Sensei Andi Adams

I first became interested in Martial Arts through my friend at school who studied Judo. It was during a break time and he was demonstrating some of "his stuff", I volunteered to spar with him, and was rapidly thrown to the floor and held there!

From that moment on I was hooked!

I instantly asked my Parents if I could go to the same club, and they agreed. That was the autumn of 1977. I took to Judo straight away and trained hard. I was rewarded by advancing two grades at once on one occasion, something that is seldom done within the Martial Arts. I reached my Green belt grade at the age of ten in 1980.

Unfortunately, under our association, I had to wait until the age of sixteen before I could grade any higher. I carried on with my training, competing at many local competitions, but the prospect of doing the same techniques for the next few years eventually led to me calling it a day at the age of twelve.

Throughout my teens I became involved in amateur boxing, for this seemed such a practical way to fight. Fast, explosive and devastating. Unfortunately, it was around this time that I developed a cerebral abscess, which nearly cost me my life. Obviously I lived to tell the tale, but the Abscess did irreparable damage to my eyesight, leaving me with around a 30% loss. Due to my operation, I could no longer attain a fight licence, so Boxing and I parted company.

The good thing that came out of my illness was determination. It took a while to get my Fitness back and adapt to my eyesight, but I loved Sport far too much to quit. I desperately missed fighting, but I was looking for something that would equal the speed of Boxing combined with the effective ground techniques of Judo. I had Jujitsu in mind, but there were no clubs in my area. I knew Sensei Gilbert and Sensei Martin through work and decided to give the Helston Sandokai Karate club a go!

It's fair to say that at first I really disliked Karate! I felt all the techniques were hard to perform and as for practicalities, I could not see it working for me. Never one to quit, I carried on training hoping that I would enjoy it more in time. My instructors always made the sessions hard, but enjoyable, something I respected I still could not see Karate working for me in a real-life situation but I carried on training and was awarded best student in 1994.

By now I was "hooked" on Karate. After attaining my 1st Kyu in 1997, I moved away from Cornwall to pursue a career in the Fitness industry. This made training more difficult, but regular visits to Cornwall combined with hours of solitary practice, got me ready for my 1st Dan Grading. It was around this time that I got a second job as a Doorman. This gave me the opportunity to learn other skills and more importantly observe "Body Language". Living in London, also gave me the opportunity to train at a number of different clubs. I was pleased to see that the Sandokai standards always ranked alongside or ahead of the clubs I visited.

Since living in London I have been fortunate with my career. I have worked extensively as a Fitness Professional both in the U.K. and abroad, taking Sandokai wherever I go. Like my career, I see Karate as something I need to develop and nurture. I have also recently found my "missing link".

For years, I have listened when people told me that Karate was not a "grappling art", yet if you look at the Kata it is crammed with such techniques. I am now having fun re-learning my Kata, to see what I have been missing all these years.

I have never professed to be a competition fighter, in fact I am the complete opposite. I believe in performing techniques that work as Karate was intended, but hey, everyone's different!