The Faversham club was established early in 2000, which was directly as a response to the need for a club at my regular sports centre in Faversham, where i was playing squash. I was already training as a 1st Dan Black belt under the instruction of Sensei Ron Jones from Ramsgate. I asked Sensei Jones for his approval to start teaching a few friends at the sports centre, this soon grew to include other club members and their children. The club quickly gained new members and a good reputation and grew in numbers quite rapidly, fortunately i was helped out by an old friend and sparring partner to get things going, which in those early days helped enormously.
The difficult second club !
After the fantastic success of the Faversham club, the opportunity to take over the already established Whitstable club came about really by accident. The resident instructor at the time had a career change, which meant he could not carry on running it. This meant the club would have closed down. As this was the club where I had got back in to Karate after a short break, i couldn’t stand by and see it fade away, so i was offered the chance to take on the club from Sensei Jones. I agreed to run the club, but only if i could take it over completely, including the administration and day to day running. I have been proudly running both clubs ever since, we have an excellent group of students in a friendly and welcoming environment, which is open to all.
Training since 1980
I started my journey in martial arts as an eleven year old, with the Korean based Tae Kwon Do, which was taught to me by Arthur Dickinson, a fantastic teacher who was both patient and thorough, I have moved through Wuzuquan Kung Fu with sifu Harold Atkinson and Shigong Kim Han, Bujinkai Karate with sensei Bob Spool, and settling with Shotokan Karate early in 1991, continuing to this day. I certainly believe Shotokan is the most solid and practical of all the styles I have studied, over the years and I believe It will be with me now for many years to come.
To share my enthusiasm and knowledge with my students, is by far the most satisfying part of my martial arts journey.
Club Sensei – Chris Syrett – 4th Dan