Bob Poynton - Club Instructors

7th Dan KUGB

Bob Poynton was born on the 30th July 1949 in Walton in the City of Liverpool. He attended the De La Salle Grammar School, and on leaving school his first job was as a civil servant with Customs and Excise.

He saw "Odd Job" (Harold Sakata) in the James Bond film Goldfinger, and decided that he wanted to take up karate. In 1965 at the age of 15, he applied to the Liverpool Karate Club for membership. He had to lie about his age, as the minimum age for joining was 16. The day he started at the club, Sensei Kanazawa was teaching, so he had his first Karate lesson with a Japanese 5th Dan, ex-champion of Japan.

In 1968 he gained his 1st Dan and left Customs and Excise to become a full-time assistant instructor to Andy Sherry.

He has many amusing anecdotes from those early days when they used to tour the country to teach karate. Clubs could only afford to pay a fee or travel expenses — not both — so they used to hitch-hike to the teaching venue. It once took them 23 hours to travel from Liverpool to Plymouth.

He was first selected for the KUGB squad in 1968 to compete in the IAKF European Championships in Austria. He was so excited about being selected that he left without his gi. In those days it was not possible to walk into a sports shop and buy a gi, so he had to fight in his first championships in a borrowed karate suit.

In the 18 years between 1968 and 1985, he represented England and Great Britain as a member of both the KUGB and All-Styles teams, achieving countless victories in National and International events. In 1976 he was the KUGB National Individual Kumite Champion, and the Shotokan Cup Grand Champion on three consecutive years.

Known as a specialist in keri waza (kicking techniques), he is renowned for his exceptionally fast mae-kizami geri (front cutting kick). The speed of his kick was so great that his shin bone broke on impact against his opponents arm while competing in the 1974 European Championships and he again broke it in the same place at the KUGB National Championships the following year. During the period of convalescence from the injuries, he started to take an active part in the administration of the KUGB. He was appointed Affiliations Officer in 1974, a position he has held ever since.

He was responsible for the implementation of the very successful KUGB Charity Appeals which have raised considerable sums of money.

Totally committed to the development and welfare of the KUGB, he says that he will strive, as Affiliation and National Administration Officer, to maintain good communication between the Executive and the membership, so that the members are informed of, and understand, the decisions reached on their behalf.

His ambition is simply to see the KUGB maintain its position as one of the mot professional karate organisations in the world.

Reproduced with kind permission from kugb.org.