Traditional Karate in Basingstoke – The Masters behind our classes.

Three times a week at our academy in Daneshill, our students line up for Traditional Karate. On Tuesday evenings it is the adults' turn; on Friday evenings, children from age 10, teenagers and adults train side by side; and on Sunday mornings, whole families train together from age 4. To a parent watching from the café, it looks like a karate class. What you are really watching is the latest chapter in a lineage that runs straight back to the great Japanese masters.

Our Head Coach, Bryan Andrews (7th Dan), is now in his 46th year of Karate. He trained for many years directly under Hirokazu Kanazawa Sensei (10th Dan) and Shiro Asano Sensei (10th Dan), two of the most respected Shotokan masters of the last century, and has made a point throughout his career of training with the very best teachers in Japan, Europe and the UK. That direct teaching is what we pass on to our members in Basingstoke today.

Traditional Karate at a glance

• Style: Traditional Karate rooted in Shotokan, taught through a direct lineage from Kanazawa and Asano
• Tuesday: 8:10–9:10pm, adults (16–17 year olds welcome)
• Friday: 6:00–7:00pm, ages 10 to adults, so families can train together
• Sunday: 10:30–11:30am, ages 4 to adults, Family Martial Arts class
• Training: kihon (basics), kata (forms) and kumite (sparring)
• Gradings: every three months, with a uniform given when you join
• Head Coach: Bryan Andrews, 7th Dan, 46 years in Karate, graded by Asano, Kanazawa and Steve Rowe, and former WUKF World Kumite Champion
• Coaches: including Sensei Jess (3rd Dan) and Sensei Wayne (3rd Dan), both medal-winning competitors
• Where: Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy, Unit A, Daneshill Central, Armstrong Road, Basingstoke RG24 8NU, with free parking
• First step: a free taster class or call 01256 364104

Where Traditional Karate comes from

Modern Karate rests on two figures. Gichin Funakoshi, often called the father of modern karate, saw it as a way of life: the aim was not to win a fight but to avoid one through humility and self-control. Masatoshi Nakayama (10th Dan), who led the Japan Karate Association (JKA), then gave karate its structure, standardising techniques using biomechanics and building the framework for modern competition.

Funakoshi gave karate its character; Nakayama gave it its science. Traditional Karate at Shin Gi Tai is built on both.

Kanazawa Sensei: learning from the master first-hand

Hirokazu Kanazawa won the first JKA championships in 1957 and became famous worldwide for technique that was fast, precise and seemingly effortless. He taught that breathing links body and mind, and that power comes from relaxation rather than tension.

For Bryan, Kanazawa Sensei was not a distant name. Twice a year he came to the dojos Bryan trained in around Windsor and stayed for a week, training at a local dojo each night from Monday to Friday, then teaching four to five hour seminars on the Saturday and Sunday. At times he stayed at Bryan's home before teaching at his club that evening.

The club had many senior grades, including some of Kanazawa Sensei's best students, and he would try new ideas out on them. Six months later he would return to review how they had worked before deciding whether to introduce them across his association. It was a rare chance to learn his thinking first-hand, and many of those lessons are still part of how we train in Basingstoke today.

It was also Kanazawa Sensei who insisted that Bryan study Tai Chi to take his Karate to a higher level, which is why Tai Chi is still part of our academy.

Asano Sensei: precision and spirit

Shiro Asano, twice All Japan Universities champion, was a master of timing and distance. His training was about perfect posture, clean hip movement, exact timing and, above all, strong spirit. Where Kanazawa brought flow, Asano brought precision, and Bryan's teaching combines the two.

Graded by the masters

Bryan's grades were awarded by the masters themselves. Shiro Asano Sensei awarded his 1st and 2nd Dan black belts, and Hirokazu Kanazawa Sensei awarded his 3rd Dan. His 4th to 7th Dan were awarded by Steve Rowe (9th Dan), Chief Instructor of the Shi Kon Martial Arts Association. Few instructors anywhere can trace every one of their black belt grades so directly to the masters who shaped modern Karate.

Training with the best in Japan, Europe and the UK

Over 46 years, Bryan has made a point of seeking out the very best teachers. Among the Japanese masters, he trained with Keinosuke Enoeda (9th Dan), the "Tiger of Shotokan", and with Morio Higaonna (10th Dan), one of the world's leading masters of Goju-Ryu Karate. He also trained with Mitsusuke Harada in Shotokai Karate, which preserves much of what Funakoshi taught before modern Shotokan developed. That experience is invaluable in understanding the difference between Funakoshi's original teaching and the Karate most people practise today.

He has also trained with many of Britain's finest Karate teachers, including Aidan Trimble Sensei (8th Dan), Dave Hazard Sensei (8th Dan) and Dave Owen Sensei (7th Dan) in Torquay, who has been a major influence on his Karate. Together with training in both Shotokan and Shito-Ryu Karate, this gives our club a strong and broad pedigree.

Bryan has also learned from the wider Shotokan family of masters, each of whom emphasised a different side of the art: the technical detail of Hiroshi Shirai, the deep, close-range stances of Taiji Kase, the fearless spirit of Mikio Yahara, and the fluid, whip-like movement of Tetsuhiko Asai and the JKS. That breadth matters because no two students are the same. Some need confidence, some need discipline, and some want a technical challenge. A broad lineage gives our coaches more ways to help each person progress.

The study of kata

Kata, the traditional forms of Karate, have always been at the heart of Bryan's training. Studying kata in depth reveals the reasoning behind every technique: why we move the way we do, where the power comes from, and how each movement can be applied in self-defence. It is this understanding that we pass on to our students, so they learn not just what to do, but why.

What Traditional Karate looks like in Basingstoke

We teach Traditional Karate three times a week:

• Tuesday, 8:10–9:10pm: adults (18 and over, with 16–17 year olds welcome)
• Friday, 6:00–7:00pm: ages 10 to adults, so parents and children can train side by side
• Sunday, 10:30–11:30am: our Family Martial Arts class, where parents, carers and grandparents train with children from age 4

All three classes focus on the three pillars of Karate:

• Kihon: the fundamental stances, blocks, strikes and kicks, practised until they become second nature
• Kata: traditional forms that develop balance, power, focus and memory
• Kumite: partner work and controlled sparring that teach timing, distance and composure under pressure

New members are given a uniform when they join, and gradings take place every three months. Adults who want a broader syllabus can also train in our Adult Karate and Martial Arts classes, which combine Karate with Judo and Kung Fu.

A lineage that wins

Tradition and competition go hand in hand here. Bryan was World Kumite Champion with the World Union of Karate-Do Federations, won European gold in Kata and silver in Kumite, and has won many national titles. As a coach, he has guided Shin Gi Tai students to 11 World Championship titles and 6 European titles.

Our Karate squad has been successful for many years, and several of its medal winners still train and teach with us. Sensei Jess, a 3rd Dan in Shotokan Karate, has won more than 97 medals at national, British and European level, and Sensei Wayne, also a 3rd Dan and one of our coaches, has won medals for Karate too. Find out more about our competition squads.

Your coach

Bryan holds a 7th Dan in Karate and a 7th Degree in Kung Fu, alongside black belts in Judo and Yoshinkan Aikido. He has a Master's degree in Advanced Sports Coaching from Sheffield Hallam University, focusing on martial arts, as well as a British Judo Association Level 5 coaching award, a UK Coaching Certificate Level 4, and a British Council for Chinese Martial Arts Level 3 coaching qualification. He is also a BCCMA Coach Tutor, training other Chinese martial arts coaches.