Sensei John Lambert

Go Dan

Chief Instructor

I commenced my training in October 1973 at the Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE), under the auspices of the British Karate Federation (BKF), which was headed by Vernon C F Bell.

The style practised was called Yosiekan, which in real terms was a mish mash of Shotokan, mixed with a bit of this and that.

James Johnston was the first instructor to lead me through the learning path of Karate-do.

The training was very intense, even in some instances it could be described as brutal, it was a different education the emphasis was on being tough and durable rather than seeking perfection or understanding.

This was around the "Bruce Lee" phenomenon, when movies like Big Boss and Enter the Dragon hit the screens, classes were bursting at the seams and the student turnover was high, but numbers were consistent.

Sensei Jim Flannigan and I became good friends, as well as regular training partners and headed off to as many classes are there was in a week, in some cases we were training every day of the week, some of the days had two training sessions, Sunday was different it was three, morning at the FIPRE, afternoon at the YMCA with the legendary Ju-Jitsu training sessions and in the evening off to Abbeyview in Dunfermline, it is no wonder I did not make work on numerous Monday mornings!!

We were joined in the early part of 1974 by my late brother David, who got the bug and just enjoyed the training and the experiences that followed. David sadly passed away in May 2000 leaving a gaping hole in the world of Karate-do and in those that knew and loved him.

In the early part of 1974 our relationship with the BKF diminished drastically and we parted company. ** We reformed as the Scottish Yosiekan Karate Federation (SYKF). Classes were still running with high numbers, we joined the Scottish Karate Board of Control (SKB) in this period too, which paved the way for those of us who were daft enough to take part in competitions and also train to become referees, the latter being one of the worlds' most thankless tasks.

**An interesting little story before our departure from BKF. Mr Bell introduced us to two new Kata he had learned from a "Japanese Instructor", Getsu No 1 and Getsu No 2, the resemblance to Gekkisai Dai Ichi and Dai Ni was amazing. It transpired a few years later that the "Japanese Instructor" was a chef at Heathrow and at some point in his life had trained Goju-Ryu and by some sheer coincidence literally bumped into Mr Bell, the rest from there is history.

Training was simpler then, for me that is, you trained, you socialised and then went home, someone else then had the responsibility of running classes and dealing with day to day issues that were raised.

Late 1974 was the first time we saw a style of a different nature, more Goju-Kai than anything else. It was a demonstration we went to in Glasgow, we saw a guy by the name of Steve Morris perform some mean feats, including bending an iron bar against the ground with his throat!. Amazed by this Jimmy Johnston had a chat and was passed a contact to get in touch with.

Peter Rousseau, a South African ex pat living in England was our first introduction to Okinawan Goju-Ryu. The introduction itself did not last for long, the decision was made to make a change of style, SYKF disappeared and we became the Scottish Amateur Goju-Ryu Association (SAGA), to link up names with our bothers in South Africa, the change took place in early 1975.

The training in general was very different, even difficult at some stages, but still a challenge. I tested for shodan in December of 1975 in the FIPRE with Sensei Jim Flannigan, the test itself was hard both physically and mentally, I remember being very nervous to the extent that I almost never got through the grading.

Peter was around training us until the start of 1976. I think this was around the time that Sensei Frank Sargent came on the scene too.

Enter our new taskmaster, Hiromi Suzuki, the first Japanese instructor to teach Goju-Ryu in Scotland and boy did he make us work hard indeed. His kata we had never seen the like of, it just looked so elegant and powerful, the emphasis on feeling in the kata was such a pleasure to watch. Hiromi was from Okinawa and I believe he trained with Higaonna Sensei for some time in Naha before heading off to Stockholm to open a dojo.

The training and relationship with Suzuki lasted to the latter part of 1977. A group of Scottish students in this year travelled to Stockholm to train at the Hornsgaten Dojo, an experience never to be forgotten, an entire book could be written on this alone.

After Suzuki in 1978 was Sensei James Rousseau, brother of Peter, temporarily based in the UK, he was next to lead the path to Goju-Ryu. By this time a well renowned international teacher and a respected student of Higaonna Sensei. Sensei James spent many occasions in Japan training under Sensei at the famous Yoyogi Dojo in Tokyo, the base at that time for Sensei Higaonna.

Sensei James was a key figure in promoting Okinawan Goju-Ryu and the skills and travel of Sensei to Europe and indeed the UK, he was the main player in the setting up of the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF) in Poole in 1979. Before '79 we trained extensively and learned vast amounts of Goju-Ryu from Sensei James and Teruo Chinen, another well-known Okinawan Sensei, renowned for his hard training methods and strict regimes.

My first introduction to Sensei Higaonna was also in Poole, this was the first of the International Gasshukus to be organised on behalf of the IOGKF. The Gasshuku training period was a gruelling two weeks, with week 1 for black belts only and the second for all grades. Training with Sensei for the fist time was a unique experience, I had never seen karate being performed at this level and also training with so many other people from different countries was an awesome opportunity. I made many new friends at this Gasshuku and still meet them to this day.

The IOGKF was born at this Gasshuku, it was also the first time I had seen Chojun Miyagi's family crest, the Kenkon. I was very fortunate to be involved with the start of the IOGKF and continue to support it, now and in the future.

After this Gasshuku, some turbulence was appearing within SAGA, in particular I was unhappy with the way things were progressing in the pursuit of Okinawan Goju-Ryu and decided to part company.

On my departure, I was given the support of so many SAGA black belts and students that we decided to form our own organisation, The Scottish Goju-Ryu Karate-do Association, this organisation was run for many years jointly by Sensei Jim Flannigan and I, supported by Sensei Frank Sargent and numerous other SGKA members, to whom I express my sincere thanks.

SGKA continued to thrive with the assistance of Sensei James and also Sensei George Andrews from London, both visited Scotland on many occasions and numerous amounts of our students travelling south to train.

The next few years saw SGKA students travelling to European and international destinations to train under Higaonna Sensei and many other well renowned Sensei's'.

We hosted the 1984 European Gasshuku in Glenrothes, with Higaonna Sensei and James Rousseau heading the weeks training with over two hundred IOGKF members from around the globe attending

I have been very fortunate to have trained in Okinawa on many occasions under the watchful eye of Higaonna Sensei, accompanied by Anichi Miyagi Sensei, the latter being a direct student of Chojun Sensei, I have also trained in Naha with Suichi Aragaki Sesnsei, who was also taught by Chojun Sensei.

SGKA have supported me to attend numerous Gasshukus in many different countries, I wish to take this opportunity to thank SGKA members past and present for the encouragement and support.

I still train and teach and hope to continue for many years to come