Ticky Donovan's 33rd Annual Summer Course 2008
Connor Chatfield and Fallon Rayman travelled to St. Osyth in Clacton on Sea on the 21st June to attend Ticky Donovan's Annual Summer Course.
Sensei Donovan is the current England National Squad Director and his annual course gives any Karate-ka from any style the chance to train solidly for 6 days with some of the best Instructors in the World.
Instructors teaching throughout the week included:
- Ticky Donovan 8th Dan OBE
- Dave Hazard 7th Dan
- Moira Barber 6th Dan
- Philip Francis 6th Dan
- Pepe Suarez 6th Dan
- Greg Francis 5th Dan
- Eddie Gillespie 5th Dan
- Richard Condon 5th Dan
- Lee Smith 4th Dan
- Jonathan Mottram 4th Dan
A special mention has to go to Greg Francis 5th Dan who took his 'Fit2Fite' classes throughout the week. This could only be described as Karate to Music and in his own words "If you are still cold at the end of it then you must be dead."
Training began at 07:30 hrs on Sunday morning and the final bow was taken at 16:00hrs on the Friday evening. The weeks training consisted of basic Katas, Combinations, Fighting Techniques and Special Competition Techniques. Every student received a Diploma on the completion of the course.
It was an AMAZING week. The instruction was outstanding and every student gave their all. There was a fun run and a fancy dress evening that was wicked and ......... well, I could go on and on about it but I think you are getting the general idea!
It was such a good week. Every base was covered and not just the Karate. If you look at the whole package it still leaves you gob smacked. The accommodation was clean and the camp site was really nice. It was situated right on the beach and all the staff were friendly and helpful. The food wasn't reasonably priced it was cheap and I mean dirt cheap and, yet, it tasted lovely. The bar staff were welcoming and friendly.
There were T shirts on sale and I was able to purchase Ticky’s videos and these have proved invaluable to our training. I had been hunting for them everywhere prior to this and so that alone made my week.
Ticky and his team had everything planned down to the last minute detail it was like watching a well-oiled machine roll into action but then I guess, as I mentioned earlier, it is in its 33rd year! It's not hard to see why though.
This is a guy who is passionate about his students and his Karate and that shows in everything that he does. He put his heart and soul into making sure that the week was a success for everyone assembled and he pulled it off seemingly effortlessly.
I have a background in Karate where I have seen it turned into big business purely for financial gain and this has been at the detriment of the Instructors and Karate-ka around them and it is not pleasant to see the results of that. Here we see the opposite. This is what happens when someone with a business mind gets passionate about the Art that they love and can afford to invest their time and money into it for the benefit of everyone. This is someone who has made it happen and who is living the dream.
Ticky thoroughly deserves his OBE for services to Karate and I just can’t rate him highly enough.
Connor Chatfield - Fun Run GOLD, Kata SILVER and Kumite SILVER
Fallon Rayman - Fun Run SILVER, Kata BRONZE and Kumite BRONZE