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Moira Barber 6th Dan
From starting karate at the age of 15, Moira hasn't looked back and has gone from strength to strength.
After 3 years of training under Sensei Donovan she attained 1st Dan in 1978, awarded to her by Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa, now
10th Dan World Chief Instructor of the Shotokan Karate-do Association and Sensei Donovan O.B.E. 8th Dan, Ishinryu founder
and England karate coach.
In 1977 she helped Sensei Eric Thornton open Grays Ishinryu which was handed over to her to run solo
in 1979 when Sensei Thornton retired from karate. Having made a success of this and through popular demand, she then opened
the Rainham dojo in 1992. It was at this time she ceased running the junior classes at the Ishinryu Hombu after 15 years of
instructing the children for Sensei Donovan.
Through her time as an instructor her clubs have produced around 50 black belts, several of whom
have gone on to achieve 3rd Dan black belt and still train with her regularly. Of these 15 black belts, around 5 have reached
international status and have represented their country at both European and World levels.
Moira herself received her Great Britain badge and represented the country at the first ever Ladies
European Championships at Crystal Palace in 1982. In this debut international performance she won a bronze medal in the under
53 kilo category - the first medal won by a lady for Great Britain in kumite. She went on to perform at more European and
World tournaments and picked up more trophies along the way.
She retired from international competition to raise a family, Kerry, now 21, and Dean, 17, who are
both also black belts.
Following on from her competition days she then went into coaching and lead her students to further
success, boasting English and British champions at junior and senior level. Many of these students held onto their title for
3, 4 or 5 years in a row.
Not to finish there, she then went on to gain her England Referee badge for both kata and kumite
in the early 1990s and today holds a British Referee qualification and officates at both British and International events.
Martyn Le Breuilly 3rd Dan
Martyn started karate at
the age of 7 under instructor (and next-door neighbour at the time!), Moira Barber, and soon realised that even at that young
age, dedication was needed in order to succeed.
Dedication and commitment
paid off, with successful gradings to follow and eventually taking his first gold medal in kata as an orange belt at a local
competition. After further years of training under Moira he continued to achieve
success in gradings and competitions respectively, and in the summer of 1999 was awarded 1st Dan black belt.
Focusing his competition
interest in particular of Team Kata, he won his first gold medal at the English Championships with fellow club instructor
David Young. At which point was selected to represent England in the 2001 World
Karate Championships in Athens. A further 2 gold medals in the English Championships,
and one in the British Championships were to follow, with the Grays & Rainham Ishinryu team retaining the gold medal for
3 successive years.
With commitment and
success becoming more consistent, Martyn was awarded 2nd Dan in 2002, and in 2004 was given the opportunity to
run the Grays club where he has since driven new as well as existing students to success.
This, coupled
with regular training and dedication saw Martyn awarded with his 3rd Dan in the summer of 2005, where he also took
the gold medal in the Men’s Black Belt Kumite event as well as achieving his Ishinryu Referee qualification. This was to be his final (to-date) involvement in tournament as a competitor, and now focuses his attention
to instructing and coaching new up-and-coming students to likewise success.
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