Who Are We?
Sensei David Bentley
Sensei Bentley is the Chief Canadian Instructor for Shukokai in Western Canada. He currently holds Yondan (4th Dan Black Belt) and has been training with the Shukokai style for more than 25 years. He's competed at the international level and has been an instructor for over fifteen years, both in England and Canada.
Sensei Bentley is a certified National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) coach and instructor, is First Aid certified and has had many successful clubs in England, Ontario and British Columbia. His most recent achievements include Sports Psychology Certification 2006, Karate BC Coach of the Year 2007 and won a silver medal for Canada in kumite (sparring) at the recent KSI World Championships 2008.
Sempai Karen Naylor
Karen started training with Sensei in 2001 to see if the martial arts would be a good sport for her teenage sons. But right from the start, she knew Karate was what she wanted to do. Friendships with club members and with Shukokai karate people around the world have been an added bonus. Working together at Karate with her daughter, Becky, has given them a common interest.
Karen loves the discipline, goal-setting and noticeable improvement that comes from training. Local tournaments and special training events with local and world chief instructors have been stretching experiences - and lots of fun. The body and brain sweats of Shukokai Karate have encouraged her to push herself out of her comfort zone to compete, test, teach and achieve.
Rob Walker - Tournament Coordinator
Rob joined Kimura Shukokai in 2004 after studying various martial arts, off and on, since 1979. Since 2005, he has explored the sport side of karate, competing in over 30 tournaments and thoroughly enjoying the competitive, social and personal growth aspects of tournament participation. The highlights of his tournament career are his Provincial Kumite Championship in 2008 and his opportunities to compete for Canada at the bi-annual Kimura Shukokai World Championships beginning in 2006. Rob trained with the Karate BC Zone 6 team for several years and with the BC Provincial Training Squad in 2008. In addition to certification as a tournament judge and a NCCP level 1 coach, Rob is currently a Director-at-Large for Zone 6 and Vice-President of Karate BC.
Sarah Walker - PeeWee Instructor & Youth Competition Coach
Sarah started in Shukokai karate in 2004 and achieved her Shodan in 2010. She began competing in 2005 and has competed in over 30 tournaments. Her competitive highlights include competing at the 2006 BC Winter Games, winning several medals at Karate BC Provincial Championships and representing Canada at the bi-annual KSI World Championships since 2006. In addition to many competition-focused training workshops, Sarah has trained with the Karate BC Zone 6 team since 2005 and trained with the BC Provincial Training Squad in 2008. Sarah is certified as a tournament judge and as an NCCP level 1 coach.