John Bryan
The Founder and Chief
Instructor of JBK
Sho dai John Bryan has been training in martial arts for over 30 years.
He started his karate career at the age of 11 in 1980 based in Derby . He
did not want to do karate at first but was being bullied at school and had
no confidence and low self esteem, so his mother made him try karate.
He is so glad that she did as it changed his life for ever, and needless to
say the bullying stopped very soon after he started karate and he
became a very confident and out going child in no time at all.
The karate style that John was first introduced to was Wado Ryu karate a
very traditional style, hard training lots of sweat and discipline. He trained
under some of Wado Ryu's very top instructors, Harry Bird 5th Dan being
one of them and at the time the highest graded non Japanese instructor
in Wado Ryu karate.
Sensei Harry was a hard task master and a Sargent major in the army,
which meant he got the very best out of all of his students including John.
The training was sometimes harsh, and there was nowhere to hide when it
came to sparring, so it was a case of either getting stuck in or move on.
All of John's gradings were taken by 7th Dan Wado Ryu master Sakagami
kuniaki, and John was also lucky enough to train under 8th Dan master
Tatsuo Suzuki several times which was a great honour.
After gaining his first Kyu in Wado Ryu the club he trained with hit hard
times and was dissolved. John was unable to travel and with no other
Wado Ryu clubs in his area meant he could no longer carry on with his
training. He then went on to try a variety of Martial arts and over the
next ten years John gained experience in judo, jujitsu, kung fu and
kickboxing, all of which helped John to build his martial arts skills and he
really enjoyed this cross training better known as MMA.
John was happy in his training but still missed the traditional training of
karate. In 2002 a representative from the local karate club knocked on
his door telling him of a new club in the area. The club was Go Kan Ryu,
he had never heard of this style but was willing to give it a try and see
what it was like. He was very pleased he did as it was a very similar style
to Wado Ryu karate, and also one of the biggest clubs in the world with
over 60 thousand students training each week.
Go Kan Ryu was made up of two different styles of karate Shotokan and
Goju, both are traditional style's which John soon got to grips with, so
much so that after a short while he was asked by the senior instructor of
Derby to join the instructor's training program, this was a program for
students who could learn at a fast rate and then could go on to instruct
for the club.
John really enjoyed this program and after a period of time became a
fully accredited instructor for Go Kan Ryu. He was teaching students 3
times a week and still attending classes for his own personal training.
As an instructor John got to train with the Senior Instructors within GKR
karate, who included 7th Dan club founder Robert Sullivan , 5th Dan
shihan Stacey Karetsian, and also 7 times GKR kumite world champion
Antony Ryan.
John also enjoyed success in the tournament arena himself whilst with
GKR. He was the Midlands kata and kumite champion 6 times, also went
on to be a National kata champion and a silver medal place in kumite
twice at the GKR Nationals level. He also gained a level four
accreditation in refereeing and judging for GKR tournaments which he
did for several years.
So with all the knowledge John has gained in martial arts over the years
and now a third Dan him self in 2009, he decided to open his own
karate club - JB Karate Academy, which is fast becoming the number
one karate club in Derby and is going from strength to strength every
day. We hope this has given you some insight into the man behind JBK
and we hope you too may be inspired to take on the journey into the
world of karate your self .
The Founder and Chief
Instructor of JBK
Sho dai John Bryan has been training in martial arts for over 30 years.
He started his karate career at the age of 11 in 1980 based in Derby . He
did not want to do karate at first but was being bullied at school and had
no confidence and low self esteem, so his mother made him try karate.
He is so glad that she did as it changed his life for ever, and needless to
say the bullying stopped very soon after he started karate and he
became a very confident and out going child in no time at all.
The karate style that John was first introduced to was Wado Ryu karate a
very traditional style, hard training lots of sweat and discipline. He trained
under some of Wado Ryu's very top instructors, Harry Bird 5th Dan being
one of them and at the time the highest graded non Japanese instructor
in Wado Ryu karate.
Sensei Harry was a hard task master and a Sargent major in the army,
which meant he got the very best out of all of his students including John.
The training was sometimes harsh, and there was nowhere to hide when it
came to sparring, so it was a case of either getting stuck in or move on.
All of John's gradings were taken by 7th Dan Wado Ryu master Sakagami
kuniaki, and John was also lucky enough to train under 8th Dan master
Tatsuo Suzuki several times which was a great honour.
