About Us
The Beginning:
Matsutatsu Oyama or “Mas Oyama” founded the International Karate Organisation and the Kyokushinkaikan many years ago; Mas Oyama was born in 1923 in South Korea. Mas Oyama studied Chinese Kempo from the age of 9 years old. Following his relocation to Japan at the age of 12 where he studied Judo, he became a student of Gichin Funakosi – the founder of Shotokan Karate. By the time, he was 17 he was awarded his nidan or 2nd Dan in Shotokan Karate and by the age of 24 he had achieved the grade of 4th Dan.
1947 saw Mas Oyama winning the All-Japanese Championship after which he decided to devote his life to sharing his knowledge of karate. He secluded himself to training and living alone in the mountains and temples, subjecting himself to a very arduous and physically demanding schedule.
His training resulted in him being able to break trees and rocks with his bare hands.
Following this period of self-incarceration Mas Oyama returned to society, taking on and defeating many challengers in his quest to prove that his “Kyokushin Karate” had no equal. He also fought with bulls to show that this style was the ultimate combatant martial art.
His reputation grew and many people from around the globe wanted to learn this style of karate. Today, Kyokushinkai operators can be found in 123 countries.
Kyokushin does not promote or practice discrimination or prejudice. We believe that everyone has the same rights.
Kyokushin at The Tokei:
Kyokushin Karate has been an integral part of the Tokei Martial Arts Club for nearly 30 years. Kyokushin was originally started at the club in the late 70’s, which up until then had been primarily a judo club. The founder Instructor was Senpai Tom Bowman.
The current dojo operator is myself - Sensei Orlando Roach. I was a frequent attendee at the club and I was offered the club when Senpai Tom decided that he wanted a change in direction. Initially I undertook the task, but felt at the time that my instructor Sensei Joe Borg was better equipped to manage this opportunity. Therefore, Sensei Joe ran the club following the closure of the Star of India, a previous martial arts club.
Sensei Joe ran the club for sometime before becoming a Born-Again Christian, It was at this time that he decided that he could not continue to serve both God and teach Kyokushin. I then decided to take on a more active role within the club.
The club has changed over the years but the general ethos remains the same. We have seen many great participants of our art over the years come and go. We have been party to producing some notable fighters; not least, Michael Thompson who will be remembered for many great fights, but the one that will probably stick in some our minds was the quarterfinal fight in the World Championship against Kancho Matsui that Mike lost on a technical decision. We have also been associated with Shihan Nick da Costa, Sensei Felix Ntumazah and last but not least Senpai Andrew Payne who had a never say die attitude. They were all Kyokushin through and through.
We now have a new crop of up and coming competitors who I am sure will one day step up to the mark and continue the tradition of the past.
I see the likes of my own daughter Dominique trying to emulate her father; she has the potential if she applies herself to go all the way, if that is what she wants.
I see other youngsters who are starting to set their own mark by beginning to win tournaments not once or twice, but are continually being placed in the top three and that is rewarding in itself because they are already laying the foundation for their Kyokushin careers, people are starting to talk about them in a positive manner.
We are fortunate to train with people from all walks of life, accountants, lawyers dentists, business consultants, computer technicians, engineers, security guards, normal working class people. The beauty of it all though is that they come from all parts of the world. We have people from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Malaysia, Poland, Russia to name a few. It is a true melting pot in every sense of the word.
People ask me why I do Kyokushin, and there are many reasons why I do what I do, but if I am being honest Kyokushin can be summed up in the following words “It’s a Way of Life”.
Kyokushin at the Tokei is different in many ways to other clubs, it is taught in a manner, which is not dissimilar to how I was taught by my previous instructors, the fundamental difference is that I try and inject a little mirth and humour within the training sessions.
Students want to train hard, but they also want it to be enjoyable. I have seen at other clubs how students become disaffected with their training because it becomes monotonous and boring and eventually the students leave. With that in mind I always try and change the schedule, some things we have to do, but in my opinion there is nothing worse than going into “auto pilot”, and becoming predictable whereby the students are already anticipating what you are going to next, what’s the point of having an instructor? With that in mind, it helps to keep me on my toes also.
