Gavin Smith

Gavin Smith 3rd Dan

I began training in Wado Ryu Karate at the age of 10 under the instruction of Sensei Trevor Potter, 7th Dan. I trained hard with my brother, and partner, 4 to 5 times a week for a number of years, and after a gruelling grading was awarded 1st Dan in 1993. In my years of training I also had the honour of attending a number of seminars under our association instructor, the late Sensei Phil Milner, 10th Dan – who also happened to teach, and often kick, my father back in the ’70s.

In 1996, after moving to Hull to study at the university, I found a club that I could continue my training with, and so was introduced to Gendo Kai Karate. During those years I met a large number of friends, and despite never having the privilege of training with Sensei Lorrison, I had the next best thing, Sensei Campion.

After what seemed like a short amount of time, my period of studying – and the occasional drink – came to an end and it was that time to get a job, unfortunately this took me over to Manchester.

So as not to give up on my training I tried a number of clubs, none of which managed to fit the type of training that I had become accustomed too. Instead of fighting a losing battle I decided to try something new and embarked on moving through the ranks of Chinese Kick Boxing, and the occasional lesson in Kung Fu.

During my three years away from Hull I seemed to spend most of my time driving back for gradings and random training sessions, and so saw the error of my ways and moved back to train with my old friends.

I graded for my 2nd Dan in Gendo Kai Karate with Sensei Copley and Sensei Clark in 2004 and am now a 3rd Dan and treasurer within the club.

During the last 20 years I have fought in many regional and national competitions – and have the odd one or two trophies tucked away – and studied a number of martial arts, including Atemi Jitsu, Kung Fu, Chinese Kick Boxing, Sombo and of course my original passion, Karate; all of which have taught me many valuable lessons in life – including when not to answer back or fidget when an instructor is watching! – and gained me a great number of very close friends.