Sensei Jeremy Allen

I started karate with the BTKA in 1992 after watching The Karate Kid on TV. I fell in love with it from the start, and after a few years I started to enter competitions. Competing in small local competitions for team kata, we managed to win a large number of gold medals. This exposed me to many katas, and performing in front of large numbers of people increased my self-confidence. 

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After a few years competing on the local circuit we entered the English national competition. It was our first major event, and we only managed 7th place. We hadn’t expected to get through the first round, but this made me more determined to succeed. 

I stopped training at the age of 15 while I concentrated on my studies, but returned within a couple of years under Sensei Sat. It was then that I started competing again, and after training five to six times a week we managed 2nd place at the English nationals for team kata.

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Since then I have focused more on teaching and my own training. I have learnt that karate is a life-long pursuit, where you aim for perfection in everything you do. Karate has helped me through many difficult times, and without it, I would be a completely different person. I owe a lot to karate – not only to my Sensei and those I train with – but to what the sport/martial art truly stands for.