Allerton Bywater Karate Club

The English Shotokan Academy (ESA) was founded in 1991, by the late Steve Cattle 6th Dan and a group of like minded instructors. For many years Steve had been a personal student of the late Taiji Kase 9th Dan and it was to pursue the teachings of Kase Sensei that the ESA was set up.

Taiji Kase was one of the last of the direct students of O'sensei Gichin Funakoshi and his son Master Yoshitaka Funakoshi. Many years prior to his death in November 2004, Kase Sensei had formed an Instructor Academy selected from talented and experienced karate-ka from around the world. This individual members group, in later years, became known as the Kase-Ha Shotokan-Ryu Academy (KSKA) and its members are dedicated to the continued development of this unique line of Shotokan Karate.

The senior instructors of the ESA are members of this elite academy and now lead the ESA with their technical skills and knowledge learned directly from Shihan Kase.