The Founder of British Wadokai and the Plymouth Schools of Karate
President/Chief Instructor: Gary Swift 7th Dan Kyoshi.
Gary Swift, was born in Plymouth (Devon) on the 6th April 1956 and has been active in Martial-arts from the age of 10, when starting Judo and Ju-Jutsu in 1966.
He started training in Wadoryu Karate under Sensei Tatsuo Suzuki Hanshi's United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai (formerly the United Kingdom Karate-do Federation) in 1973.
He started teaching Wado Karate in 1976 in Horsham Sussex at the Horsham Karate Club, which was a club he inherited when the original instructor retired. Later that same year he opened up his own first club, the Cranleigh Karate Club, which was also under direct affiliation of the United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai (UKKW).
In 1999 he Joined Wadokai England under Kuniaki Sakagami 7th Dan, where he became General Secretary of the JKF-Wadokai England until 2008.
Today he is now President & Chief Instructor of British Wadokai (BWK) and Founder-President of the British Wado Federation (BWF), which is the only official National Governing Body for autonomous Wado Karate under the International Wado Federation (IWF).
Holder of numerous titles and ranks within martial-arts including 7th Dan in Wado-ryu Karate, 2nd Dan in Korean HoSinsul Hapkido and 1st Dan in Malaysian Taekwondo (Thoi-kuen-do).
Gary Swift has also had the honour of training and being graded under the Founder of Wado-ryu, Ohtsuka Hironori Meijin 10th Dan, in 1976.
Japanese Wado instructors include/d: Tatsuo Suzuki 8th Dan Hanshi, Katsumi Kobayashi Sensei, Masafumi Shiomitsu 8th Dan Hanshi, Yoshitsugu Shinohara 8th Dan Shihan, Tadayuki Maeda Sensei, Toru Takamizawa 7th Dan Shihan, Kuniaki Sakagami 7th Dan, Masahiro Yanagawa 8th Dan, Kengo Sugiura 8th Dan, Toru Arakawa 9th Dan, Koji Okumachi 7th Dan, Shingo Ohgami 7th Dan, Katsumi Hakoishi 8th Dan, Mizuho Ashihara 8th Dan and Ohtsuka Hironori Saiko-Shihan 10th Dan.
During the closing ceremony of the 2007 WadoEXL Gary was awarded the prestigious Commemorative Award for the 'Promotion and Preservation of Wadokai and Wado-ryu Karate'; an honour he will always be proud of.
Gary Swift 7th Dan also holds a Life Membership within the JKF-Wadokai Japan.
Contact details. Gary Swift 7th Dan Kyoshi.
57 South Hill, Hooe, Plymouth, Devon. PL9 9PT.
Telephone: (Plymouth) 01752-493210
Email: garyswift@wadokai.co.uk
Website: www.wadokai.co.uk
Sensei Tatsuo Suzuki 8th Dan Hanshi
The Coat of Arms of British Wadokai
Crane: The symbol of Cranleigh (Crane-Leigh), Surrey, where the foundations of British Wadokai were established (1976). On the Coat of Arms the crane is shown in black; as the black crane is the Chinese symbol of longevity, wisdom and nobility.
Helmet: Strength and Protection.
Red Lion: The Red Lion, which represents Devon and symbolises 'Dauntless Courage', holding the mon (badge) of British Wadokai. (Plymouth, Devon is now the new location of the British Wadokai Headquarters).
Crown: Denotes the four main Kingdoms of Great Britain (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales).
Motto: (Latin) Reservo Exemplar Quod Institutio – ‘Preserving the Original and Traditional’.
Title Text.
History of British Wadokai.
Cranleigh Fete Demonstration. Circa 1978.
Top row from left to right: Graham Beck, Les Mansfield, Gary Swift, Steve Moulding, Christopher Gale.
Bottom row left to right: Ken Gunn, Philip Hildreth, Paul Elliott, Doug Calder, Ian Hunter.
Top row from left to right: Graham Beck, Les Mansfield, Gary Swift, Steve Moulding, Christopher Gale.
Bottom row left to right: Ken Gunn, Philip Hildreth, Paul Elliott, Doug Calder, Ian Hunter.
