There were many newsworthy events in 1984; Bob Geldof and Midge Ure wrote Do They Know It’s Christmas? and the song, recorded by Band Aid, became the UK’s biggest selling single of all time (at the time), Apple released the first ever Macintosh (Mac), Lionel Richie was saying Hello, Virgin Atlantic made its inaugural flight from Gatwick to Newark, a record breaking 140 nations took part in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Arnie was promising he’d be back in The Terminator and Stevie Wonder was number one with his telephonic declaration of love, all very memorable, but did you know that in the very same year a young David Morris Sensei first started teaching karate at Bitterne Leisure Centre!

 

That’s right, incredibly, 2024 marks 40 years of our karate in the same location. A lot has changed since those early days, when a typical warm up involved running bare foot through Bitterne village centre in full karate uniform, or standing in shiko-dachi with arms stretched out in front, flexing fingers back and forth, whilst the whole class individually counted to 10 – ichi, ni, san, shi… and so on, and on, and on… but what hasn’t changed is the passion, the depth of study and the quality of the teaching. The journey over the last 4 decades has forged the very ethos of Kyudokan today – Traditional Values. Innovative Approach.

 

David Sensei continues to impart his vast karate knowledge to senseis and students alike, – young and old, and across 2 or even 3 generations, some of us are old enough to remember dodging the broken glass (or worse) on the mean streets of Bitterne, and they will always be fond and warm memories (although they are probably best kept in the 80s), so here’s to the next 40 years!

 

Today, Kyudokan has well established and highly respected dojos in 5 Leisure Centres across the South, including Bitterne Leisure Centre (40 years), Places Eastleigh (25+ years), Chamberlayne Leisure Centre (25+ years). Holly Hill Leisure Centre (8 years – centre opened in 2016), Winchester Sports & Leisure Park (2 years – centre opened in. 2022). Membership includes access to all these dojos for one monthly fee! For information on all our dojos, please CLICK HERE or to book a free trial please complete the form HERE. We look forward to welcoming you to the Kyudokan family.