By the age of 17, Michael Clarke, Kyoshi 8th dan was behind bars, a
veteran street fighter serving a two-year sentence for occasioning
grievous bodily harm.Turning 18 behind the walls of one of
England's most notorious prisons 'Strangeways', was a wake up call
that began his climb off the bottom.
Released back into society on parole in December 1973, he began
training in karate in January 1974.
After ten years of training in the Japanese system of Tani-ha
Shito-ryu, he travelled to Okinawa for the first time in 1984, in
search of the more traditional training methods. There he was
accepted into the dojo of the famed Morio Higaonna sensei. In 1992
he entered the Jundokan dojo of Eiichi Miyazato sensei, the dojo
where Higaonna sensei himself had learnt karate, and became a
student of the man who had received his instruction directly from
the founder of goju-ryu: Chojun Miyagi. Six weeks before he passed
away, in 1999, Miyazato sensei promoted Michael to 6th dan.
"The spirit of karate is alive and well in Shin Gi Tai" -- Dr. Damon Young, from his forward "Aim high and train hard, go to the source of your karate, and seek its essence." -- Stan Schmidt, 8th dan, from his foreword "Michael Clarke re-introduces the traditional approach to karate training in a way that can be well understood." -- John Porta, Hanshi, 9th dan, from his forward
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