Del Shannon Sensei 3rd Dan
Training Officer
Born in Ireland, moved to England in 1984. grew up in London and moved to Norfolk in 2001.
After leaving the Armed Forces in 2001 and moving myself back to London, I decided to move to the East of England where I currently reside. Having spent a few years living in the area I decided to venture back into Martial arts.
During my youth, I dabbled with different martial arts, having lessons in Judo, kick boxing, watching all the martial arts movies I could get my hands on. Come to think of it, I think I even believed I was a ninja at one point, but what child didn’t think that…
Now that I was an adult, I wanted to try something again, so myself, alongside a few friends decided to venture into the world of Ishin Ryu Ju Jitsu. 12th January 2004 was our first lesson. Unknown to us, we were about to experience one of the best thrills and excitement you could get, especially when our first lesson was free. Some may look at me at being a little crazy thinking that excitement is getting sweaty, having joints being manipulated and shouting the word OSU!
To be fair, it didn’t matter what people thought, I was hooked and every night after finishing training decided to make my partners ears bleed with the excitement and thrill I had that evening.
Ishin Ryu was very militaristic, lots of etiquette, lots of fitness and the never-ending hill there was to climb to achieve your next belt. I loved it and continued training and steadily made my way through the belts.
After reaching the dizzy heights of Shodan Ho, the mountain was to climb further; the 17th of January 2010 was to become the hardest thing I would ever undertake. My SHODAN (Black Belt), no money was required, just the outright courage to go through with it. After two days and a few ups and downs, I would become an Ishin Ryu Black belt and be able to wear the coveted Sun & Kanji. A special tattoo worn to those that have been before.
Having achieved such greatness, I started to teach classes in the London and Norfolk regions. Gaining knowledge and learning the art, especially when passing on to others. I continued teaching for a few years, getting great fun and excitement from this. Watching children grow with confidence, succeed with their ambitions.
I spent many years travelling with Soke Kevin Pell, the Ishin Ryu black belts and mudansha. I have had the pleasure to train with some fantastic instructors. Having moved up the ranks to 3rd Dan (Sandan), I currently train at the fantastic Honbu dojo, a home from home…