The Shobukan Karate Organisation in Preston celebrates 50th birthday

The Shobukan Karate Organisation which was founded in Preston in 1974 has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The club, originally called Red Sun, was founded by Phil Handyside who had studied martial arts since 1963 beginning with Lancashire Jujutsu pioneer Richard Butterworth.

When Japanese Shotokan Karate masters came to England in 1965 Handyside was captivated by the art and studied under visiting masters Hirokazu Kanazawa, Sadashige Kato, Hideo Tomita, Rikio Kobara and others.

He took the black belt under Kanazawa who was regarded as one of the world's greatest Karate practitioners.

The Red Sun Karate school was founded in 1974 originally as a way for Phil and friends like Tommy Martin to train together.

In 1977 they were invited to host the Malaysian grandmaster of Budokan Karate Chew Choo Soot and the first English meeting of Karate Budokan International was held in a pub in Preston and its first international championships in Preston Guild Hall. Handyside combined the hard Japanese Shotokan, the softer more Chinese-influenced Budokan with Jujutsu, Tai Chi and Aikido and founded Shobukan.

The school grew out of Preston and had clubs across Lancashire with the Rising Sun in Wigan run by Bob Carruthers and the Red Sun run by Alan Power.

Handyside was finally awarded the grade of 9th Dan after 55 years of martial arts training but passed away in 2019.

The Shobukan Karate Organisation was inherited by his student Simon Keegan who was asked by Handyside's sons to carry on their father's legacy.

He teaches in Manchester and was originally taught martial arts by his father before training under Bob Carruthers, Phil Handyside and a number of Japanese masters.

His grades have been recognised in Japan and Okinawa and he has written best-selling books on martial arts.

The Red Sun club in Shevington, Wigan, is today run by another of Handyside's students Neil Makinson.

The Red Sun in Coppull, Chorley is run by Peter Lee Bibby, a former student of Handyside since 1984 who is now one of the world's top Karate referees.

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A special course was held to celebrate 50 years of the art, attended by Simon Keegan 7th Dan, Bob Carruthers 8th Dan, Tommy Martin 5th Dan, Karen Eastham 7th Dan (the first woman to be awarded the 2nd Dan by Handyside) and many more.

Phil Jennings, a student of Keegan's who teaches in Chorlton, and Neil Makinson of Red Sun, Wigan, were awarded the grades of 4th Dan presented by Carruthers and Keegan.

Simon said: “It was a fitting tribute to our great teacher Mr Handyside that so many of his students from the 1970s and 1980s came together to pay tribute to his legacy and work together to take forward the school.

“I fondly remember taking gradings under Mr Handyside at the old Jubilee Club in Preston, the same club where he hosted masters like CS Chew the founder of Budokan Karate.

“Now it's up to us to ensure the school gets passed on to the next generation."

For information on Karate classes email: [email protected].