WHILST Covid has stopped many of us in our tracks, this is not the case for Ilkley karate instructor, Mark Outterside.

December 2021 saw him receive his 6th degree black belt (grade of Rokudan), which was ratified by SSU World chief instructor Kamohara Sensei in Japan. Then earlier in January of this year, he also received the rare honorary title of Kyoshi from Kamohara Sensei (9th Dan SSU World Chief Instructor) in Japan in recognition of his dedication to Karate Do on behalf of the Shito-Ryu Shukokai Karate Do World Union.

‘Kyoshi’ means “expert teacher,” although it is sometimes also translated as “professor” or “assistant professor” and typically requires a minimum rank of at least Rokudan (6th degree black belt) and must be 50 years and over. There are very few people that hold this title or even better have it endorsed by the Japanese. Mark was extremely honoured. These titles are generally only given to recipients after many many years of study. Mark was given this great honour by UK Chief Instructor, Sensei Denis Casey.

Mark has been running a hugely successful and thriving Karate club in Ilkley since 1988 where he is Chief Instructor and founder. His Karate journey has been both enlightening and educational, with many opportunities to visit and train in Japan – something the club does on a regular basis. Mark has been practising karate for over 40 years and spent most of his training life with the Shukokai Karate Union (SKU), leaving only in 2010 to gain more knowledge of the pure Shukokai/Shito-Ryu system with traditional roots.

Mark began the sport when he was 15 years old, as he wanted to try something that was different to the sports being offered at school, that would increase his overall fitness, and above all build his selfconfidence. From the very beginning it kindled an inner-passion and ever since the early days, Mark has trained at least three or four times a week, regularly entering competitions and courses. Once Mark passed his 1st degree black belt in 1985, he began training with the SKU England Squad. In 1987 all the hard work really paid off and Mark won the first EKB (English Karate Board, now the EKGB) super lightweight title in London in September 1987.