Adam started his karate training on the 21st March 1988 aged 13.
It was down to his mother that he started, as she had been on a number of self defence courses ran by Terry Irving. Terry was the chief instructor of Stock SKC a small KUGB club based in Thundersley, Essex. She thought it would be a good way to keep her son off the streets and out of trouble.
When he turned up to watch for the first time, the class were doing some press ups and he thought to himself, “I can do that, lets give it a go!”
He was already into sports, playing rugby union and competing in athletics for his school,
something Adam would do for the next 25 plus years, mixing his Karate life with his rugby, which was not always the easiest thing to do, as matches were played on Saturdays, the same days as most competitions and courses, but he loved participating in them both and so he worked around it.
Adam would go on to pass all of his Kyu gradings under Sensei Charlie Naylor.
He then passed his Shodan in 1993 and Nidan in 1996 under Sensei Enoeda, both in Slough.
Then Sandan in 2006 in Egham,
Yondan in 2011 in Sheffield,
Godan in 2016 in Chesterfield,
all under some of the senior Sensei`s of the KUGB.
Then in April 2024 he passed his Rokudan in Barnsley, under Sensei`s Billy Higgins, Jimmy Brennan and Frank Brennan.
He has been proud to represent his club, at the KUGB Southern Regions, Shotokan Cup and KUGB National Championships and various all style competitions many times over the years with some success.
In his very first competition in 1989 as a 7th Kyu, at a local all styles competition, Adam won the kyu grade kata event.
He has been placed 1st, 2nd 3rd in various All styles competitions over the years.
3rd place in the KUGB Southern Region Championships, Individual Mens Kata 2000
3rd place medallist in the KUGB Southern Region Championships, Team Kata 1993 and 2003
2nd place medallist in the KUGB Southern Region Championships, Team Kumite 2023/2024
He was the inaugural winner of the Veterans mixed Kata at the KUGB Southern Region Championships in 2023.
Also an Essex Team Kata winner 3 years running 1999,2000,2001.
In 1991 as a brown belt, Adam began instructing at Stock SKC. He gained his Instructors Qualification in 2008 and his Assessors Qualification 2018,and in 2018 became Chief Instructor of Stock SKC when his instructor Terry Irving retired.
Adam loves attending courses, learning from whoever is instructing and catching up with old friends.
In 1990 he had his first Crystal Palace experience, staying at the famous `Lodge Tower block` as have many Karate-Ka. Attending the week long September International Shotokan Karate Course, under Sensei`s Enoeda, Tsuyama, Tabata and Ohta.
Since then he has been on many Black and Brown belt courses throughout the years in
Abingdon, Barnsley, Bath, Chelmsford, Chesterfield, Egham, Guildford, Hendon, Reading, Sheffield and Slough but to name a few.
He has been a regular on the Karate Summer School Lancaster, since 2007 and Spring Karate Course in Paignton, since 2015, his only regret, is, that he didn’t start attending these courses sooner.
He has been a member of the Central Region Kata Squad under Sensei Frank Brennan since 2013. Usually its a 6 hour plus round trip to train, but it is always worth it.
The camaraderie between his clubs students, is second to none and Adam likes nothing more than seeing the reaction from them, when they pass a grading or win a competition.
Adam would like to thank his friend and former instructor Terry Irving and the KUGB senior instructors, particularly Sensei Frank Brennan and the late Sensei Bob Poynton who we all miss, for their guidance and influence over the years.
He is also proud to be a Long Standing Member of the KUGB and looks forward to the future with this excellent organization.
