SKE Association and Club News

The 'Whiskas' Ad. Shotokan Karate England were called on to assist with the latest 'Whiskas' Cat food Ad. The Ad featuring well known actor Dan Hoffman-Gill, shows Dan learning to live like a cat - jumping, falling and incorporating Karate Kicks and punches into his routine. The day spent filming was great fun and the advert 'Man lives like a Cat' can be seen here on YouTube.

BBC Television - The One Show Shotokan Karate England were pleased to be involved with The Karate Kid film promotion and were filmed for The One Show with TV personality John Sergeant. John was a great sport and joined in with the Karate Class learning blocks and punches as well as catching a fly with his bare hands! Will Smith and his family watched the hilarious proceedings. The picture shows John Sergeant with the Karate members and the film crew on set.
Presentation from the Chief Instructor of Monaco Sensei Sato the Chief Instructor of Monaco presented Rod with a wonderful piece of Japanese calligraphy at the end of a recent European course. The calligraphy was to honour the effort and work that Rod has put into karate over the years. The calligraphy created by Sensei Sato's wife, describes karate, which like hot water, always needs heat to keep it on the boil. Look up the precepts of Karate by Master Gichin Funakoshi for a fuller understanding of the deeper meaning behind these words.
Ticky Donovan Course The legendary Ticky Donovan OBE and England National Coach is one of the latest top instructors to visit and instruct on an SKE course. The large dojo was packed with SKE students some of whom travelled many miles to take part.The course focussed on kumite with Ticky demonstrating some of the techniques that have kept him at the top of karate for decades.
OKAZAKI - KARATE LEGEND SKE Chief Instructor Rod Butler was a special guest of the ISKF in the USA. He was very honoured to be invited give a lecture and train with some of the worlds longest standing instructors: ISKF Chief Instructor Sensei T.Okazaki 9th Dan, T.Mikami 8th Dan, Y.Yaguchi 8th Dan, M.Ueki 8th Dan, S.Koyama 8th Dan, H.Ochi 8th Dan and S.Takashina 8th Dan.
SKE Summer Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan A great weekend of Karate with one of Sensei Enoeda's legendary students and instructors. Karate students travelled from all over the UK and even from abroad to take part in this very special weekend. The course wound up with a celebration meal at 'Jigsaw', a wonderful Italian restaurant in the heart of the historic town of Waltham Abbey.
Traditional Karate Magazine Interview with SKE Chief Instructor Rod Butler in the TRADITIONAL KARATE magazine. Do not miss! Rod talks about the formation of Shotokan Karate England and his own ideas of etiquette and behaviour. The magazine has sold out in the London area. Please note that availability of this issue is now limited.
Karate Course and Grading - London Karate students from far and wide attended the Special Course and Grading organised by Shotokan Karate England. Some students in attendance had travelled from Lithuania and Africa to be part of the course. We welcome all of our international members as special guests many of whom were new members of Shotokan Karate England.
21 Years - Chingford Karate SKE celebrated 21 years of karate in Chingford with a party and feast. The Chingford Karate Club started 21 years ago in the Waltham Forest College Chingford Annexe. The building has long since gone and is now part of a residential development. The Chingford Club is now situated in Forest School, Larkswood Leisure Centre, the Peter May Sports Centre and Waltham Forest Pool & Track.
21 Years - Celebration Feast and Party The celebration feast was wonderful, with cuisine from every part of the world. Prepared by the SKE ladies, guests had a selection of curries, salads and rice dishes from Asia and the Far East together with a grand slice of ‘Chingford Cake’ as a desert.
European Karate Tour - Luxembourg 40 members of Shotokan Karate England have just returned from a European Karate Tour. The group trained with Master Kasajima, the Chief Instructor of Luxembourg and were the guests of the European Investment Bank (EIB). SKE Chief Instructor Rod Butler was also a guest instructor on this special trip which formed part of the clubs' 20 year anniversary celebrations.
European Tour - 2006 Forty SKE students toured of the dojo of Europe, training and making friends with students from many other countries. Chief Instructor Rod Butler said "Karate is a great way to meet friends and exchange friendship with other countries. Some of these friendships last for years and even if there is a language problem karate seems to bring people together to enjoy their training and time together."
TV Stars - Japan One of our senior lady instructors Lucy Traettino has just finished three days filming with a Japanese film company. The company made a feature film on life in England featuring a lady Black Belt Karate instructor. The film 'AKARI MONOGATARI' was made for FUJI TV, the Japanese TV company and goes live on Japanese TV shortly.
Olympic Torch Relay - London, Athens Instructor Rod Butler was honoured to be chosen to run with the Olympic Flame during the Olympic Torch Relay in London - June 26th 2004. "An experience I will never forget," was how Rod described this once in a lifetime opportunity. Rod is pictured with Davina McCall at Lords cricket ground just before the Olympic Torch Relay. The whole event was televised internationally.
World Shotokan Championships - Japan Daniel Jenkinson, one of our junior club members, travelled to Japan to take part in the 2004 World Shoto Championships in Tokyo. Daniel was selected for this honour after winning the Junior National Kumite event in the National Karate Championships held in England.
Mike Woodward - France Mike Woodward a Chingford Club Black Belt, married his sweetheart Nathalie in Biot, France. It was a spectacular wedding in a wonderful old and historical part of Southern France. Sensei Kasajima and Sensei Rod were guests of honour. Guests travelled down to the event from all over Europe for what was, a great weekend.

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