Club Articles

LAWRENCE ACHIEVES
HIS 7TH DAN

Sensei Terry Connell took our class, which finished with the presentation of the 7th Dan to our head instructor Lawrence.

Club Articles

OUR CLUB
HOMECOMING

After 40 years, Chikara Karate Club returns to it’s
original Dojo in Carfin!

Club Articles

WE REMAIN
ADAPTABLE

Through the ups and downs, and frankly the ins and outs…

VISITORS ARE VERY WELCOME

We are currently running our fantastic range of classes for all levels every week! All new members will be very welcome!

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ABOUT OUR CLUB

I started my journey with karate in 1979 in Carfin Church Hall. There were less than 10 members who were all brand new to karate. The instructor Willie Hamilton, who was a brown belt at the time, taught us all our first experience of Shukokai Karate. Two years after the club began, we moved all classes to Cathedral Primary School where it has continued to flourish up until now.

Between 1989 and 2000 several members became Scottish and British champions, and were called up to represent Scotland as part of the National team. Now after 38 years we are proud to have moved our significantly larger club back to our birthplace and opened The Dojo.

Lawrence Clifford
Chief Instructor

TRAINING

At Chikara we practice the style of Shito-Ryu, one of the 4 main styles of karate.

With over 80 years of combined experience, our club has been steeped in both the traditional and the competitive aspects of Karate. From 1989, several students have been Scottish and British Champions and have represented Scotland and Great Britain at European and World level.

Due to the vast experience of our instructors, we are able to offer a wide variety of classes for our membership through the use of our full time, purpose built Dojo. During these classes we focus on development, improving skills and fitness, and nurturing competitive athletes.

We are governed by and proudly associated with:

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TRAINING TIMETABLE

New members always welcome!

MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
AFTER SCHOOLS KARATE ALL SCHOOL KIDS 3.30pm - 4.15pm	DOJO WARRIORS PRE-SCHOOL KARATE 3.30pm - 4.00pm	AFTER SCHOOLS KARATE ALL SCHOOL KIDS 3.30pm - 4.15pm	DOJO WARRIORS PRE-SCHOOL KARATE 3.30pm - 4.00pm	AFTER SCHOOLS KARATE ALL SCHOOL KIDS 3.30pm - 4.15pm	KARATE CLASS 18+ BEGINNERS 10am - 10.45am
KARATE CLASS 5-17yrs 6pm - 6.45pm			KARATE CLASS 5-17yrs 6pm - 6.45pm	CHIKARA ELITE Competitors 4.30pm - 5.30pm	KARATE CLASS 5-17yrs 11am - 11.45am
KARATE CLASS 5-17yrs 7pm - 7.45pm			KARATE CLASS 5-17yrs 7pm - 7.45pm
18+ KARATE CLASS Over 18s 8pm - 9.00pm			18+ KARATE CLASS Over 18s 8pm - 9.00pm

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OUR COACHES

Meet Lawrence

7th Dan Black Belt

Lawrence Clifford started karate on October 17th 1979 in Carfin Church Hall.

In 1982, in order to be graded, Lawrence trained at the Kobe Osaka on Glassford Street in Glasgow with Tommy Morris. There he was graded up to a 1st Kyu Brown belt. He then trained with Ticky Donovan (Great Britain Karate Team Head Coach) for several years where he achieved his 1st and 2nd Dan Black belt. By 1992 he had taken on full running of Chikara Karate Club and had moved back to train traditional Shito-Ryu style with Tommy Morris. Since 1998 Lawrence has been training with Terry Connell at Shitokai Scotland, the largest Shitoryu Association in Scotland.

Lawrence was selected to represent Scotland from 1990- 2000 and to represent Great Britain at the World Championships in 1994. He has won 4 Scottish and 4 British team Gold Medals, and finished his competitive career at the young age of 38 years old, with an individual gold medal at the Scottish Championships. He then went on to coach with the Scotland Team for several years.