Gary Swift demonstrating tameshiwari in 1978
About British Wadokai & Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi
About British Wadokai
Wadoryu Karate was introduced into the UK by Suzuki Tatsuo (8th Dan) Hanshi in the early 1960’s, under the direct guidance of Ohtsuka Hironori (10th Dan) Meijin. Suzuki Sensei was Ohtsuka Meijin’s most senior Instructor and he was given the responsibility of setting up Wado under the Japanese Karate Federation throughout the whole of Europe; the forerunner to the Federation of European Wadokai (FEW).
The organisation that Suzuki Hanshi founded in the UK was first known as the United Kingdom Karate-do Federation (UKKF), later to be known as the United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai (UKKW) in the mid-70’s. This first Wado was still guided and maintained by Ohtsuka and with the exception of the 'revised' Sanbon-gumite and Ohyo Gumite, which was created by Suzuki Hanshi, was a result of Ohtsuka Meijin’s own ‘authentic’ Wado-ryu karate.
My own Wado was a result of this direct lineage from Ohtsuka through Suzuki, and has never been influenced by any other Wado outside of the UKKW - at the time I knew of no other Wado.
In 1976, during a visit from Ohtsuka Meijin to England, I trained under Ohtsuka Meijin and attempted to attend all the courses that he conducted while he was over here. Many of the techniques I learnt from him ‘first hand’ have never been changed or altered. The concept of Nagashizuki and many of the Kihon-gumite have been ingrained into me from that visit. My 4th Kyu grading was conducted by Ohtsuka Meijin and Suzuki Hanshi, and I am honoured to have Ohtsuka Meijin’s signature still on my UKKF licence from that day.
In 1982 Ohtsuka Meijin passed away, and left behind a great legacy for all of us to follow. Ironically, however, following his passing, there was split after split within the Wado fraternity and Wado took on many different directions and guises. During that time, although I was training at one of these ’split’ groups; I continued training with the UKKW and maintained my ‘authentic’ Wado.
I was still training under the direction of Suzuki Hanshi until at the end of 1989 when I decided that I needed to move on as the politics, even within the UKKW, became too much for me. The politics revolved, I believe (through rumours), around the Founder’s son wanting to change various aspects of his father’s Wado, which Suzuki Hanshi disapproved of (again I must emphasise, that this was the rumour that was going around the Dojo at the time).
Soon after this, Wado had another big split, this time with the parting of Suzuki Hanshi (and other Japanese Instructors) from what was then, and now, the Wado Renmei (Academy) under Ohtsuka Meijin’s son, Ohtsuka Hironori Saiko-Shihan.
In British Wadokai we still train with the original Sanbon-gumite, which are very much misunderstood by many Wado-ka today, and in many Wado schools they have even been removed completely, which is such a shame as they can reflect so much of the Ju-Jutsu aspects and principles within them (continual contact, flowing and fluid distancing, entering, etc.).
The Ohyo-gumite, which encourages aspects of free-fighting; another very important aspect of all Wado. Again, these are often misunderstood and have been taken out by many Wado Schools. However, saying this, some schools have replaced the original Ohyo-gumite with some more up-to-date versions, which also reflect these similar concepts within them.
I have been very privileged to have learnt much from many Japanese Wado Instructors throughout my time, and I have added to the training many new traditional aspects, such as Tanto-dori, Idori, Muto-dori, etc.
British Wadokai is what it is, ‘British Wadokai’; this is from where the Wado of today has evolved.
Gary E Swift Kyoshi.
About Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi
Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi. The Chief Instructor of the British Wadokai Karate-do Federation. Gary Swift was born in 7 Leigham Terrace, Plymouth,Devon, in 1956. He started his martial-arts training in 1966 at the age of 10 at his junior school at Laira Green, Plymouth, Devon.
