Shotokan Karate Magazine, Lymm (2025)

Because it is a very specialised and Traditional magazine we only publish each quarter MAR-JUNE-SEPT-DEC as opposed to monthly. I feel this way it gives me time to try and make a good job of each edition and not just churn out the usual Martial Arts editorial we so often see. We do pride ourselves on featuring the most senior and famous Shotokan Sensei's in the world in the magazine and it is tota

lly non-political, we feature everyone from all the various organisations. The main themes are In-depth interviews - Technical articles - History of Traditional Karate - Lots of information on courses and seminars etc. Technical reports on Training courses with top instructors and of course all related Shotokan news, new books, videos etc. a very different magazine, totally dedicated to Traditional Karate-Do. Although the magazine is not commercial enough to be sold through the newstrade we have built a large following around the world through personal subscriptions.

07/11/2025

Shotokan Karate Magazine Issue 166 December 2025
FEATURES NIKOS AFENTOULIS 6th Dan JKA-WF
The interview in this edition of SKM features Nikos Afentoulis sensei 6th Dan JKA-WF based on the beautiful Greek island of Rhodes. A senior JKA instructor, Nikos sensei comes across as a very amicable, friendly man yet extremely serious about his dedication to Shotokan Karate-do. He has an admirable pedigree having trained with many world famous JKA instructors past and present. Read the thoughts of a lesser known karate-ka, who diligently goes about his training and teachings.
The SKM team feel that Albert Cheah’s article in this issue is an absolute gem. Many older karateka can’t physically do many things we did 25/30 years ago but the main point is that we are adapting and still training. My article is hopefully a reminder to what were and still should be the basic (body movement) principles of Traditional Karate-do as taught by the late Hidetaka Nishiyama sensei. I hope you all enjoy all the various articles in this edition.
Good Health, Good Training.
Editor.
https://www.shotokanmag.com/

08/08/2025

Shotokan Karate Magazine Issue 165 SEPTEMBER 2025
FEATURES:
The first interview in this edition features KWF Chief Instructor Sensei Masamichi Otsuka 6th Dan. A protégé and long time student of the legendary Mikio Yahara Shihan. Otsuka sensei comes across as a very humble, quiet individual. However, as you will read in the interview, he is quite the opposite when it comes to his karate. He is deadly serious about training with 100% effort in all techniques, kihon, kata and kumite. Although still only 42 years old, Otsuka sensei has a long pedigree in karate, starting from the age of five under the strict eyes of his father, also a Shotokan sensei.

Our second interview features Sensei Errol Mahoney 5th Dan JSKA based in Florida, USA. Errol spent several years training in Japan while stationed at the Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo.

Other Articles include:
• Origins of Jiyu Kumite: By Graham Noble
• Has The Title–‘Sensei’ Got out of Hand? By John Cheetham
• Bunkai: To Analyse – To Breakdown: By David Stainko
• Kaeshi Ippon Kumite: By Martin J Smith
• Periodisation of Training for Non-Competitive Karateka: By Paul Dowell

Good Health, Good Training.
Editor.
https://www.shotokanmag.com/

09/05/2025

Shotokan Karate Magazine Issue 164 JUNE 2025
FEATURES JULIE NICHOLSON 7th Dan HDKI
Julie Nicholson was born in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear in the North East of England in November 1964. She began her Shotokan karate training in 1975. We featured an earlier interview with Julie in SKM Issue 66 February 2001. So, it’s interesting to now read her views and ideas after 24 more years of continuous training, plus her extensive teaching experience. Many subscribers in the UK and in Europe will know Julie Nicholson from her incredibly successful competition days where she had a fantastic career. She won 15 KUGB Kata titles and was a three-times European Kata Champion. Julie Nicholson made history in 2001 at the KUGB National Championships when she became the first woman to become Grand Champion. She won both the Individual Kata and Kumite events. Julie was an active member of the KUGB National Squad from 1983 until 2001 when she retired from International Competition. From the beginning of her career Julie was coached by her husband, John Holdsworth sensei 7th Dan, who provided the structure, guidance and encouragement to keep going in order to reach her goals. Both are now members of HDKI. I think it’s fair to say that SKM is more focused on featuring karateka who have passed the competition years of their own karate journey. From the conversations I’ve had, that goes for many subscribers/readers of the magazine. It’s a period which many karateka go through. l would like to conduct more interviews with younger karateka but the majority only want to talk about their competition career or tournament karate in general. Again, we have a good, varied choice of articles in this issue, one very interesting piece by Tim Hanlon (USA) a student of the late Hidetaka Nishiyama regarding teaching karate; namely, are instructors actually, ‘Showing or Showing Off’.
Editor.
https://www.shotokanmag.com/

09/02/2025

https://www.shotokanmag.com We have a very diverse series of articles in this edition of SKM. Starting with an interview with sensei Georges Dussart 6th Dan, a founder member of Shotokan Connect, a new group formed here in England. Plus articles by senseis Tom Kompier, Martin Fernandez, Albert Cheah, Matt Price, Graham Noble, and Dr Wolf Herbert. We’ve not had an article by Graham Noble, the renowned Karate Historian, for quite a few years. It shines a light on the progression of Shotokan in the hands of the formidable Yosh*taka Funakoshi. We had quite a response to my oizuki article in the last issue. To follow this up, we have an excellent technical article by Sensei Tom Kompier from the Netherlands, who featured in the article. Tom reflects on the oizuki technique we all practice and the many aspects involved in its ex*****on. Editor.

08/11/2024

https://www.shotokanmag.com
The latest edition of SKM Issue 162 December 2024 has two interviews with two very experienced sensei. The first features Sensei Martin J Smith, a British instructor with a quite different story to tell. Martin started his Karate journey in Shotokan Karate then studied various other Martial Arts including Traditional weapons. After 50 years of continuous training, his focus now is on both Shotokan Karate-do and Kobudo. Training with Traditional weapons, e.g. Sai, Bo etc, as Martin explains, adds another dimension to one’s Martial Arts experience.

The other interview in this edition features 80 year old London based Sensei, Rod Butler, a former student of the late legendary Keinosuke Enoeda sensei. Still training and teaching with SKE (Shotokan Karate England), Rod is the author of the best selling book, dedicated to the life story of Enoeda Sensei entitled: ‘Keinosuke Enoeda: Tiger of Shotokan Karate’.
Cover Photo By Paul Ives.

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