Meeting with ISKU President

Senior Black Belt Roland Teo, Sensei Chia Kwek Fah, Sensei Robert Burgermeister,Me

Yesterday I was honoured to be invited to have a meeting and dinner with Sensei Robert Burgermeister, President and CEO of Motobu-ha Shitoryu International Seishinkai Karate Union (ISKU) who dropped in to Singapore for a 1 day courtesy visit calling upon my Karate Sensei (teacher), 7th Dan Shitoryu Black Belt holder and Sports Coach, Mr. Chia Kwek Fah. It was a historic meeting as both Mr. Chia and
Mr. Burgermeister had known each other formally for over 20 years. Each was involved in many aspects of Shitoryu Karate in Asia and Worldwide with Mr. Chia founding the Ken Shin Kai Club in Singapore in 1997 (with hundreds of members) and Mr. Burgermeister, first with the World Karate Federation (WKF) and now with the ISKU.



The meetings and discussions were very warm and cordial reflecting the degree of respect and deference both these gentlemen have developed over the years.Sensei Chia has been very instrumental in wanting to evolve the ancient art of Shitoryu Karate under the legendary Sensei Mabuni adding sports science and physiological elements to our training so that overuse injuries and wrong training techniques can be minimised if correct KNOWLEDGE and APPLICATION is implemented. Senior trainees like myself (above 40) have different physiological makeup than the junior members in their teens and twenties (20s) and having a customised training for the senior trainees is very critical for the enjoyment and development of our art.



My dojo (class)mate,Roland Teo and myself were in attendance. We are all optimistic of our future cooperation and look forward to a mutually successful future.Like Sensei Robert put it so aptly :

"Karate belongs to Everyone".