I.B.A. WEB SITE.

Dave/Ninj,
Here are are a few of the comments posted on the new web site, possibly of interest to the forum members.
Regards Josh.

Tony Cheetham-Hudson
Email thackleytigers@btinternet.com OR a.cheetham-hudson@bradfordcollege.ac.uk
Dojo Thackley Shotokan Tigers
Comments Hi Josh I have read the info on the I B A and it makes good reading, particularly the piece on Phil Milner. He must have been a great bloke and a good sensei. I know you had a lot of regard for him as you have told me about him many times. I am pleased that the I BA is growing in reputation and the web site is good and easy to read.
Thanks for sending it to me
Hope to see you soon
thank you again and please note both my e mail addresses if you want to contact me for anything. Tony. (Answered)
Hope to see you soon.
Gary Henshaw
Email headless_biker@hotmail.com
Dojo British Chu'an Fa Lung Kwoon
Comments Hello Josh / Dave Slaney. This is Kyoshi Gary Henshaw 5th Duan of the British Chu'an Fa Association. We have been missed off the list of member clubs. The British Chu'an Fa Association was granted lifetime membership and affiliation to the IBA by O-Sensei Phil Milner Hanshi during his time living with Ian Laine. Missing from the list is myself - My Instructor Shihan Phill Barnes 8th Duan and My Dad Shihan Mick Henshaw 7th Duan.

Many Thanks and the website is looking very good indeed. Hopefully the IBA can make the best of things and become the center of the martial arts world that it was intended to be by Grandmaster Milner.

Once again, Sterling job and I look forward to recieving information for the next IBA course, as the new ideas of having at least 3 courses per year is a very good one, we look forward to coming down and teaching and learning alongside our old friends and fellow students.

Many thanks and see you all soon.

Kyoshi Gary Henshaw - 5th Duan Kung Fu.
Paul Nugent
Email paul_r_nugent@hotmail.com
Dojo lookng for one.
Comments Are there any IBA Wado Ryu clubs in the huddersfield or Mirfield area and if so can you give me any addresses. (Answered)


Name Bro’ Chris
Email chriz@blueyonder.co.uk

Dojo yid ga ling
Comments excellent site very impressive, lots of memories. (Answered)

Name Jed Pollard
Email zeus@jedpollard.wanadoo.co.uk
Dojo Traditional Karate Union
Comments An excellent website...a lot of hard work put into it. It takes me back to the times that I attended IBA dojos.

I first started studying karate in 1974 with the KUGB. I then joined the Yorkshire Karate Association in 1980 and got my 1st kyu brown belt in 1981 under Sensei Ray Fuller at Clifton Hall in Rotherham.

By this time I was on the circuits and travelled to competitions nearly every weekend...I was put on my backside by an IBA fighter called Neil Underwood from Arnie and John's school at Worksop. This never happened to me before (by this time I was fighting for Yorkshire).
So, off I went to the IBA club and asked Arnie if I could train with his lads (Dave Slaney being only a junior at that time along with Shaun Wagstaff and Fletch). Of couse Arnie said yes and it was great mixing it with the IBA lads such as John Robinson, Dave Heath, Noel Nelson, Paul Roche and Neil Underwood.
Then I met the Chief Instructor - Sensei Milner. His karate was unique and knowledge was vast. He seemed to be more 'open and formal' than other senior instructors that I had trained with, especially the Japs. He would have a beer with us after training...something that never happened before.

So, I continued to train at the IBA, along with shotokan clubs. The IBA was great for developing my kumite (better than any other shotokan club) and Arnie would let us spar for the whole session at the Farr Community Centre and Worksop Boys Club.

In 1982, Sensei Milner promoted me to Shodan (eight years since I first started training). I wasn't expecting this as I was a shotokan student and not a wado ryu practitioner. I felt honoured...but it ruffled a few feathers elsewhere.

I continued to train with IBA and other non political clubs.

