Biography
Dave was born in 1955, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. His father was a trawler skipper in what was then the busiest fishing port in the world.
He attended Nunsthorpe Primary School, then went on first to St James, then St Mary's High Schools, both in Grimsby.
Though enjoying the various sports at school, he had no great ambitions in that area.; music was becoming more of an interest.
At fourteen he began learning to play the guitar, and became heavily involved in music, inspired particularly by The Beatles. This led to spells in several local bands, after which he moved into composing, and recording demo's of his own compositions.
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At Eighteen however things changed. Dave discovered there was a karate club just around the corner, and karate was something he had thought about taking up for a long time. In fact it was the only karate school in Grimsby at that time, and was actually based at Dave's old Nunsthorpe school. He put his name down on the waiting list, but it was another six months before he could start training. The Instructor was the late Brian Woods, then a second dan. Brian was later to become a very good friend and colleague.
Dave soon began devoting all his time to karate training. Music would always be a passion, but playing in a band would take up valuable training time.
His first grading was with Sensei Sadashige Kato. Also on the grading panel was the legendary Sensei Hirokaza Kanazawa, who was to figure greatly in his future training.
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In 1974 Dave met and trained for the first time with Sensei Shiro Asano, also to become a major figure in his karate life. He trained weekly with Sensei Asano in Nottingham, and in 1979 Sensei Asano began teaching at the Konjaku Shin dojo. Something he continued to do until 2011.
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Dave was SKI(GB) British Kata Champion for a record six consecutive times from 1987 to 1992. He also competed internationally as part of the SKI British squad. He was a kumite finalist in the SKIF World Championships in Mexico City 1991, and a member of the Gold Medal Veteran Men's Kata Team in the European Championships in Sheffield 1998.
He established Konjaku Shin in 1978, with clubs in the Grimsby Town Supporters Club premises, and the Cleethorpes Camera Club. He was soon to transfer into the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham Sports Centres, where the club remained until 1993. In that year he took a big leap and purchased his own premises in Lower Spring Street, which were to become the headquarters of The Konjaku Shin National School of Karate. The former bonded store was painstakingly restored, and the top floor became what is now widely acknowledged as one of the finest dojo's in the world.
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In 2011, in the midst of the financial crisis, Dave took the painful but necessary decision to leave SKI(GB). He spoke directly with Sensei Asano, who understood his reasons and wished him well. Konjaku Shin was to become an association in its own right, with Dave as Chief Instructor and Examiner.
He has been a professional instructor since 1979, a career he has always loved and felt privileged to have seen through to the present day.
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In 2006 he returned to music, and began writing and recording new material. With the huge leap in digital technology he has been able to build a recording studio he could only have dreamed of in his early music days. He has collaborated with writers and performers in The USA and Australia, and now has music placed in numerous music libraries around the world.
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