africa. Bob Greenhalgh, accompanied by a party of Black Belts, travelled to Oxford for a seminar that Sensei James Rousseau was holding. They were so impressed with his technique that when they returned to their Dojo™s, they started to teach what they had been taught. The students soon began to notice a change in their Kata with the introduction of Bunkai. They were also exposed to the introduction of Hojo Undo, where as before they had only used weights.

This was Ernies™ first involvement with what was to become the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Federation (IOGKF). From this time on, he trained with several senior foreign instructors. It wasn™t until 1977 that he personally trained with Higaonna Sensei, during his first trip to England for the English Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Association (EGKA). Higaonna Sensei was recovering from an appendix operation so was obviously not at his best, however, the impression that was left embedded in his mind was to remain there to this day, giving him a never-ending source of inspiration.

Ernie had read articles and had heard comments that had been made by students who had returned from Japan after training with Higaonna Sensei. In his opinion they did him no justice whatsoever. Higaonna Sensei has been a role model for Ernie as well as for many of the instructors in the IOGKF.

In 1978, Ernie took his Shodan under the instruction of Sensei James Rousseau. His Dan gradings since then have been in line with the IOGKF time-scale. 1978 (1st Dan), 1980 (2nd Dan), 1982 (3rd Dan), 1986 (4th Dan) 1991 (5th Dan) and (6th Dan) 1997, (7th Dan) 2002.

There have been times when Ernie™s students have approached him to ask what motivates him to continue training so religiously. Ernie said he could never imagine not training in Goju-Ryu Karate and the only thing that would stop him from doing so would be an injury. As he has become older he has to listen to his body more carefully.

If Ernie notices any sign of a student becoming despondent with their training, he always makes an effort to find out why, inquiring whether they have a health or personal problem. He often tells his students that if they find they are becoming bored with their training they should recall how they felt when they first started, when every technique they learnt was new and challenging. Ernie says that he enjoys teaching Karate as much as he does being taught it. He feels that he still has so much to learn about Karate and Budo.

Sensei Ernie™s thoughts on traditional Karate are rather mixed. He has always been interested in history and tradition and feels that with Karate this is no exception so long as people train sincerely and do not try to hide behind the fact that œbecause they practice traditional Karate they should not participate in tournaments or practice Ju-Kumite. On the other hand, he thinks that as a Martial Artist, you should not ignore progress. If you can acquire an effective technique from another style and incorporate it into your own, then why not? He feels that many people who practice ‘Traditional Karate™ build themselves big reputations from training briefly with more than one Master and from writing articles and books. Ernie said that he too liked to learn new things, but felt that the performance of a single technique was more important than the knowledge of many.

In 1986, after Sensei Ernie was graded to Yondan, he was invited to teach in several European countries, namely Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal More recently, he has travelled to Russia, Iceland (photo gallery here) and the Ukraine on behalf of the IOGKF and the concept of it being one family has never felt stronger for him.

As for the future, as chief instructor for England and a member of the IOGKF executive committee, Sensei Ernie continues working with the Higaonna Sensei (now 10th degree black belt) to preserve Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do for future generations. He is also working to give his students the same opportunities that he has had, with the hope that they will follow in his footsteps and represent a style of Karate that has given him so much in life.

"The performance of a single technique is more important than the knowledge of many - Ernie Molyneux

Sensei LarsenSENSEI HENRIK LARSEN -  IOGKF INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER. CHIEF INSTRUCTOR OF IOGKF DENMARK. OKINAWA GOJU RYU 7th DAN

SENSEI GEORGE ANDREWS/a> - IOGKF OTGKA ENGLAND CHIEF INSTRUCTOR - IOGKF 7th Dan

George Andrews Sensei Sensei George Andrews's first exposure to the fighting traditions was in the year 1960. When as a schoolboy he joined Fitzroy Lodge in South London and boxed for the school.

He applied to join his first karate dojo in 1965 but was turned away as he was too young. He persevered and in 1967 he took his first karate class. The style was Mushindo (Lit: no mind way) which was a mixture of styles of karate. He graded to the rank of Nidan in 1973. In 1974 he was exposed to Okinawan Goju Ryu. He ceased training in Mushindo and devoted all his energies to training in Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-do. Three years later in 1977 he met and trained under Sensei Higaonna Morio, this was to be the first of a lifetime of training with Higaonna Sensei.

Sensei George Andrews opened his first dojo, the famous 'marble factory' ,in Camberwell, London in May 1974. At it's height the dojo was teaching an average of 1000 students per year. Many of karate's most famous names have trained and stayed at the dojo, Sensei Higaonna, Sensei Chinen Teruo, Sensei James Rousseau, Sensei Kato Tomoyuki, Sensei Onaga Roichi, Sensei Suzuki Tatsuo (Wado Ryu), Sensei Kimura (Shito Ryu), and from England, Brian Waits, Steve Bellamy and the Editor of Fighting Arts, Terry O'Neil.

Sensei George Andrews first visited Japan in 1985. He trained twice daily with Sensei's Higaonna and Kato for the seven weeks he was there.

Gradings

Retest for Shodan 1975
Retest for Nidan 1977
Sandan 1980
Yondan 1984
Godan 1988
Rokudan and Shihan 1993
Nanadan 1999

Sensei George Andrews has taught in many different countries around the world and continues to do so including the USA, Russia, Europe, Iceland, Poland, Israel and Australia.

In 2002 Sensei Andrews along with his senior students formed the Okinawan Traditional Goju Ryu Karate-do Association to preserve and continue the traditions and teachings of Sensei Higaonna Morio and the I.O.G.K.F in England.