Shotokan Karate

king_of_inismac

hey guyz,

neone here ever train with sensai George Reilly. I used to train a lot with him years ago and was wondering if he is still training. I think he used to train in UCD.

Any info. would be greatly appreciated (E-mail/phone no./dojo),

thanks,

da king:)

Runfree

no sorry man can't find anything for his name.

I tried finding his name but can't seem to get it anywhere.

Might be because he isn't training anymore but I am not too sure of that.

Shiminay

Yup, I got my first 3 belts from him then my own sensei was far along enough to grade us himself (4th dan).

A strange guy - I was partnered with his brother Paul at a black belt grading (under Sensei Kato from the UK) several years back where us juniors were pitted against the black belts for the craic. He instructed me to kill his brother, so I settled for landing him on his arse with a cheeky sweeping kick to the ankle.

Kato was showing us how all the katas worked from a practical point of view (2 on 1) and George got a bit mixed up with Hein Shodan and Kato blatantly took the piss outta him saying (almost singing) "George doesn't know Hein Shodan!!!"

I don't know if he's still head of the ISKU - I've just started Shotokan again after a gap of 3 - 4 years (bad knee injury + laziness), but the club isn't affiliated with the ISKU. I'll ask around though, someone might know.

Hitoyoshi

I trained with george for years before moving to Japan to further my training

Roper

A 2 year bump! Wow, that has to be some sort of record. Welcome along Hitoyoshi:)

Hitoyoshi

George used to have a dojo in Blackhall Place then moved to Liffey St. He was with the IKU then broke away & formed the IKU. I have not seen him since I left Ireland in 1997 but am sure he is still training

Mola.mola

how's the karate going yoshi

Damo W

Wow havn't heard that name in a while, last time I attended a course with him was a joint course with Sensei Steven O'Connor and Sensei Tommy McGrane.

Shotokan Council of Ireland, joint initiative between 3 org's/chief instructors, to unite/support each for specific events/objectives.

97/98 ?!?!?

Hitoyoshi

Training going well, differnt to back in ireland though

MartinC2006

Roper wrote:

A 2 year bump! Wow, that has to be some sort of record. Welcome along Hitoyoshi:)

More like 3 1/2 yr :P

instrumann

As far as I can remember he lived in Coolock. Maybe a search in the Dublin phonebook might turn him up.
He was with SKI under Hirokasu Kanazawa. George was a 4th Dan at the time and was allowed to grade up to 1st Kyu. One time Kanazawa couldn't make it to Ireland for a training course. He sent another Japanese guy, I can't remember his name, in his place. This guy was a 3rd Dan but did a number of 1st Dan gradings and graded one guy to 2nd Dan.
Naturally this offended George and lead to the break away from SKI to, I think, JKA.
I stopped training due to knee injuries in the mid 90's so have lost touch. I've never lost interest though and sometimes feel I might get back into it eventually. I'll still need knee surgery first though.

Hitoyoshi

Hi Instrumann

You are correct that George broke from the SKIF (Kanazawa Kancho) but not for the reason you stated. He broke away and formed his own organisation - Irish Shotokan Karate Union (ISKU) beacause he was not allowed to grade shodan (1st Dan) or above. He became Chief Instructor of his own organisation as he felt there was too much power wielded by the power base in Cork where most of the high grades were based in SKI Ireland.
George was based in Liffey Street, Dublin in a full time dojo where he taught 3 times a week and Mick Lakes also taught.
George was loosely affiliated with Kato Sadashige Shihan and brought him to Ireland once or twice a year but never joined Kodokai (Kato Shihan’s organisation). Kato Shihan aligned himself with the Asai Shihan faction of the JKA and became Chief Instructor for Europe. George did not join JKA immediately which angered Kato Shihan and almost lead to a nasty incident during a seminar as Kato Shihan became increasingly frustrated with George and his lack of ‘giri’. The last day of that seminar saw Paul Slevin successfully pass his Sandan (3rd Dan) becoming the first 3rd dan JKA in Ireland.
George eventually joined Kato Shihan’s group once he was allowed grade shodan students, 6 months later Kato Shihan returned for another seminar in Dublin where several students attempted the sandan test but they all failed. Amongst this group was Paul Byrne and PJ Moloney, they retook the test the following day and eventually passed.
The ISKU grew in numbers and dojo, Noel Kinahan ran several very successful dojo in the Midlands area, he has a good number of students who consistently did well in competition. Noel often brought Paul Slevin to teach in Castlepollard and Mullingar which helped keep the technical standard high. Noel also brought Kato Shihan to Ireland and attended courses in England with him. Noel and Paul the arranged for Asai Shihan to come to Ireland for the first time and conduct several courses in Trinity College and Castlepollard.
George Reilly was extremely annoyed over this audacious move and spoke of having Noel banned from the ISKU. Unknown to George at that time Noel, Paul had joined with Mick Lakes and some other senior karateka and went to Kato Shihan’s house in England where they formally advised Kato Shihan of their disappointment in the way the ISKU was heading and how it was just a money making venture for George who was grading and teaching all over the country but keeping all the money with nothing going back to the organisation.
That weekend saw the formation of Japan Karate Association Ireland (JKAI) with Kato Shihan as the Chief Instructor and the committee supporting him was Paul Slevin, Mick Lakes, Noel Kinahan, Gayle Kenny and Suzzane Lakes. The JKAI was officially formed as a fully fledged company so all records and funds were to be transparent.
George Reilly was furious by this move and called an EGM where he terminated Noel Kinahan’s ISKU membership as he saw Noel as the main instigator of the break. At this meeting all the people involved in JKAI resigned from the ISKU and concentrated on the fledgling organisation. The ISKU broke up and several new groups emerged with the 2 prominent groups being JKAI and Briam Toomey’s IJKA based in Fermoy.
This dealt a death blow to George’s ISKU and the cash cow that it was, in an attempt to fight the JKAI George teamed up with Tommy McGraine and Steve O’Connor even though he despised O’Connor and had no respect for McGraine. This did not flourish and George’s days as the boss were over so he retreated back to being a full time taxi driver.
George’s top students left him one by one as the ISKU fell apart; Paul Byrne stopped training and started body building, Paul Slevin stayed with the JKAI for 18 months before returning to Japan and Jackie O’Shea finally went back to the SKIF.
George has been very quiet for the last decade since the breakup of his organisation hich is perhaps a good thing for Shotokan in Ireland as new younger teachers emerged with new attitudes and better technique.

yomchi

Jebus man, this thread is seven years old!!