Who can train at Bushinkai and when can I start?

Any dedicated students, including beginners, between 11-65 are welcome. You can join at any time.

I've done Karate before. Will my grade be recognised?

You will be given a grade appropriate to our syllabus. If you have studied, for example, Shotokan, you may well have basics, strikes and kata comparable to ours, but may not have experienced grappling and weapons, so you may need some 'catching up time.' If you have studied something very different like Muay Thai or Ninjutsu, the chances are you will start from white belt.

What is Bushinkai?
Bushinkai (Warrior Spirit School) is an umbrella name for a school of Okinawan, Chinese and Japanese martial arts. The White Lion Academy teaches Okinawan arts (Toshu Jutsu), the Metal Tiger Academy teaches Chinese arts (Tai Chi and more) and both make study of various Japanese arts under a tradition we call Bushin Ryu.

What is meant by "Bushin Ryu family tradition" and "Hakukigen Ryu family tradition"?

In Japan martial arts were originally transmitted within families. For example the art of the Takeda family was Daito Ryu. Simon follows in the footsteps of Simon's great uncle Bill Nelson who began studying Jujutsu in the 1940s. We call this family tradition Bushin Ryu. Since we teach eclectic martial arts taken from various methods of Jujutsu,  etc if asked what style we practice we may answer Bushin Ryu.

When was Bushinkai established?
Simon Keegan officially established The Northwest College of Martial Arts Bushidokan (later Bushinkai) in 2000 with the first class held on February 2, 2001 and a few months later was our first annual seminar (Gasshuku). 2010 was our tenth anniversary.

 
Where are there Bushinkai clubs?
White Lion Academy has its main clubs in Manchester. We also have representatives in Japan, Thailand and Zambia. Metal Tiger Academy has its main clubs in Wigan and Ormskirk with two representatives in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

What grades and titles do the headteachers have?

Simon Keegan Sensei holds the grade of Renshi meaning Polished Teacher awarded to him by a panel of senior grades with a mandate from the UK head of Dai Nippon Butokukai. He is graded 4th Dan, a grade that was awarded to him by Professor Peter Lewis on behalf of the FSK which at the time was part of the World Karate Association and is now part of the World Karate Council. He was previously graded 3rd Dan by Reiner Parsons on behalf of Kokusai Budoin (based in Japan) and 2nd Dan by Robert Carruthers on behalf of Nippon Traditional Kobudo (part of FEKO). He also received 2nd Dan Jujutsu from Sensei Jaimie Lee-Barron and 1st Dan Bushido from Sensei Stephen Bullough.

Sifu David Keegan who is pioneering Japanese style grades in Chinese martial arts (something that has become common in Beijing) holds the grade of Blue Tiger 4th Duan (equivalent to 4th Dan). He was originally ratified as 2nd Duan by the UK branch of Kokusai Budoin and graded 3rd Duan under Reiner Parsons (a practitioner of Feeding Crane Kung Fu and Chi Kung as well as Karate) and was later awarded the 4th Duan by a UKBF panel headed by Renshi Robert Carruthers whose original style Bujinkai was a blend of Preying Mantis Kung Fu and Karate.

The two headteachers are fairly modestly graded considering they are heads of their own schools and directors of an association. They have no wish to claim grades higher than those they have been awarded.

 

When did the headteachers begins their study of martial arts?
David Keegan first studied martial arts (Jujutsu/Judo) when he was at primary school aged about 9 in 1959. He later studied various disciplines before travelling to China in the mid 1980s and joining a traditional Tai Chi school in the mid 1990s. Simon Keegan first became interested in martial arts when he was very young and later joined his first club when he was 10 or 11 in about 1990. He joined a traditional Bushido Karate school in 1995.

2010 marked 20 years since Simon joined his first club, 15 since he joined his first Karate school and ten years of teaching his own academy. He has been interested in martial arts over 25 years.

 

 

Our club colours are black, red and white. Toshu Jutsu students wear a black gi and Tai Chi students may wear a black (or black and white) Mandarin suit. Simon's club colours were black, red and white when he was a nationally ranked Karate competitor circa 1995-1999.

The suits are pictured below.

Were Sifu David Keegan and Simon Keegan Sensei taught by Japanese and Chinese masters?
Both of their primary teachers were caucasian but both have also trained on occasion with eastern masters. Aside from his father, Simon Keegan cites his main teachers as Robert Carruthers and Reiner Parsons. He has also been influenced by the studies of masters like Terry Wingrove and Patrick McCarthy. Among the Japanese masters he has trained with are Tadanori Nobetsu, Shizuya Sato and Mitsuhiro Kondo. David Keegan has had numerous teachers over the years in both Chinese and Japanese martial arts. In Tai Chi his main influences include Professor Li De Yin (with whom he has attended several seminars) and trained with several of Li's direct students, and in Japanese martial arts David has trained with European masters such as Reiner, Allan Tattersall and Elizabeth Noisier but also with Japanese masters such as Keiji Tose and Hara Sensei.