Instructors

History:

We have been members of various other groups since our inception in September 1995 but in 2018 we decided to set up our own Association, Engan Karate Nansei, which roughly translates to Coastal Karate South-West. This decision was made so that we could be more independent and open minded about the way we teach karate. We joined the English Karate Federation in October 2019 as a fully fledged Association.

Our Instructors:

Engan is run on a voluntary basis. There are three instructors whose ongoing training is through courses they attend. All instructors carry professional indemnity insurance and DBS clearance. One instructor has a Governing Body coaching qualification. Senior grades wishing to become involved can help out in the session under the instructor’s watchful eye but to become trained instructors they need to go through a similar course structure.

Wendy White - 6th Dan

Registered Instructor
Governing Body Verified Instructor
First Aid Certificate

"I started karate fairly late in life with Higashi Karate and trained with various clubs in Weston-super-Mare, Yatton, Brean, Forest Gate and Burnham also attending courses all over the country most week-ends run by the Higashi chief instructor Sensei Peter Spanton. His profound attention to detail gave me a good foundation and after gaining my 1st Dan in February 1995, I decided that I would like to pass the knowledge I had gained onto others and opened the Oldmixon Karate Club doors at Oldmixon School for the first time on 25th September 1995. I expected a handful to turn up so was flabbergasted when 56 rolled through the doors! It took me half an hour just to write everyone's name down but I got the session under way eventually and have never looked back. A few years later I decided to spread my wings and opened the Uphill Karate Club.

In 2003 a few clubs from the South West region decided to start their own association called the Western Karate Union. I held the positions of secretary, competition organiser and treasurer for the association over the next 13 years with many week-ends spent travelling around the country and various other countries to competitions and courses. I decided to retire from my official WKU duties in 2016 to concentrate on running my own clubs and spend more time with my ever patient family who have been understanding and supportive throughout my karate life for which I will always be grateful."

Al Carchrie - 2nd Dan

Registered Instructor
First Aid Certified

"I have been practicing Karate since 1994 and have been a student of Wendy Sensei since she opened her first class in 1995. I am also an Aikido instructor and enjoy working to use both martial arts to complement each other."

Gary Doughty - 4th Dan

Gary sadly passed away in 2024 and had been intricately involved in the setup of our association and ran a club in Locking.

"I have been practicing karate for over twenty years. I started when I was working as a doorman and had to eject somebody, one of the regulars who was already training in karate was so impressed that he said, "you show me what you know and I'll teach you karate". And so I started training in a pub on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. I'm probably the only man who ever took a karate grading in a pub. From there I started training in Brean and Yatton and anywhere else I could in my spare time. Although I teach sport and traditional karate my speciality is self-defence using techniques and concepts from many other martial arts including Aikido, Ju-jutsu and Wing Chun. I like to go deeper into karate, its history and concepts, correct body mechanics and fitness training."

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