Born on 20 February 1964.
Shihan James started his karate career around 1970 in the JKA - Karate
Organization, under the instruction of Sensei Dick Cloete, Head his
Dojo Sensei, under the Western Gauteng JKA - Karate Provincial and Sensei Ken
Woodstock, whom was under the South African JKA - Karate Organization
President, Sensei Stan Schmidt. Shihan James held a 1st Kyu Brown Belt in
JKA - Karate Organization.
During 1976 Shihan James had no choice but to change to the Goju-Ryu
Karate Organization when the local JKA Dojo closed down. Shihan James started his training in
Goju-Ryu under Sensei Hans Botma in Westonarea.Shihan James kept on
training with Goju-Ryu until 1983 when he started his 2 year National
Defence Force training.
During 1983 he became a student for the SANDF under Sensei Francois du
Preez, an instructor and student of the late Shihan Ben du Preez.Shihan
James represented the SANDF in various Karate Championships and were
awared the best all-round Goju-Ryu instructor in 1984.Shihan James
were graded to Shodan (1st Dan) in the Goju-Ryu Karate Academy
in 1984 under Shihan
Ben du Preez.
Shihan James got married in 1986 to Annetjie,
who became a student under Shihan James and now holds a Sandan (3de) in
Sansei Goju-Ryu. They have two daughters, Mathilda and Anika who are both
brown belt students in his Dojo. They also have a son which was born in
1996 and who is the godson of Hanshi Manny Saavedra. Little Nico also did
his first grading during March 2001 and achieved 2 black stripes on his
white belt. This means the whole family is involved in Sansei Goju-Ryu
Karate Do.
Shihan James was trained under top national and international martial
arts instructors and movie personalities. Shihan James toured the USA six
times to train and to compete on international level and has achieved
good results in
prestigious events. Shihan James trained at Honbu Dojo with Hanshi Manny
Saavedra and has also visited the Bushikan Martial Arts School.
Shihan James has brought Sansei to South Africa in 1990 and has managed
to get affiliations to all national Karate Bodies. Shihan James was
appointed Head of the Sansei Organization for South Africa in 1992. He was
promoted to Shihan on 2 April 1999 by Hanshi Manny Saavedra. |