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The Shotokan of England Karate Union (SEKU), founded in 1982 is a federation of Shotokan karate clubs in southern England, with about thirty clubs from Helston in Cornwall to Bromley in Greater London. The federation is led by Mick Dewey, 8th dan, who was a student of the late Keinosuke Enoeda.
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History
The Shotokan of England Karate Union was founded in 1982 by a group of clubs affiliated to the KUGB. Originally named the South of England Karate Union, a change to Shotokan of England Karate Union was necessary when northern English clubs joined. In 1984, due to the Unions growth, Mick Dewey invited his friend Dave Hazard (Hazard was a regular visiting instructor at Brighton Shotokan) to join as technical director of the SEKU. Brighton Shotokan was founded in June 1974 by Mick Dewey and Phil Elliott at the Sussex Sports Centre, Queens Square, Brighton. Phil Elliott stopped training around 1978/9 and Mick Dewey continued running the club then around 1980 he handed the responsibilities to club members Greg Wedekind,Will Davies, John Cave and Paul Bonnet, they continued running the club until the arrival of Dave Hazard. At the invitation by Mick Dewey and the agreement of the four instructors, Dave Hazard was offered the full-time teaching position at the Brighton club. Dave Hazard moved to Brighton in 1985 and built the club into an elite training ground for adults, mainly black and brown belts. Dave Hazard worked within SEKU until 2003 when he left to found the Academy of Shotokan Karate.
Organisation
SEKU's Chief Instructor is Mick Dewey, who holds the rank of 8th dan. The General Secretary is Mervyn O'Donnell. Brian Smith is SEKU's senior Technical Committee Member.
Competitions
SEKU organises two competitions each year, held at the Mountbatten Sports Centre. An open tournament for invited clubs is held in November and a SEKU competition in May. In 2009 Dave Galloway and his sister Karyn Powell won the men's and women's sections respectively of the SEKU nationals.
At the 2009 Shobu-Ippon International Shotokan Open at Guildford the SEKU men's kumite team beat Hasha to win gold medals. Dave Galloway won the men's individual kumite and Hannah Day, performing Gojushio Dai, the ladies' black belt kata. At the 2010 Shobu-ippon event SEKU came joint third in the medals table.
Dave Galloway from Portsmouth Karate Club was winner of the open weight men's kumite at the SKDUN World Championships at Lons-le-Saunier, France, defeating Alexandre Clementis from Belarus in the final.