Meet Eddie

5th Dan Black Belt

Eddie began his karate career as an 18 year old at the Kobe Osaka Club under Scotland’s first ever black belt, Tommy Morris. He has approximately 43 years experience in karate- both as a competitor and coach. He gained his 3rd kyu brown belt in his first 3 years under Mr. Morris, but then had a 2 year break from karate for work commitments. He then joined Chikara Karate Club on his return and has been with the club for over 30 years. He reached 5th Dan black belt over this period but would be nowhere near that, probably not even at karate, if he had not met and trained with our Head Coach, Lawrence. In the early years of his time at Chikara he was not meeting the standards necessary to be a black belt (which was his number 1 goal), but with the encouragement and many one to one sessions with Lawrence, he was able to reach his goal and gain his 1st Dan black belt; Eddie says that this is why Chikara is such a big part of his family. He also puts his ability to have been Head of Sport for North Lanarkshire Leisure for 18 years down to the confidence gained over his 30 years at Chikara.

Meet Jason

3rd Dan Black Belt

Our coach Jason started Karate aged 3, following in the footsteps of his Dad, Lawrence.

He’s currently a 3rd Dan Black Belt and has experience competing with the national team. He has won a team gold medal at both the Scottish and British championships.

Having spent a month in Japan training in the Shitokai World Headquarters, Jason is highly experienced and a favourite with all members.

Meet Lorraine

3rd Dan Black Belt

Lorraine started her karate journey when she was at primary school, joining Chikara Karate Club 18 years ago. She says that Chikara was such a welcoming and supportive club, and she has been privileged to have been coached through her grades by Sensei Lawrence – all these years on she has now achieved her 3rd Dan Black Belt. She has been coaching for the past 15 years and loves seeing the kids developing in their confidence and ability. Coaching our competitive students is always a highlight for Lorraine, and she has had the pleasure of seeing the kids’ hard work and effort being rewarded at these competitions.

Meet Abbie

1st Dan Black Belt

Abbie has been a member of the Chikara Karate family since she was 5 years old. As a shy and nervous child, karate was great at pushing her forward to be more confident and outgoing due to the overwhelming support and encouragement she felt from the coaches. This inspired her to aim for her black belt and to do the coaching at the club in order to help other kids like her. She believes achieving her black belt and becoming a karate coach are her greatest achievements and something which would not have been possible without the amazing and kind family at Chikara Karate.

Meet Colin

2nd Dan Black Belt

Colin started training at Chikara in 1992 when he was 10 years old and has enjoyed his journey over the years.

Karate helped Colin a lot as he moved from Primary to High School with his confidence and self esteem.

Throughout Colin’s journey with karate he has enjoyed participating in competitions at a younger age but also learning discipline and improving his health. As a teenager Colin was seriously ill with meningitis where there was huge concerns over his future from medical staff. Colin made a full, and much quicker recovery than anyone expected and this was in a large way put down to his personal fitness levels and strength that he had developed through karate.

Colin had to take time off from karate for around eight years due to family caring responsibilities, however returned in 2018 and stated it was like “coming home”.

Colin’s children are both members of the club where he sees them following his journey and developing in confidence and building relationships that will help them in their futures.

Meet Nikki

2nd Dan Black Belt

Nikki has been with the Chikara family for 19 years. She started training with Lawrence when she was 8 years old when she would go to the YMCA after school care in Motherwell. That’s where she started her karate journey.

Nikki says she remembers seeing all the kids with their karate suits on go upstairs and straight away was curious. So one night she mentioned it to her parents and within 1 week she joined. She remembers at 8 years old telling her parents that one day she would be like Lawrence; be a black belt and then coach kids and help them. 19 years later she is a 2nd Dan black belt and a fully qualified coach. This isn’t just a hobby for Nikki, this is a massive part of her life and always will be.

Meet Kieran

1st Dan Black Belt

Kieran started with Chikara over 20 years ago on the Saturday morning Cleland class – based in Cleland boxing club, where you had to pray the caretaker had switched on the storage heater the night before. He has come up through the junior and adult grades with the club through various venues over the years. He’s hoping to be able to do the splits before retirement age.

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