Yamashiro Kai

Yamashiro kai Shotokan Karate Club is situated on the far south western tip of the United Kingdom in a town called Penzance in the county of Cornwall. The Club name “Yamashiro” literally means (Mountain Castle) and is taken from St Michaels Mount, pictured above. The Club was started in 2005 and was originaly a member of S.K.K.I.F. (Shotokan Karate Kanazawa-ryu International Federation) but then moved to The British Karate Association who are affiliated to the English Karate Federation and World Karate Ferderation.

The Club was formed by three Karateka, Instructor Jamie Pilcher (Shodan) at that time, Martin Bailey 10th kyu and Jeremy Bailey 10th kyu. Jamie started training with Penzance Shotokan Karate Club under Sensei Julian Berry in 1990, the Club then moved to St Ives, a seaside town 15 to 20 Miles away from the original location. He was awarded Shodan in 1993 By the British Karate Association to which the original club was affiliated. After training intermittently between 1995 – 1996 Jamie had to stop training for personal reasons. Wanting to continue his journey in Karate, he planned to start a club of his own in the town where he had originally trained and so “Yamashiro Kai” was born with the help of two willing students. As members of S.K.K.I.F. the club went from strength to strength and in 2007 Jamie was awarded his (Nidan) by Sensei Roger Carpenter 7th Dan. In 2010 Jamie was awarded (Sandan) by the world famous Shotokan Master Hirokazu Kanazawa 10th Dan who has always been, and remains an inspiration to all Shotokan Karateka.

The original intent of Karate when it was practiced in The Ryukyu kingdom (now Okinawa) in the past, was as an unarmed self defence system to defend your life or those of your family or loved ones from the violent attacks of theives, or individuals who intended harm. Practiced and perfected by royal bodyguards like Bushi Sokon Matsumura, Anko Asato and Anko Itosu (teachers of Gitchen Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni and many other Karate masters) it included a full range of techniques including striking, throwing, arm locks, kicks, joint manipulation and pressure point attacks. All these effective defences were practised in two man drills over and over until they became second nature to the pratictioner, then coded and recorded into what we now practice as Kata, an encylopedia of the most effective self defence techniques of the time. When Karate was introduced to the Okinawan education system by Itosu, its orginal techniques were too dangerous, and so it was modified for safe practice and used to strengthen childrens bodies and focus. Eventually being exported to mainland Japan, Karate could no longer be taught one on one, or in small groups so teaching was modified once again, but in its translation, many of the verbal instructions which explained the hidden self defence techniques hidden in the Kata were lost, leaving modern day Karate with the dance, but none of the danger.

After spending many years researching the history and development of Karate, and its many changes into its present form, Sensei Jamie Pilcher has made it his long term aim, to ensure that this very important element, is included in the way Karate is taught at Yamashiro Kai, combining the old ways with the new. When you are taught a Kata at our club, you will also learn how to understand and use it to defend yourself, which was Kata's orginal use in days gone by. When facing a self defence situation, you would seldom be facing Karate students in the street, but more likely untrained individuals who do not abide by rules and are intent on harming you, the way we teach and our training style reflects this. Most modern Karate styles are missing this vital part of the puzzle, and only focus on competition or sparring with Karate students. If one of your reasons for joining a martial arts club is self defence, make sure your Dojo includes training for it, as Yamashiro Kai does, and use your Karate as it was intended by the ancient Okinawan Masters.