instructors
Mark Holding 7th Dan
Founder and Chief Instructor for Mitsuru Karate
Currently ranked 7th Dan, Mark is the head grading officer for the Mitsuru group of clubs and also the clubs main Child Protection Officer.
He is married to May and has a step daughter Zoe.
His greatest personal satisfaction has come from the progression Of his students both those who have trained purely in the club and those who train Under him as his position as the head Kumite Coach.
The squad have had some really good results over the years and the current one is one of the best yet, their commitment to developing, training and competition is second to none.
I started with Chojinkai Karate in 1989 training at the Penrith club under Richard Bird and Sensei Doug James. I had previously tried other martial arts through my formative years but quickly found that Karate offered me what I was looking for. Early on in my grades I became involved in Kumite Competition actually it was the day after my Yellow belt grading where I immediately found myself thrown into the senior team event it was a steep but enjoyable learning curve. I went on through my grades to compete on a regular basis at both local, regional, national and international Level competitions. My first ever national result was a third place in the FEKO nationals in 1994 where I was beaten by Terry Daly (Now 8th Dan) and Wayne Otto’s sensei. I have since that date attained in excess of 20 national and international level medals becoming British Champion in 2002. I took over as head instructor at the Penrith Club In 1995 on the retirement of Richard ‘Dick’ Bird. In 2013 I retired from the Police and also from competition at the age of 49, they say your never to old to learn it took a while. I now run two further clubs at Appleby and Keswick which go from strength to strength.
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Contact Mark Holding Mitsuru Karate
by Email
by Phone
07703 100868