'For me, the breathing of the martial arts is the most important aspect. If you don’t breath you die, so if you don’t breath in your Karate then that too becomes dead and lifeless.'
Sensei Dave Hazard is a living legend of Shotokan Karate. He was one of the few students around at the very beginning of British karate in the late 1960's, training at the famous Blackfriars dojo under the late Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda. He was also one of the first English instructors to up sticks and make the journey to Japan to train at the honbu dojo of the Japan Karate Association.
From London's East End, Sensei Hazard has the reputation for possessing the highest level of skill and the ability to transform it into the most useful applications both in competition and in the street. He has a cockney charm that helps him to put over the depth of his knowledge in the most simple and practical way that makes learning with him a pleasure.
Like many of his contemporaries, Sensei Hazard's first encounter with the Martial Arts was in 1966 through Judo, which he practised for three years before coming across Karate at the London Blackfriars dojo in August 1969.
At this time, Japanese Sensei's Enoeda, Kanazawa, Kato and Takahashi all taught lessons there. Among Sensei Hazard's contemporaries were the likes of Terry O'Neil, Bob Rhodes, Bob Poynton, Billy Higgins and Steve Cattle. On 21st December 1972, Sensei Enoeda awarded Sensei Hazard his 1st Dan at the Blackfriars dojo. He followed this with years of successes at the KUGB championships where he became a national champion and a member of the British team.
In 1977 Sensei Hazard decided to widen his karate education by travelling to Japan with a letter of introduction from Sensei Enoeda. After just a couple of weeks training in the normal classes Sensei Hazard was recommended for the rare privilege of attending the highly prestigious yet notorious JKA instructors class. These classes were taught by such renowned karate names as Sensei's Shoji, Ueki and Kanazawa. Most notably though, and most often the classes were taken by Master Nakayama himself – student of Master Funokoshi, the `father of modern day karate'.
Sensei Hazard recalls - `Apart from his very obvious skill, Master Nakayama could look at you and instantly reel off four or five things that could improve your whole technique. He instinctively knew what you were doing wrong and could tell you precisely what corrections you needed to make'. In those days, if an instructor wasn't teaching then they would train in the class. Day in and day out Sensei Hazard trained alongside world-renowned karate-ka like Abe, Tanaka, Yahara, Mori, Oishi and Isaka to name but a few.
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During his time in Japan, Sensei Hazard attended around 78 instructor's classes. Sometimes doubling up and taking two or three classes each day. Out of these 78 instructor classes, Master Nakayama taught over 50 of them. As Sensei Hazard was a `Gaijin' (foreigner), he was also expected to train in the daily international class. Consequently, over the period of one year, he found himself training six hours each day, six days a week. Shortly before leaving Japan, Sensei Hazard successfully took his 3rd Dan grading under non-other than Master Nakayama himself.
Sensei Hazard returned to England and was something of a Ronin for a while, until in 1984 he joined forces with Sensei Mick Dewey who had formed SEKU, the Shotokan of England Karate Union. Acting as a grading examiner and technical director to SEKU, he also ran a dojo in Brighton and kept up his regular training with Sensei Enoeda in London as well as teaching across England and Scotland, Canada, the USA and Europe.
In 1993 Sensei Hazard co-authored the book `Fundamental Karate' with Sensei Aidan Trimble of the FSK and since then Sensei's Hazard and Trimble have produced a 3 volume instructional karate video set along the same lines entitled `Applied Karate'.
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Many karate associations appreciate Sensei Hazard's skills and technical excellence. At present he is chief grading examiner for the Highland Karate Association, technical advisor to the Karate Union of Wales and the Federation of Shotokan Karate. In the year 2000, Sensei Hazard became part time assistant to Ticky Donovan OBE on the EKGB National Squad. Although recruited primarily as the national kata coach, Sensei Hazard has also helped immensely with the athletes involved in kumite.
The Academy of Shotokan Karate (ASK) was formed in 2003 by Sensei Hazard and started accepting members in 2004. The Academy is growing at an internally controlled rate to provide quality instruction based on developing the individual and is supported by an extremely experienced team of senior instructors. In forming the ASK Sensei Hazard felt that he needed an environment that would allow him personally to evolve his approach to Shotokan Karate-Do. This is a move that was endorsed personally by the late great Sensei Enoeda.
October 2007 is the scheduled release date for Sensei Hazard's long awaited autobiography. In the book 'Born Fighter', he writes candidly about the events in his life that have made him the man he is today - training in Japan, sparring with Yahara Sensei, his relationship with Enoeda Sensei and of course, becoming a 'name' around the tough streets and bars of London's East-End
Watch the promo trailer for 'Born Fighter' - Here
`The ultimate desire for the ASK, is to encourage it's membership to achieve and hopefully excel its senior instructors. This will only happen through dedication to both the traditional principles and embracing the new knowledge we have come to understand through out diligent study and practise of the art of Shotokan Karate-Do' ~ Sensei Dave Hazard 2004
* Pictures courtesy of Bernard Rose 2007