After gaining his first Kyu in Wado Ryu the club he trained with hit hard
times and was dissolved. John was unable to travel and with no other
Wado Ryu clubs in his area meant he could no longer carry on with his
training. He then went on to try a variety of Martial arts and over the
next ten years John gained experience in judo, jujitsu, kung fu and
kickboxing, all of which helped John to build his martial arts skills and he
really enjoyed this cross training better known as MMA.
John was happy in his training but still missed the traditional training of
karate. In 2002 a representative from the local karate club knocked on
his door telling him of a new club in the area. The club was Go Kan Ryu,
he had never heard of this style but was willing to give it a try and see
what it was like. He was very pleased he did as it was a very similar style
to Wado Ryu karate, and also one of the biggest clubs in the world with
over 60 thousand students training each week.
Go Kan Ryu was made up of two different styles of karate Shotokan and
Goju, both are traditional style's which John soon got to grips with, so
much so that after a short while he was asked by the senior instructor of
Derby to join the instructor's training program, this was a program for
students who could learn at a fast rate and then could go on to instruct
for the club.
John really enjoyed this program and after a period of time became a
fully accredited instructor for Go Kan Ryu. He was teaching students 3
times a week and still attending classes for his own personal training.
As an instructor John got to train with the Senior Instructors within GKR
karate, who included 7th Dan club founder Robert Sullivan , 5th Dan
shihan Stacey Karetsian, and also 7 times GKR kumite world champion
Antony Ryan.
John also enjoyed success in the tournament arena himself whilst with
GKR. He was the Midlands kata and kumite champion 6 times, also went
on to be a National kata champion and a silver medal place in kumite
twice at the GKR Nationals level. He also gained a level four
accreditation in refereeing and judging for GKR tournaments which he
did for several years.
So with all the knowledge John has gained in martial arts over the years
and now a third Dan him self in 2009, he decided to open his own
karate club - JB Karate Academy, which is fast becoming the number
one karate club in Derby and is going from strength to strength every
day. We hope this has given you some insight into the man behind JBK
and we hope you too may be inspired to take on the journey into the
world of karate your self .
Jane Bryan
The Senior Kata
Instructor of JBK
Sensei Jane Bryan 2nd Dan has trained under Sho dai for 8 years
both with GKR and JBK. Jane too had great success in the
tournament arena whilst training with GKR. Jane entered her first
tournament as an 8th kyu and thought she would come nowhere
as there was over 30 people entering in her division. However
Jane came away with a Gold medal for her kata, which gave
her the confidence and determination to enter yet another
tournament.
Jane then went on to win her next tournament as a 7th kyu
winning double Gold for kata and kumite, and so the trend
carried on for several years. She then went on to win over 20
Gold medals for kata and kumite at the Midlands Championships.
From this Jane qualified for the GKR world cup with over 1500
competitors entering from all over the world, at this time Jane
was a 4kyu and became a GKR kata World Champion taking
home the Gold medal. At the pinnacle of Jane's tournament
career as a 3Kyu she then went on to be National champion in
kata competing against black belts in her division. Jane is now
the Senior kata instructor for JBK and part owner, her experience
and high standards are now being passed on to all students of
JBK so they too may be come Gold Medal winners one day.
The Senior Kata
Instructor of JBK
Sensei Jane Bryan 2nd Dan has trained under Sho dai for 8 years
both with GKR and JBK. Jane too had great success in the
tournament arena whilst training with GKR. Jane entered her first
tournament as an 8th kyu and thought she would come nowhere
as there was over 30 people entering in her division. However
Jane came away with a Gold medal for her kata, which gave
her the confidence and determination to enter yet another
tournament.
Jane then went on to win her next tournament as a 7th kyu
winning double Gold for kata and kumite, and so the trend
carried on for several years. She then went on to win over 20
Gold medals for kata and kumite at the Midlands Championships.
From this Jane qualified for the GKR world cup with over 1500
competitors entering from all over the world, at this time Jane
was a 4kyu and became a GKR kata World Champion taking
home the Gold medal. At the pinnacle of Jane's tournament
career as a 3Kyu she then went on to be National champion in
kata competing against black belts in her division. Jane is now
the Senior kata instructor for JBK and part owner, her experience
and high standards are now being passed on to all students of
JBK so they too may be come Gold Medal winners one day.
| The Instructors |
| Assistant Instructors from left to right Sensei Dave shaw 2nd Dan Sensei Lee Mousley 2nd Dan Sensei Meagn Mousley 2nd Dan Sensei Carl Coulton 1st Dan |
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| Derby's Premier Karate Club 603366 |
