Maidenhead Shotokan Karate Club

About the chief instructor

Gursharan Sahota was born in Kenya, East Africa but moved to the UK at the age of 12. He took up Karate at the age of 14 in the local Bedford club and was awarded black belt 1st dan (shodan) four years later.

Now an 8^th Dan, Gursharan has competed in a multitude of kata and kumite events, many at national and international level.  But the most significant event in his career was the visit he made in 1984 to Japan.  There, he fulfilled a great ambition by training in a Japanese dojo under the instruction of Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa.

This experience proved to be a turning point for Gursharan.  On his return to England, he realised the trip had been the inspiration he needed to dedicate his future to training and teaching karate as a way of life.

Gursharan’s first club was opened in Luton/Dunstable in 1981 and this is now the association’s hombu (HQ).  Having been a teacher of the art for many years, he formed his own association in 1993 – TISKA (The Traditional International Shotokan Karate Association) which is now one of the biggest associations in the UK.

Gursharan’s love of karate has never diminished.  He still teaches over 35 classes a week in the UK and regularly takes master classes internationally.  All in all, he has brought hundreds of students of all ages up to black belt standard and beyond.

He is also involved in charity work, helping to subsidise trips for surgeons to third world countries to operate on underprivileged children.  He has, for many years, funded many projects in India, and is at present helping to fund the building of a new school. 

Gursharan lives in Buckinghamshire and is happily married with a son and daughter who already show signs of following in their daddy’s footsteps.