The picture shows four generations of diverse people with something in common – they are all an integral part of Meiji Martial Arts.
Good martial arts unites everybody looking for more than just the grunt, groan and sweat of machine-based gymnasia. In fact, fitness comes almost as an automatic bonus to everything else at Meiji Martial Arts, where new skills, mental strength, achievement, confidence and camaraderie are waiting for you. Most significantly, it becomes part of life itself.
Sensei Denise was a government civil servant who started training with the great Meiji Suzuki in 1986.
I was almost immediately hooked by the thought-through, practical discipline of his system. I quickly realised I’d arrived at where I wanted to be. I went on to become British, European and World Champion. Today, I’m privileged to be co-founder of two successful London dojos. The dojo has been my home for nearly 40 years. There’s nowhere else I would rather be. It is the source of all my confidence and self-esteem
Sensei Denise
John also joined Meiji Martial Arts Suzuki’s dojo in 1986. The difference was, however, that he was already 42, a good 20 years older than Sensei Denise, so it was too late to train for championship. What’s more, up until that point, he’d never done a day’s exercise in his life. And until 1983, he’d been a chain smoker for 25 years.
It took me seven years just to get through a class without retiring halfway, through lack of oxygen. Jump forwards to 2011, when I achieved 1st Dan Black Belt. My journey has been incredible. I’ve paid for the sins of my youth by getting cancer 3 times, but on each occasion I fully and quickly recovered. There isn’t any doubt that this is due to the dojo, not just in physical terms but because it has made me so mentally strong. Nothing as mundane as cancer was going to beat me!
John
Curiosity in 2002 inspired Azrine to drop in to a kickboxing dojo in Camden Town, where she saw Sensei Denise instructing a female student.
This immediately had an impact, because my perception had been that martial arts was a male-dominated sport. First impressions are important and this form of martial arts just felt right. I signed up immediately and instinctively. 19 years later, I know how right that decision was. Meiji Martial Arts is much more than combinations and sparring techniques (although those disciplines are so important as a foundation for development and control). But what you also discover is your limits and then the strength to ‘push through’ and exceed them – equals fantastic personal achievement. Meiji Martial Arts permeates, in the nicest possible way, into all aspects of your life, instilling permanent values that encourage us to do better and be better people
Azrine
Azrine’s daughter, Aubrey, is six.
I’m the smallest one in the picture. But I’m growing and getting stronger every day. I have known Sensei Denise from when I was a baby. She’s awesome and brilliant. I love the dojo and all the lessons and all the instructors. I have lots of fun but also I want to be a champion like Sensei Denise. Some of my friends think that it’s amazing that I am kickboxing. I tell them they can come too if they want.
