Southport Miyagi Karate School (S.M.K.S.) was founded in 1978 by Sensei(S.) Peter McDowell who taught Japanese Goju Ryu out of a small Dojo in Hampton Road. S. McDowell was a senior student of S. Gary Spiers, 5th Dan Goju Kai who was a student of S. Gogen Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan. S. Spiers additionally sent S. McDowell to train under S. Ronnie Colwell, 7th Dan Kempo, 6th Dan Shotokan in order to widen his understanding of the finer points of martial arts.   Pictured outside The Prefectural Budokan, Instructors and Students from E.G.K.A. Southport attend the World Budosai 2004 S. McDowell retired from instructing in 1990, and passed on the Dojo to S. Garth Graham and S. Guy Keen. S. Garth withdrew from instructing in 1998 and S. Guy then continued as head of the SMKS and continued to train privately with S. McDowell until December 2000 when he graded him to Yon (4th) Dan. In 2001 S. Guy opened the current Bath St Dojo with the assistance of S.'s John Birch, Karl Wolfenden, Stuart Smith and Sandra Brookfield. The aim of the dojo was to continue the teaching of traditional Karate-do, to maintain the high standards and to continually develop the instructors and students of SMKS. In 2002, SMKS was invited to join the English Goju-Ryu Karate Association (EGKA) following the Winter Gasshuku by S. Ernie Molyneux and S. Roy Flatt. Since this time the S.M.K.S. has fully integrated into the E.G.K.A. and has made the conversion to traditional Okinawa Karate-Do as taught by the International Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karate Federation (IOGKF) and S. Guy consolidated his 4th Dan under S. Morio Higaonna, 9th Dan Chief Instructor of the I.O.G.K.F. at the 2005 European Gasshuku in Spain. Additionally all of the instructors have either consolidated their existing Dan grades or have graded further under the E.G.K.A., and are fully qualified, vetted with the Criminal Records Bureau and recognised by Karate England, the national governing body. The picture above was taken in Okinawa in July 2004 at the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan. Shown On the back row are our instructors from left to right S.'s Sandra, John, Stewart, Guy, Carl and Karl. S. Sandra is head of Ormskirk Martial arts and Stuart teaches the junior classes at Southport.   Sensei's Carl & Karl on a Bo-Staff course 2004 Budosai.  Joining the EGKA has opened up excellent opportunities for the instructors and students who have benefited from training from some of the worlds top Karate masters such as S.'s Higaonna, Bakkies (8th Dan South Africa), Terauchi (8th Dan, Japan), S. Nakamura (6th Dan, Canada) to name but a few. They have also trained in some fantastic locations, Norway, Spain and even Okinawa the very birthplace of the art of Karate and home of the IOGKF Hombu Dojo. As well as the international seminars mentioned above the SMKS also trains on a regular basis with Senior Instructors of the EGKA, mainly S. Roy at his Childwall Dojo. SMKS are also regular faces at the many national gasshukus hosted by the EGKA and frequently benefit from the senior instruction of S. Ernie, 7th Dan EGKA Chief Instructor as well as other senior instructors of the IOGKF. Click here for further information on the many upcoming E.G.K.A. Events/Gasshuku's.