His first taste of martial-arts was learning the popular systems, at that time, of Ju-jutsu and Judo. After a move to Prince Rock Senior School, Plymouth, Devon, he was also introduced to the skills of Thai-boxing (known then as Kickboxing) by the PT Teacher at the school, Mr P Twigg. Upon his arrival to the South of England in 1972, from Liskeard, Cornwall, he started Wado-ryu Karate in Guildford and Bisley (Surrey), under his most influential Instructor Mick Rapley (then 1st Dan), in 1973 (affiliated to the United Kingdom Karate Federation (later to be known as the United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai)). Regular Japanese instructors at this time included Suzuki Tatsuo Hanshi, Maeda Tadayuki Sensei, Shiomitsu Masafumi Hanshi and Kobayashi Katsumi Sensei.
From this day onwards he studied numerous other forms of Karate, as well as Shorinji-kempo, Muay-Thai, Malaysian Taekwondo (Thoi-kuen-do), Korean HoSin-sul Hapkido, various weapons systems, and a variety of other Japanese, Korean, and Chinese martial-arts.
Today he is holder of numerous titles and ranks in martial-arts including 7th Dan in Wado-ryu Karate, 2nd Dan in Korean HoSin-sul Hapkido, and 1st Dan in Malaysian Taekwondo. He has been training since 1966 and has been teaching since 1976 (both nationally and internationally).
He is the Founder-President of the Alliance of International Wado-ryu (AIWa est. 1982), now known as the International Wado Federation, and Chief Instructor to British Wadokai (foundations established in 1976). He is also recognised within the English Karate Federation, World Karate Federation and the Korean Martial-arts of South East Asia-Pacific (KOMA-SEA-PAC).
Gary Swift Kyoshi has also had the honour of training, and being graded under, Ohtsuka Hironori Meijin 10th Dan (founder of Wado-ryu) in 1976. Other instructors have also included the famous: Tomiyama Keiji 7th Dan Shihan (Shito-ryu), Hoi Hean Thow 7th Dan (Thoi-kuen-do, Tong-long, Bo-jutsu, Escrima), Dr. Julian S Lim 8th Dan (Hapkido, HoSin-sul).
Parting of the ways!
One of the last courses where Suzuki Hanshi and Shiomitsu Sensei were teaching together at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre (circa 1989).
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Gary Swift Performing Maegeri Chudan Circa 1980
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British Wadokai Members at a Sensei Yanagawa Course 2007
Kida Sensei, Yanagawa Sensei, Takanayagi Sensei, Sensei Swift - Horsham Karate Club 2007
Bob Nash (aka Wataru Shibata) 7th Dan Course, Horsham, Sussex.
The British Wadokai hosts the Bob Nash 7th Dan Course (2009) .
Friends from Japan 1984
Hiromichi Tesaki Sensei Sensei Gary Swift with Sensei Hiromichi Tesaki.
Sensei Gary Swift with Sensei Hiromichi Tesaki, Instructor of Reiwaryu Karate-do.
| Mamoru Kurashina Sensei Sensei Mamoru Kurashina.
Sensei Mamoru Kurashina, Instructor of Shoriji-kempo, Kendo and Iai-do from the Japanese Rikkyo School, Rudgwick, Sussex.
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History of the Southwest.
Prehistory
Devon was one of the first areas of Great Britain settled following the end of the last ice age. Kents Cavern in Torbay is one of the earliest places in England known to have been occupied by modern man. Dartmoor is thought to have been settled by Mesolithichunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC, and they later cleared much of the oak forest, which regenerated as moor. In the Neolithic era, from about 3500 BC, there is evidence of farming on the moor, and also building and the erection of monuments, using the large granite boulders that are ready to hand there; Dartmoor contains the remains of the oldest known buildings in England. There are over 500 known Neolithic sites on the moor, in the form of burial mounds, stone rows, stone circles and ancient settlements such as the one at Grimspound. Stone rows are a particularly striking feature, ranging in length from a few metres to over 3 km.
Their ends are often marked by a cairn, a stone circle, or a standing stone (see menhir). Because most of Dartmoor was not ploughed during the historic period, the archaeological record is relatively easy to trace.
The name "Devon" derives from the tribe of Celtic people who inhabited the south-western peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion in 43 AD, the Dumnonii - possibly meaning 'Deep Valley Dwellers' or 'Worshippers of the god Dumnonos'. This tribal name carried on into the Roman and post-Roman periods. The Dumnonii did not mint coins, unlike their neighbours to the east the Durotriges, but coins of the Dobunni have been found in the area. Early trading ports are thought to have existed at Mount Batten (Plymouth) and at Bantham where Phoenicians are said to have come.
Roman period
Devon was not as Romanised as Somerset and Dorset, with evidence of occupation limited mainly to the area around Exeter where the Roman walls can still be seen. It is likely a settlement at Exeter of some sort pre-existed the Romans and that the local Brythonic tribe inhabiting the area, the Dumnonii, maintained a tradition of independence. It appears that initially the Dumnonii tribe of Britons were a client kingdom of Rome, but from about AD 55 the Romans held at least part of the area under military occupation, maintaining a naval port at Topsham and a garrison of the 2nd Augustan Legion at Exeter, which they called 'Isca'. This banked and palisaded fortress contained mostly barracks and workshops, but also a magnificent bath-house and was occupied for approximately twenty years. Then the legion moved to Caerleon and the civilians of the surrounding settlement took control. All the associated trappings of local government followed, such as a forum and basilica and, eventually a stone city wall. The Roman administration stayed here for over three centuries. There were several smaller forts across the county and a number of paganshrines, as remembered in the name of the Nymetvillages (Nemeton), but the lands west of the Exe remained largely un-Romanized. The richer locals there often lived in banked 'Rounds', while East Devon had a number of luxurious villas, such as that discovered at Holcombe, as well as Roman roads of the sophisticated cobbled type.
Post Roman Independence
See also Dumnonia
After the departure of the Roman administration from Britain had been completed by around 426 the regions in the west of Britannia formerly under military control appear to have reverted quite quickly to pre-Roman forms of tribal government; the territory called in Latin Dumnonia seems certain to have been one of these regions. Historians of this period appear united in the view that the Britons of the south-west, known to the Anglo-Saxons as the “West Welsh”, Britons or “Welsh of the Horn [of Britain]” (‘’Cornu-Wealha’’), organised themselves into a realm based on the old Latin tribal definition of the Dumnonii and called “Dyfnaint” in the language of the West Welsh, later mutated into “Dewnans” in the Cornish language. The names "Dyfnaint" and "Defnas", later "Devon", are indeed mutually interchangeable but the territory of the Kingdom of Dyfnaint was originally much greater in extent than the modern County of Devon. This realm of Dyfnaint may have been loosely organised under an acknowledged “high king” who was perhaps the direct ruler of the largest portion of it. Peripheral areas of the realm such as Dorset, Glastonbury, Bath and Cornwall may well have been subordinate or confederate sub-kingdoms united with central Dyfnaint against the common foe; the Anglo-Saxons. Gildas castigated a King Constantius of Dumnonia in about 540 AD for his behaviour. Bishop Aldhelm corresponded with King Geraint of Dumnonia in the late 7th century about religious differences.
The names and leaders of these smaller peripheral territories have largely been lost to us; however a king named Melwas is named as a Brythonic ruler in what may now be Somerset and traditions of some Kings of Cornwall are recorded.
Exeter, known as “Caer Uisc”, may have been central to the kingdom but some historians and antiquaries have speculated that the Kings of Dumnonia may have been itinerant with no fixed capital and moved their court from place to place.
The Welsh Triads name Celliwig in Cornwall as a possible site of a royal court, another is High Peak close to Sidmouth. The former Roman city of Exeter may have become an ecclesiastical centre, as evidenced by a sub-Roman cemetery discovered near the cathedral. The Brythonic cemetery in Exeter may have been attached to the monastery attended by the young Wilfred St. Boniface (said to be a native of Crediton) in the late 7th century. However its Abbot had a purely Saxon name, suggesting it was an Anglo-Saxon foundation.
