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Steve
was influenced very early in his career
by
a man that we all came to look upon as our
godfather
– the late Sensei Taiji Kase. He recognised in
Sensei
Kase a man with a similar body type to his and a kindred
-spirit
– in Kase this was the Samurai spirit and in Steve his
much
vaunted Viking spirit. He also recognised that Kase
Sensei
had something different, something more to offer than
the
other Japanese instructors. After the first meeting he trained
with
Kase Sensei at every opportunity absorbing the essence of
Kase’s
karate, learning and developing his techniques and
methods.
In
1989 following the death of Sensei
Nakayama,
Kase Sensei decided to leave
the J.K.A and founded the World Karate-do
Shotokan
Academy and he asked
Steve
as one of his senior and
long
standing students to
choose
between the J.K.A and
his
new Academy. Almost
without
hesitation he chose
Kase’s
direction and gave up
a
secure career and a
substantial
income as a
professional
in the K.U.G.B to
start
the E.S.A, taking with him
a
group of like
-minded
souls. His words to those of us
who
joined him in the venture were,
“Sensei
Kase is planning a system of
Shotokan
Karate which will take us not
into
the 1990’s but into the next
century.
I intend to follow him; I simply
want
to get better.”
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Steve
Cattle was born in York in 1947 and like so many people of his
generation his
earliest
exposure to martial arts was through Judo not karate. Steve was an
exceptional
Judoka
reaching 2nd Dan, becoming the European Lightweight Champion in 1967
and
competing
in the World Student Games in Tokyo that same year.
However,
by that time he had already been exposed to karate starting his training
under
Sensei
Kanazawa in Wetherby. By 1970 Steve had become a member of the K.U.G.B
National
Team which he remained a member of until 1984. He was one of the K.U.G.B
elite
- a member of the Technical Committee, a Grading Examiner and professional
karate
teacher. I use the word “teacher” advisedly because one of Steve’s
greatest
qualities
was his ability to teach rather than instruct. He was a formidable
competitor
famed
for his fighting spirit and tactical ability, winning the KUGB National
Championship
in 1974 and 1981 and leading the Kirkdale team to victory
in
1982. He was part of the British Squad
that
defeated the Japanese in the
World
championships in Tokyo
something
that had never been
achieved
before.
Steve
was also somewhat of a
philosopher
and had a degree in
Theology.
Interestingly his daughter
Sigrid
has just been awarded a degree
in
Philosophy and offered a teaching
post
at Berkley University in California it
must be in the genes.
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