Step out of your comfort zone – who knows where it will take you…
Over the years I’ve trained in various martial arts with some fantastic instructors. Most recently with John Johnston Sensei. I remember meeting John at a 6 hour British Combat Association (BCA) seminar back in March 2016. I’d recently moved Sheffield Karate Club over to the BCA and was looking forward to training with them.
I’d arrived early and was feeling a little nervous sat in the empty car park. Eventually, a car pulled up and out stepped what looked to be a giant of a man. I knew there would be some tough guys attending but I remembered thinking to myself ” Ffs I hope they’re not all like this guy or it’s going to be a rough 6 hours”. The guy walked over to my car so I wound my window down. He stuck his giant hand through to shake mine and introduced himself as John.
After chatting for a short while we realized no one else was turning up, so John picked up the phone and called the seminar organiser and owner of the BCA (Peter Consterdine). Turns out the Dojo had just recently moved and we were in the wrong car park. Driving to the right place I wondered how come John had managed to call Peter so quickly.
We chatted whilst getting ready for the seminar and I was convinced we would end up training together for the next 6 hours. We all lined up to bow in and to my surprise, John was asked up to the front to stand alongside Peter Consterdine. Turns out John was a little more than just a giant turning up for a seminar.
After the seminar, John invited me to train at his dojo in Derby. I took him up on his offer traveling from Sheffield to Derby as often as I could. We come from different Karate backgrounds, but none of that matters. I’ve learned a lot from John over the years and I always feel honoured when he asks me to share some of my Karate with him and his students. John’s a fantastic instructor and a gentleman to boot.
The picture was taken after my 4th Dan grading in December 2017
Thanks For Reading
Dave Shaw – Sheffield Karate Club