Anglo-Saxon conquest of Dyfnaint
The date that the Anglo-Saxons began to settle in Devon is not uncontroversial. Raids westwards from the core territories of Wessex seem to have been set in motion about 660. After a battle fought probably at Penselwood in 658 the West Saxons advanced to the River Parrett and by 682 they had reached the Quantocks and were pressing forward into the coastal plain. Wessex under King Cynewulf emerged from Mercian domination and began advancing west again from Taunton, established as an advanced West Saxon position in 710 by King Ine, who defeated in that year the last recorded independent king in Devon; the codified Laws of Ine made provision for the Wealhas, the Welsh "foreigners", some of whom retained positions of responsibility. The end of the fighting appears to have been a protracted and miserable affair. Campaigns by King Ecgberht of Wessex in Devon between 813 and 822 appear to have resulted in the defeat of the West Welsh in Devon but not their complete disposition. William of Malmesbury reports negotiations between King Alfred of Wessex and King Dungarth of the Cornish in c. 876 held somewhere near Exmoor in Devon; presumably Alfred would have sought reassurances over his western frontier as he conspired to defeat the Danes. It seems most likely that the final acts of conquest of Devon by Wessex came under King Æthelstan of the English.
William of Malmesbury claimed that "the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter aequo jure" - "as equals". However Æthelstan notably expelled “that filthy race” from Exeter in 927. Some sources, notably the Cornish antiquaryWilliam Borlase, state that the expulsion of the Britons from Exeter was the first act in a military campaign against the West Welsh led by Æthelstan. William Borlase says there was a battle against King Howel of the West Welsh at Haldon near Teignmouth in 936 where the West Welsh were soundly defeated. It seems they were then pursued westwards across the River Tamar and through Cornwall where they were defeated again close to Land's End in what may have been a “last ditch” encounter that probably ended in slaughter, thus rendering the statement made centuries earlier and known to us as The Groan of the Britons seem morbidly appropriate; "The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us to the barbarians, between these two means of death we are either killed or drowned". An inflamed and astonished Welsh reaction to these events is found in the contemporary poem, Armes Prydein, where the last independent king of Cornwall, reputably King Howel, was said to lament:
"Sorrow springs from a world upturned."
The Britons (West Welsh, Cornishmen) certainly survived in Devon beyond this date because they apparently re-entered Exeter at a later date and an area was known as "Brittayne" in the south west quarter of the city until the 18th century. The Celtic language is reputed to have survived in parts of Devon until the Middle Ages, particular the South Hams, according to Risdon.
Devon in Anglo Saxon times
By the 9th century, the major threat to peace in Devon came from Viking raiders. To confound them, Alfred the Great refortified Exeter as a defensive burh, followed by new erections at Lydford, Halwell and Pilton, although these fortifications were relatively small compared to burhs further east, suggesting these were protection for only the elite. The English defeated a combined Cornish and Danish force at Callington in 832. Edward the Elder built similarly at Barnstaple and Totnes. Sporadic Viking incursions continued, however, until the Norman Conquest, including the disastrous defeat of the Devonians at the Battle of Pinhoe (1001). A few Norse placenames remain as a result, for example Lundy Island. The men of Devon are said by Asser to have fought the Danes at the battle of the Battle of Cynwit in 878, which may have been at Kenwith Castle or Countisbury, although Cannington in Somerset is also claimed as the site of the battle. In 894, the Danes attempted to besiege Exeter but were driven off by King Alfred but it was sacked
in 1001.
Devon formed part of the bishopric of Sherborne (Dorset) after this was set up in 705 AD. In the early 10th century, King Athelstan refounded the monastery at Exeter. Roman Catholicism gradually took over from Celtic Christianity as minster churches were established across the county. Devon was given its own bishopric in 905, initially at Bishop's Tawton, though it quickly moved to Crediton. As part of the general move towards urban cathedrals in the late Saxon period, Bishop Leofric eventually transferred his see to the old abbey at Exeter in 1050. The boundary between Devon and Cornwall was fixed as the east bank of the River Tamar by King Athelstan of Wessex in 936.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
British Wadokai Southwest
| The Shield of Wadokai Southwest.
White Dragon. The original flag of Anglo-Saxon England (now used as the flag of Wessex). Two Rivers. Symbolises the two large rivers of the Southwest, the River Tamar and River Avon (furthest west Tamar and furthest east Avon). Red Lion of Devon holding British Wadokai symbol arising from crown of the United Kingdom. 15 Bezants/Gold Coins, on a black background, symbol of Cornwall. |
