Wado Ryu as we know it came to the UK through Tatsuo Suzuki,
at this time Karate in the UK was in its infancy, this was around 1964.
Around the same time as Suzuki, American Service men were bringing Korean and
Japanese based Martial Arts to the UK.
These two lines of Martial Arts met in the UK through men such as Chris Batte and James Self. Chris Batte
was in the UK between 1970-72 and connected to the
Korean line, whilst James Self was a UK based student of Tatsuo Suzuki.
Our Grand Master Trevor
White first trained in Wado Ryu under Sensei James Self, also training under James
Self and connected to Chris Batte was Billy
Brennan. In the mid-1970s an association called the English Korean Karate
Association (EKKA) was formed, which combined the kicks from the Korean
Taekwondo line, with the blocks and punches of the Wado
Ryu line. This is the reason why we use both Korean
and Japanese terms and also why we have a mixture of Korean based and
Japanese based grading content.
Grand Master White training under Billy Brennan reached his 2nd Dan Black Belt in
1983.
In 1984 Grand Master White decided to set up his own association and was joined at
this time by Sensei Bob Plumb, his son Colin (later to become English Karate
Champion), Dave Stalker and others. They retained the syllabus of the EKKA
and opened their first Karate classes in Sudbury Sports Centre. The new
association was called South East Freestyle Karate Association (SEFKA).
Within the SEFKA family are a number of clubs through South Suffolk and North
Essex. The association has grown in reputation and size over the years and
Sensei White was recognised by The Federation of English Karate Organisations
(FEKO) in 2009, when they awarded him his 7th Dan. The senior instructors of
the association are all highly qualified and recognised Martial Artists:
SEFKA Senior Instructors
Grand Master Trevor White - 8th Dan (Chairman & Chief Instructor)
Sensei's Bob Plumb - 7th Dan, Colin Plumb - 7th
Dan
& Tim Murcott -
7th Dan
Sensei
Calum Kennedy - 6th Dan
Vicki Litanzios - 5th Dan Kevin Galvin - 5th Dan Anthony Gear 5th Dan Channa Frohlick 5th Dan
