Who brought karate to Britain?

In 1956 a judo instructor called Vernon Bell came home to England from Paris. ^1,19,25 He had been training at a dojo run by Henri Plée, where karate was taught. ¹ Bell started teaching karate in Ilford, in Essex. ^1,19,25 He was the first person to teach karate in England, and he is often called the father of British karate. ^1,19,25

Sending for help

Bell brought in teachers from abroad. ¹ In 1957 he invited Hoang Nam, from Vietnam. ¹ In July 1959 Tetsuji Murakami arrived, the first Japanese karate teacher in England. ¹ That year a branch opened in Liverpool, and one of its first members was a young man called Andy Sherry. ¹ Remember that name. In 1961 Edward Ainsworth started a group in Ayrshire, in Scotland. ¹

The masters arrive

Then, in just five years, the big styles all arrived, and each came with a person.

Mitsusuke Harada came first, in 1963. He had trained with Funakoshi himself. ²⁴ That November he taught a course in London, and in 1965 he set up Karate-do Shotokai. He lived in Britain for the rest of his life. ^24,82

Tatsuo Suzuki had learned Wado-ryu from its founder, Otsuka, for 11 years, and he taught it from London. ^22,68

On 21 April 1965 four teachers from Japan, Kase, Kanazawa, Enoeda and Shirai, gave a show at Kensington Town Hall in London. Kanazawa and Enoeda stayed. ^1,20

That same year Steve Arneil came. He had trained with Oyama in Tokyo, and on 22 May 1965 he finished the 100 man kumite, the first person after Oyama to do it. ²³ He moved to London and started British Karate Kyokushinkai with Bob Boulton. ²³

Shukokai reached England in 1967 or 1968. One group says Chojiro Tani and Shigeru Kimura brought it in 1968; another says Yoshinao Nanbu, a student of Tani, brought it in 1967. ^79,84

Britain beats Japan

In 1966 some of Bell's members started the Karate Union of Great Britain, with Kanazawa as chief instructor. ^1,18,21,62 From 1968 Enoeda led it, right up to 2003. ⁶² After that, Andy Sherry, the young man from Liverpool, became chief instructor. ^1,17,18,65

In 1975 the Great Britain men's team won the team title at the World Championships, beating Japan in the final. Steve Arneil was the manager and coach. ^1,23,98 This century Britain has had four world champions: Leon Walters, Rory Daniels, Paul Newby and Jordan Thomas. ¹⁹

Your club

So when you bow, that is a rei, the same bow they use in Japan. ⁷³ Your sensei, the teacher at the front, learned from someone, who learned from someone, all the way back to the people in this story. ⁴⁴ The white uniform and the belts came from Kano through Funakoshi. The first five kata are Itosu's. ^1,4,14,30 Higaonna's ship, Funakoshi's sign, Bell's hall in Ilford and your club tonight are one long story. And now you are in it.