![]() I still respect Gene a great deal, but Jim, although no longer my instructor will always be my sempai, he taught me a great deal in my early years. I then left the KUS when work took me to the Middle East. I feel very lucky to have the grounding I had, and I trained with Jim regularly over a 10 year period, with a break of about two years while in South Africa. The KUS was the KUGB equivalent in Scotland and our grades came through Enoeda sensei or his assistants of the time. Gene on the other hand stayed with Alex McGregor and the KUS (South) after the split, which was based out of Glasgow. Jim was very successful as an instructor and built a large association in the east of Scotland under the auspices of the Karate Union of Scotland (North) headed by the Dempsey’s, Paul and Pat and their father ‘old’ Pat who were based in Dundee. Jim wasn’t as dynamic as Gene, or maybe he was but in a totally different way, Jim could teach the masses to improve, where as Gene always looked to take the individual to the next level and usually the hard way. Unfortunately work commitments at the time prevented me training on the days that Gene did, so I joined Jim Wood’s club. In my opinion he was as good a tournament fighter as they come. I have always had the greatest respect for him and trained with him on the odd occasion over the years. ![]() (DH) I have heard you talk about both these instructors in the past, did they inspire you in any way and were there any others? (GC) Gene was a dynamic fighter and always trained very hard, he was a member of the Scottish and British teams and produced some good international fighters of his own. It is my understanding they had their shodan grades accepted and all future grades were with the JKA. I believe they had both graded under a Mr Webster in Chito-Ryu but had decided to move to Shotokan under Japanese tuition. This was my first experience in Shotokan the club was run by Gene Dunnett who had just made the switch from Chito-ryu along with Jim Wood, to Shotokan under Mr Enoeda. ![]() I made some enquiries and found myself in a scout hut in Dunfermline’s West End park, walking up and down a rough wooden floor for what seemed like weeks, practicing zenkutsu-dachi. I then heard about a bunch of guys practicing karate up in the town. My attentions were ignored and I therefore, as a fickle male, decided judo wasn’t for me. ![]() Like most kids growing up at that time, I found it could be a rough place so I started boxing at a local Gym with a former amateur boxer, sadly I cannot remember his name and I didn’t last long at the club, as I met a lass who was a judoka and I trained for a few months at her club in Rosyth. He also holds fellowships in chiropractic, medical and health institutions – David Hall 07 (Dave Hall) Can you please tell me when you first started training in the martial arts? (George Carruthers) My first experience of martial arts was in my middle teens in my home town of Dunfermline, in Scotland. He has been published not only in karate magazines in the past but professionally in both chiropractic and medical journals. He holds a masters degree in health sciences and is well known in his field of expertise, both nationally and internationally with a particular interest in headaches, whiplash and injuries to the martial artist. George was honoured by Ozawa sensei in Las Vegas 1994, along with such notables as Mr Kanazawa, Chinen and Mabuni to name but a few by being presented to the officials, spectators and participants of the tournament. He is a founder member and Chairman of the International Shotokan-ryu Karate-do Shihankai, a member of the Japan Shotokan Karate Association’s Shihankai, holds a 7th Dan JSKA and along with Mr Charles Gidley, runs the JSKA-GB under the auspices of Keigo Abe sensei. An Interview With George Carruthers George Carruthers is a traditional karateka who has trained in Shotokan karate for over 35 years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |