Charles Naylor was born in Hubli, South West India on the 13th May 1933. He began his education in India, and left school at the age of 14 to work for a while as a cabin boy.
He came to England in 1948, at the age of 15, were he began an apprenticeship at the BICC Company in Liverpool and attended night school, gaining a HNC in electrical engineering. It was there that he first took an interest in karate,after a colleague brought in a copy of the Nishiyama and Brown book, ‘Karate the Art of Empty hand Fighting”.
Being a keen sportsman, he decided to give it a go, and began to make enquiries via the CCPR (the body which pre-dated the Sports Council) About this time, a group of youngsters from a Liverpool Jiu Jitsu club (amongst them a brown belt called Andy Sherry), were making simular enquiries, and they and a group from the BICC met at a pub in the centre of Liverpool to discuss the formation of a Karate club.
A friend had attended a karate course under a Mr Vernon Bell at Chigwell in Essex, and he became the first ‘instructor’ at a class held at the David Lewis Theatre, in Liverpool city centre. Sensei Naylor obviously gave it a good go, as he gained his black belt in 1966, one of the first in this country to do so.
Little did he realise the level of involvement at which he and his family would finally find themselves. Dot Naylor, his wife took up karate shortly after him, and is still a practicing 3rd Dan his daughter Jane gained 4th Dan and has represented Great Britain for many years as a competitor, whilst his son Mark is a 1st Dan. All of the Naylors are long-standing members, and between them have approximately 90 years KUGB membership and practice, surely an unbeatable record!
As well as teaching Karate as a profession, Sensei Naylor was a trustee of the KUGB and it’s Vice-Chairman, and was highly regarded in International circles for his negotiating skills and his understanding of the complexities of Karate politics. He was also a Senior International Referee.
In spite of all these achievements, his greatest pride was seeing his wife and children gain their black belts, and Jane gaining selection to the International squad. Moments he always savoured were watching Frank Brennan beat World Champion Mori in Bremmen in 1980, and in the re emergence of ESKA in Sunderland, especially as the England team won, and last, but not least, watching the ‘boys’ beat Japan at the World Championships in 1990.
Charles sadly passed away on 14th March 2007.
