Putting the soul back into Karate

Having been stuck in a rut with my karate journey after religiously practicing for several years, Ben’s unique expertise and enthusiasm helped revive my passion for the art. He went over concepts often forgotten or misunderstood in most dojos -- if you’ve trained in one exclusively, be prepared and keep an open mind as it can be akin to taking the red pill. I did notice a pattern of dialogue where Ben would ask leading questions to get the conventional (aka wrong) answer out of us so that he could explain the correct way. This learning framework may not be suited to everyone, but given the context that he might be used to working with (dispelling commonly taught misconceptions in karate), the approach does make sense. Overall, the content Ben shared during our session really helped me understand the potential techniques behind my movements. He’s also incredibly patient and excellent at explaining things in a relatable and fun way. If you’re in Edinburgh, I highly recommend training with Ben! His friendliness and willingness to share his rare knowledge makes him a gem of a teacher.

- C Cain

Ben was one of the most unique instructors I've had the pleasure to train with. His broad level of experience provided me with a new perspective on kata and Karate training in general. He's also patient and easy-going, so you'll be in good hands.

- J Wilson

I have been wanting to get back into karate lessons after giving them up as a kid but I have very little free time in the evenings to join a class. Luckily I found Ben! He is amazingly accommodating and was able to find a time which works for both of us and I’m so grateful he took me on as a student. Ben is an absolutely fantastic teacher. Every movement and technique is always justified and explained thoroughly which is great. He also has the patience of a saint which makes the learning environment really comfortable and fun! The one-on-one nature of the lessons are great as you can focus on a particular technique/muscle group/etc. I cannot recommend Ben enough and I can’t wait to get started again after the summer!

- C. Barton

I highly recommend training with Ben. He’s so knowledgeable about traditional Okinawan Karate, modern fitness, stretching and diet as well. I practice Shotokan Karate and a bit of powerlifting, and Ben’s training opened my eyes on bunkai (Kata’s self defense application) and weight training as well, an essential aspect of traditional karate, often neglected in modern dojos. I’m sure you’ll enjoy training with Ben!

- F. Cappellari

Great guy, good training Ben has a lot of knowledge in both fitness and karate

- J Green

I can personally recommend Ben, having spent time with him in Okinawa on a one to one basis. His dedication to martial arts is is genuine and this is a great opportunity for anyone who can join him.

- D. Still

If your are in or near Edinburgh I highly recommend reaching out to Ben. He’s passionate, knowledgeable, humble and skilled. Don’t let his young age and youthful exuberance make you think he doesn’t have years of experience with a deep understanding about body mechanics, kata and weapons. I’ve trained only a brief time with him on Okinawa (and interviewed him for my podcast) and this man has a ton to offer.

- J. Simmers

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience Ben,  thanks for organising the seminar. As you know, I was already interested in bo techniques but I had mostly learnt from books and videos so it was really nice to have a true expert such as Dell Hamby Sensei to learn properly from (and yourself too of course!). I wish I could have done two days rather than just one but I’ve got plenty of material to practice from (and get ready for next year ;-). I found the sai practise more challenging but having no prior experience didn’t really help. I’m looking forward to improving as is it such a cool weapon! Anyway, excellent experience overall. Probably a bit of a shame from your point of view that there weren’t many of us on Sunday but for me, those were ideal conditions to get more out of you guys given the short time I had to practice.

- T. Giroud

Thank you for allowing me to attend the fine seminar you arranged and co-instructed with Dell Hamby Sensei While I was only able to take part on the Friday seminar, the sections on Shorin Ryu and Uechi Ryu kihon, Kata and partner conditioning were interesting and informative, they had content and variation. Ben Sensei and Dell Sensei should be commended on their skills and teaching methods. I regret I could not experience the Kobudo with them, but will make every effort to do so in the future.

- M. Marshall

The seminar was fantastic - it's always a pleasure to train with experts in their field and it was inspiring watching Hamby Sensei at work. It was a great introduction to kobudo. I do very little kobudo in my 'day-to-day' karate so learning how to handle the bo and sai, learning the bo and sai kata and their applications was an opportunity not to be missed. The first time I got the sai 'flick' right, it felt awesome! It was a shame there were so few attendees, however on the plus side, this allowed us to go into more detail and get virtually one-on-one tuition. The venue was ideal - central location, easy to get to and great facilities. The cost was about right - I thought it was good value for money.

- J. Coulter

… all your input was brilliant and personally doing so much in a short space was to quick for me to digest personally so I was struggling to recall everything but when we did that period on Sunday one to one I think that's what I needed because it just started to click and everything made sense so Thank you for that it was a massive help.

- G. Parker

Hi Ben - brilliant meeting you and once again thank you for the time you gave me. I sincerely hope there are many more opportunities to train together. Your help was invaluable ... sometimes in the midst of exhaustion, after a long explanation, I was still very confused, but to have you so willing to actually demonstrate the idea meant I got as much as I could from it. I thought you were very attentive and actively looking for opportunities to help, and then explained things clearly and simply. Personally I really liked it when you made comparisons to karate to explain kobudo ideas - for someone with a little bit of background like me it was very helpful. Honestly no negatives from me - lively and personable and willing to share - what more could I want!?

- A. Ahmet