In 1988, Sensei Milner awarded me with Nidan after a Kangeiko up in the peak district. A great weekend....I can remember the landlady's face of dispair at the local pub, after Sensei had us all eating leaves off her bizzy lizzy plant that once sat proudly in the window ledge.
By this time I had become friends with Ian McAllister, who at that time was the IBA kumite coach. Training and sparring with the Rotherham and Nottingham lads in IBA squad training at an health centre in Roth..was exhausting. After we all crammed into a small sauna and Sensei Milner had it cranked up into the 90s..he poured olbas oil onto the stove and nobody dare leave the sauna before him. It was torture.

During this time I had represented the IBA fighting in the backroom of a pub in Sheffield against a team from the AMA (Ian McAllister and Shaun Wagstaff representing the IBA also). Sensei Milner was the referee and this was not for the faint hearted. I remember knocking my opponent with a side kick into the spectators that were crammed into the room.

I remember doing a charity JCB pull at Lower Edges in Sheffield with Sensei Milner along with other charity events.

In 1989 I started my own club in Worksop. I left the IBA and formed the Traditional Karate Union. I felt a sense of betrayel to the IBA, but I had to 'move on'.
Arnie understood and made it clear that I could visit whenever.

The TKU grew faster than I had planned...I affiliated with FEKO and since then my linear has always been 'traditional' with shotokan being the emphasis. I was now at another era in my studying (the IBA was in the past but still in my thoughts).
My competition days had faded and I began to turn to kata.

I am now Godan. My time is spent with the Traditional Karate Union and I have international links with the Egyptian Karate Federation. I also study tai chi, to support my now creaky body.

As the going says we have to change to adapt...but with karate it's not always the case (perhaps the old training regimes needed more care because we need the joints to last us a lifetime. I am now a casualty from wear and tear and vigorous training from the past.).

We all have to keep moving in on life. I witnessed two funerals of the most respected guys that I had ever met in Sensei Milner and Sensei Arnie (I could never have paid them back for what they gave me in karate).

I still seek knowledge from the old school such as my friend Sensei Ken from Nottingham and attend the occasional course if I am around.

I wasn't around for O Sensei Arnie's memorial and that hurt me..as I live in Worksop.

Students from the TKU always ask me for my knowledge and I often smile on reflection that this was me when I trained at the IBA.

I last saw Sensei Milner in Nov '96 conducting a Fighting For You Cancer Appeal Course at Runcorn and we had our photo taken together.
This course was organised by an old friend Brian Philcox who died in tragic circumstances last summer.

I last saw Sensei Arnie about 12 months before he died. I visited their dojo on Park Street, just popped in for a chat, and he was there...it was only then I realised that he was fighting cancer.
I know Dave, Wag, Scotty and Fletch - who are the 'main stay' at Park Street...but I'm not always around these days so they always make a fuss when I see them.

I know Sensei Ken from Kiveton another respectable guy..but let me tell you this before I go...we had a club in Chesterfield and one of our students had a cousin in Australia who was a karate instructor. This instructor came over to Chesterfield and we invited him to teach in our club one evening...his name....Graham Ravey. One of the finest technicians that I had ever saw. I saw him in your gallery.

Finally....I salute you for spending so much time in keeping the IBA alive.

Oss!
Jed.

You can see TKU website (best via Yahoo search engine) on: http://tku.mysite.com. (Answered)


Graham Ravey.

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the E-mail. I'm glad you like the book.

You are right. It's strange our paths have never crossed before. I think it's a great idea to have a memorial training day every year. Phil and Arnie are the first Karate-Ka to pass over. But as time goes by we will all be joining them in ''the great Dojo in the sky'' so eventually the memorial day every year will commemorate the passing of many a good sensei. I would feel honored to join you in Huddersfield next year. and look forward to forging a closer friendship with you all at I.B.A.

Thank you for making me feel welcome at the weekend.

Osu, Graham.

Dear Josh

Many thanks for those, great comments! Justly deserved for your hard work.

Best wishes

Dave