History
The history of Kushido
The roots of Kushido...
...reach right back into the classical Karate of Japan and Okinawa. The actual birth of Kushido was the 1st January 1963 when the founder of the system, Hugh St John Thomson, and his wife together with seven students opened his first school in Cape Town, South Africa.
The style was called 'Karate-Do' and is based on Shotokan but also has elements of Kyokushinkai. The added 'Do' (way) expressed that the school was following the original and traditional Budo spirit (martial arts).
1965 - two highly graded Shotokan instructors, Taiji Kase and Hiroshi Shirai, were invited to South Africa and taught at the still very young school. Hugh found that, despite the high quality of teaching, the instructors were keeping some knowledge to themselves, so he decided to go to Japan to investigate for himself. He studied Okinawa – Goju and Shorin, the mother system of Shotokan, as well as Aikido and Kendo. He returned with a Shihan title (Master) and built his new experiences into the concepts and training methods of his school.
1967 – in the meantime more Dojos joined the Cape Town school and Karate-Do became an independent style that incorporated western mentality and needs. Ranks of other systems were no longer recognised and the school expanded throughout the whole country and became the….
…stem…
...of Karate-Do International.
1970 - The founder introduced his school and style when he took part in a referee course and became the first and youngest Westerner to became chief referee in Tokyo and refereed in the first Karate World Championship.
1971 - Francis Rink opened a Karate-Do school in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
1972 - Leon Pantanowitz opened a Karate-Do school in Israel.
Both were students of Shihan Hugh from the beginning.
1986 - Paul Baumann founded Karate-Do in Switzerland [See Kushido Europe below].
1988 - the name Karate-Do was changed to Kushido. Through the name change and further development, Kushido disassociated itself from the worldwide development of sport karate and championships. The traditional nature of Kushido and the study of the 'art' remains the key differentiating factor when comparing to other 'sport' or competition based styles. In addition to Karate, Tai Chi and Kobudo were also introduced to the system.
1990 - The late Hanshi Denis St John Thompson founded Kushido UK [See Kushido UK below]
Through further international growth, Kushido developed further and spread itself like...
... the crown ...
...of a tree. After Kushido in Israel became independent in 1995, Kushido Europe made the step to independence in 2000 under the leadership of Renshi Paul Baumann of Kushido Switzerland, in agreement with all the black belts in Europe. The longstanding relationships with chief instructor the late Hanshi Denis in Cape Town, many Shihans in South Africa, Australia, USA and many other instructors happily remained and still remain to this day.
Kushido Europe
1986 - after studying with the founder Kancho Hugh and Chief instructor the late Hanshi Denis from 1983 to 1986 in South Africa, Paul Baumann founded Kushido Switzerland (then Karate-Do) on 2ndJune 1986 in Stansstad. Since then three more Kushido schools opened their doors in Switzerland: Hochdorf (1989), Zug (1997) and Lucerne (2000).
1994 - Paul Baumann became chief instructor of Kushido Europe (including Kushido UK) and runs the promotion courses for all black belts. Kushido Switzerland has since developed as the centre point of Kushido Europe.
1997 - Paul Baumann was given the title Shihan by the founder, the first in Kushido Europe, thereafter 6th Dan in 1999. This rank has been awarded in Kushido only seven times worldwide.
1999 - Juanita Baumann was awarded 5thDan and Shihan.
2005 - Paul Baumann was given the title Renshi.
Kushido UK
1990 - Kushido UK was founded by the late Hanshi Denis St Thomson in Camberley, Surrey and was headed up by Sensei John Golby (4th Dan) until 2002 when Sensei John had to move away due to a work re-location.
2002 - Sensei Lindsay Jenkins (3rd Dan) took over the reigns from Sensei John until a back injury forced Sensei Lindsay to retire from Kushido. Today, Sensei Lindsay still teaches Tai-Chi.
2003 - Sensei Michael Bruce (3rd Dan) became the head of Kuhsido UK and is assisted by Sempai Jonathan Dolbear (1st Dan).
2003 - Kushido UK moved the Camberley Dojo to its current location in Deepcut (near Camberley) and became the first 'client' of the newly built Deepcut Village Centre with its superb wooden floor.
2011 - is the 21st Anniversary of Kushido UK.