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The Chief Instructor of Plymouth Karate-do Wadokai.

Gary E Swift 7th Dan.

Gary Swift was born in Leigham Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, in 1956. He started his martial-arts training at the early age of 10 at his junior school at Laira Green.
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 he was also introduced to the skills of Thai-boxing, known then as Kickboxing, by one of his gym teachers.

Upon his arrival to the South of England in 1972, from Liskeard, he started Wado-ryu Karate in Guildford and Bisley (Surrey), under his most influential Instructor Mick Rapley (5th Dan), in 1974 (affiliated to the United Kingdom Karate Federation (later to be known as the United Kingdom Karate-do Wadokai)).

Regular instructors at this time included Suzuki Tatsuo Hanshi, Maeda Tadayuki Sensei, Shiomitsu 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 over 30 years teaching experience and over 40 years (including international) training experience.

He is the Founder-President of the Alliance of International Wado-ryu (AIWA est. 1982), and Chief Instructor to the British Wadokai Karate-do Federation (original foundations established in 1976).

He is also recognised within the Japanese Karate Federation's Wadokai England (to which he is General Secretary), and the English Karate Federation (EKF).

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 10th 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).

His return to Plymouth, in July 2004, has allowed him to open new clubs and build a new South-western based organisation, Wadokai Southwest, under the JKF-Wadokai England banner.

Zoë Swift 4th Dan Tashi.

Zoë has been training since 1983 and has been actively involved in instructing since 1988.

Nick Fowle 2nd Dan.

I started Wado-ryu karate in the late 1970's at Horsham Karate Club under Sensei Bill Bishop (4th Dan) whose dedication & infectious enthusiasm was an inspiration to us students. At this time we also visited & trained at Suzuki Tatsuo (8th Dan) Hanshi's club in London and attended summer & winter courses (instructors included Suzuki, Shiomitsu, Sagasawa & others).

Having progressed to brown belt, work commitments prevented me from regular club training & I was forced to take time out.
I restarted training in the mid 80's but unfortunately by this time Bill Bishop had sadly passed away (a real loss to Wado-ryu).
I joined another Wado club in Horsham (starting from white belt again) run by Sensei Paul Elliott (SEMKA) then 3rd Dan. Our Chief Instructor at that time was Mick Rapley (5th Dan) Sensei, who was succeeded by my most influential instructor Gary Swift (7th Dan) Saiko-Shihan.

I was eventually awarded my black belt in Sep 1993 by Sensei Gary Swift. The day started with the exam, followed by the grading, followed by a hard 4hr training session. We were absolutely shattered but it was well worth it.

In 1998 work commitments again seriously interfered with training & I decided to leave the club.

In 2002 I retired from the Police Service (after 30 yrs+) & we moved to Tavistock, Devon. I took a part-time job & although I'm always busy, I now had more control of my time. I realised that although life was pretty good I missed training & learning karate. On searching the net for Wado-ryu Plymouth area, low & behold to my surprise Gary Swift Sensei had moved to Plymouth from Surrey (via Bodmin). In Dec 2005 I surprised him, Zoë & myself by making another comeback.

Although in my 50's I'm thoroughly enjoying my return & hopefully with a fair bit more work & if the body keeps going, I'll take my 2nd Dan this year (2007) & maybe even pass.

Mark Flynn Shodan.

I began my training about 2000, under the tuition of Sensei Rob Holmes. Due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances Sensei Holmes was forced to close the club, in June of 2005.
After much deliberation I decided, with sensei Holmes approval, to take over the club, doing so led to my making contact with Sensei Swift, with his many years experience running clubs in the art of traditional Wado-ryu and vast knowledge, he has helped me immensely in the last year and a half to embrace the new syllabus and build a small but loyal club.

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