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 Viola Van de Ruyt
Sempai Viola Van de Ruyt is Nidan (2nd) black belt, is NCCP certified and assists with instruction. Viola started training in Shukokai Karate in June 2001 along with her husband Thom and sons Marcus and Phillip. With no previous martial arts training, she didn’t know if she would enjoy it but wanted to give it a try as it was great to be able to do it with her family.
She quickly became hooked on the biomechanics of Shukokai Karate that enabled her to find hidden strength and ability that she never would have imagined. In November of 2004 she achieved Shodan and Nidan in November 2007. As club Sempai, Viola is a NCCP certified instructor assisting with classes as required, liaison with parents and students, and in charge of the dojo in Sensei’s absence. Viola is also active in the community through her work as a Financial Advisor and with several community organizations. Please feel free to speak with Viola about any questions or concerns.
Rob Walker - Shodan (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 22 tournaments, accumulating 35 medals and thoroughly enjoying the competitive, social and personal growth aspects of tournament participation.
The highlights of his tournament career are his two opportunities to compete for Canada at the Kimura Shukokai International World Championships in 2006 and 2008. In addition to a variety of competition-focused workshops, Rob has trained with the Karate BC Zone 6 team for the last 3 years and with the BC Provincial Training Squad in 2008.
Rob is a Director-at-Large for the Vancouver Island Karate Society, which administers Zone 6 under Karate BC and has volunteered many hours at karate tournaments in BC.
Karen Naylor - Events Coordinator
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.