Shihan Ian
Shihan Ian, the Chief Instructor, and Founder of the Kimberley Shotokan Karate Club in 1989, has been practising traditional Shotokan Karate since the mid 1970's. Shihan began his martial arts journey by studying Judo at Hyson Green.
It was not long before he started becoming more interested in a more self defence aspect martial arts, and a switch to study Shotokan Karate was soon on the agenda. He found a dojo on Ilkeston Road that would accept him and started training regularly, moving up the grades gradually. His hard work rate and ability soon shone through and Shihan applied to join the SKI where he benefited from the regular visits of Hanshi Asano and the special courses led by Soke Kanazawa and other Japanese instructors.
Shihan was an active competitor in both Kata and Kumite competition's and when Kancho Kanazawa formed the SKKIF, Sensei followed and continued to train in the traditional aspects of karate-do. Throughout his training years, Shihan began to take on considerable interest in developing his self-defence skills and began to concentrate on honing his Kata and the Bunkai applications that are hidden to many.
This desire saw Shihan expand his martial arts knowledge by training in Kung Fu, Akido and Tae Kwon Do. His passion for martial arts saw Shihan take further training in traditional Japanese weaponry. A powerful and dynamic karateka, Shihan endeavors to ensure that all of his students learn practical, powerful, efficient karate and he reinforces the role of physical conditioning so all students are prepared, both physically and mentally, for a real life situation.
It was not long before he started becoming more interested in a more self defence aspect martial arts, and a switch to study Shotokan Karate was soon on the agenda. He found a dojo on Ilkeston Road that would accept him and started training regularly, moving up the grades gradually. His hard work rate and ability soon shone through and Shihan applied to join the SKI where he benefited from the regular visits of Hanshi Asano and the special courses led by Soke Kanazawa and other Japanese instructors.
Shihan was an active competitor in both Kata and Kumite competition's and when Kancho Kanazawa formed the SKKIF, Sensei followed and continued to train in the traditional aspects of karate-do. Throughout his training years, Shihan began to take on considerable interest in developing his self-defence skills and began to concentrate on honing his Kata and the Bunkai applications that are hidden to many.
This desire saw Shihan expand his martial arts knowledge by training in Kung Fu, Akido and Tae Kwon Do. His passion for martial arts saw Shihan take further training in traditional Japanese weaponry. A powerful and dynamic karateka, Shihan endeavors to ensure that all of his students learn practical, powerful, efficient karate and he reinforces the role of physical conditioning so all students are prepared, both physically and mentally, for a real life situation.