Affiliation
Stevenage Karate Club is proud to be affiliated to the Japan Karate Association.
Sensei Ohta
Sensei Yoshinobu Ohta
6th DAN JKA
Chief Instructor JKA England
Tom Peebles
4th Dan JKAChief Instructor, SKC
Tom Peebles was drawn into karate in 1987 when his son Paul asked him to take him to karate lessons at the North Hertfordshire Shotokan Karate Club.
Watching his son train raised an attraction to karate and Tom decided to participate in the lessons to support his son. As the class consisted mainly of children, there were hardly any adults in the club, Tom had a hard time settling in but he persevered and, inspired by his instructor, Scott Saunders, he trained hard and graded Shodan in May 1991.
From then on Tom found himself becoming more and more involved in teaching at his club and although this helped him to improve his own technical abilities it also effectively reduced his own training opportunities. So Tom started to train at other local KUGB clubs and when his club declined due to a lack of students he joined Stevenage Karate Club, which Tom had learned to appreciate as a good and strong club that was run by an outstanding instructor, Derek Oakley.
Stevenage Karate Club had a strong adult membership, as well as a youth section, and the training sessions were (and still are) very hard and rewarding. Tom graded Nidan in May 1993 and Sandan in 1996. He succeeded Derek as Senior Instructor for Stevenage Karate Club in the summer of 2003.
Tom recently, and well-deservedly, gained a ranking of 4th Dan in May of 2008 and the Stevenage Karate Club remains privileged to have Tom as its Chief Instructor.
Mick
2nd Dan JKAAssistant Chief Instructor, SKC
Sensei Mick Farquharson began karate 11 years ago with the TASK Association under Sensei Roy Hazlewood as a hobby to help him keep fit.
He moved to Stevenage Karate Club in the Spring of 1996. He became interested in Stevenage Karate Club after visiting the club at the invitation of a 1st Kyu and decided that it was a much better club to train with. The Sensei at the time, Derek Oakley, was an inspiration in the way that he taught and trained.
Mick has taken part in Regional Competitions and won 1st place in individual Kata and 2nd place in individual Kumite in 1998 when he was a 4th Kyu.
Mick graded 1st Dan in December 1999 and 2nd Dan in August 2003. Since passing his Dan gradings, Mick has become more involved with the teaching side of Karate.
In 2003, Mick's son Alex joined the club, making it a family affair.
Phil
3rd Dan JKAInstructor, SKC
Philip first became interested in the martial arts after reading an advert for Kung Fu. He went along and although really enjoyed it, the club only met once a week. Shortly afterwards, learning of a karate club that trained at the school he was attending, he joined here, gaining his first kyu shortly before leaving to study at Birmingham University.
The University club had a strong membership, strong members and strong spirit. It was that attitude towards training and the excellent teaching of Sensei Syd Gordon, that pushed Phil harder and gained his black belt in Spring 1994.
Sometime later, the Stevenage club was recommended, as the level was said to be good and the training hard. Thinking it was worth a look he went along. Phil had found a club where the training was hard and serious and had good direction from a great instructor, Derek Oakley, who guided Phil through his second dan at the end of 1999.
An opportunity to live and work in Japan proved too good to turn down, but on his return he went back to Stevenage Karate Club. Sensei Derek had needed to move away and it was now being led by the equally good Sensei Tom Peebles.
The club has remained very strong and has a high level of instruction, with Sensei Tom being instrumental in helping Phil gain his third dan in the Summer of 2005.