Nick Heald started Shotokan Karate in September 1981 at the age of 15. A friend had told him about the club he was training at and when Nick saw an advert for the club in a local paper, he decided to join.

The club he had stumbled upon was Leeds Shotokan Karate Club run by Bob Rhodes, then a 4^th Dan. Leeds Shotokan Karate Club had a strong reputation. Bob Rhodes was a former member of both the KUGB and All-Styles National teams. A full-time instructor and Grading Examiner for the KUGB, Bob was a Karateka equally at home with either Kata or Kumite. He passed this on to his students and they have consistently placed highly in both disciplines at National and International level.

Nick was soon enthused by the instruction that he received. He obtained his first grade, 9^th Kyu, in December 1981 and made good progress through the grading system. In November 1983 he went along to watch the KUGB Northern Regional Championships which were being held at the Leeds University Sports Centre.

He was so impressed by the event that he decided to have a go himself at the next available opportunity. This soon presented itself and it was at the North East Open at Crowtree Leisure Centre in Sunderland in February 1984 that he made his competition debut. Fighting in the Leeds ‘B’ Team, he won his first ever fight, but both he and the Team lost in the second round to the local Sendai Team. In his first individual fight, Nick lost by Ippon when a Kung Fu stylist kicked him in the head with a Mawashi Geri.

Nick started to compete regularly and joined the KUGB Northern Regional Squad, which was run at the time by his club instructor Bob Rhodes. Other notables who trained on this Squad at the time were Nick’s clubmate Randy Williams and Ian Roberts of St Helens, both of whom went on to become KUGB National Champions.

In March of 1985, Nick achieved the rank of 1^st Dan, which was awarded to him by Sensei Andy Sherry, now a 7^th Dan and the highest ranked non-Japanese instructor in Europe. It was as a result of his performance during the grading that Nick was invited by Sensei Sherry to join the KUGB Junior National Squad. Nick was thrilled by this news but had little idea of what he was letting himself in for. The KUGB Junior Squad sessions are now legendary for their ferocity. Three hours of training that seemed to border on the murderous on occasions. Individuals would be pushed to their physical and mental limits under the constant gaze of Sensei Sherry.

Nick was used to training hard and with good Karateka at Leeds, but nothing he had done previously prepared him for this. ‘Before my first session with the Junior Squad I was nervous, but I didn’t know what it was all about. I travelled to the session with Randy as the KUGB Senior Team were permitted to train at the sessions as well.

When we arrived I was awe inspired by the people I was to train with. Frank Brennan, Ronnie Christopher, Gary Harford, Ian Roberts, Elwyn Hall and George Best were all in attendance. I was battered from one end of the Red Triangle dojo (training hall) to the other. When I got home, my chest was purple with bruising and I felt like I was in shock. How could I possibly go through that each month?

Two weeks prior to the next session I started having bad dreams. I could not begin to describe how nervous I was before the second session because now I knew what lay ahead. Sure enough, I was hammered again.

’Despite the physical punishment and the mental anguish, Nick stuck with the Junior Squad. Over the next year and a half, he began to realise that all the new boys got a pasting, they hadn’t just hated him after all. Whilst he never quite got to the point where he was one of the ‘Top Dogs’, he was able to hold his own and saw how on occasion others would wilt under the constant pressure.‘With this type of training, the anticipation and fear of the event is often worse than the reality.

Getting yourself to the Dojo to train was often half the battle. Once you were there, staying in the session was the next hurdle. The temptation to over-exaggerate an injury was always there. This could provide an early exit from the training.’

As part of the KUGB Junior National Squad, Nick won his first trophy when he took third place in the Junior Lightweight Kumite at the English Karate Board All Styles National Championships in 1985. This was the start of a long and successful competition career, which continues to this day.

Nick has been a member of the Leeds Shotokan Karate Club Team that has won the KUGB Regional and National Championships in both Kata and Kumite on many occasions. Three times the winner of the Regional Kumite title, he has also placed third in the Individual Kumite at National level. However it is his achievements with the KUGB National Team that he is most proud of.‘I joined the Senior Squad in November 1988 and twelve years later, I am still here.’

Nick has been a regular now on the KUGB English and British Teams for the last 6 years. He has competed at two JKA World Championships, two WSKA World Championships, five ESKA European Championships and one Nakayama Cup (European Individual Championship). ‘I have won third place at the Nakayama Cup in Kumite, First place at the Europeans and second at the Worlds in Team Kumite. Also a number of third places at these events in both Team Kata and Kumite.’During his time with the KUGB National Team, he has travelled extensively. ‘I’ve been to Sweden, Finland, Russia, twice to Poland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, USA and Japan.’

‘I was so impressed by my first international tournament in Philadelphia that I wanted to compete at that level for as long as possible. This was a JKA World Shoto Cup and there were Karateka there from all over the world. The event was just huge, a true World Championship. The South Africans had brought hundreds of competitors, as had the Japanese. The standard was so high, just being part of such an event was an honour.’

Over the years, Nick has been able to compete against the top Shotokan stylists from all over the World. Which have impressed him the most?‘From England I would obviously have to say Frank Brennan. He is without a doubt the best Karateka I have ever seen. Both as a competitor and an instructor he is excellent. Also the likes of Ronnie Christopher, Elwyn Hall and George Best.

Of the present era, Matt Price is an excellent Karateka. I am very lucky to be able to train with him all the time, we push each other well. From abroad, the Germans are excellent. I am lucky to be on good terms with a number of the German Team and we have been over to Hamburg to train at the Dojo of Horst Pfänder, himself a former European Champion.

The Swedes are always of a high standard and obviously the Japanese. In particular I like the style of Toshihito Kokubun, the present JKA World Champion.’

Which instructors have influenced him the most?
‘In no order of preference, I would say Sensei Enoeda, Sensei Sherry, Bob Rhodes, Frank Brennan, Randy Williams and Sensei Ohta. I have enjoyed training with all these people immensely.’

What are your future plans?
‘If I can stay fit and injury free, I would like to compete for a little longer. I feel less pressure now that I have retired from the KUGB National Squad.

From an instructional point of view, I want to build still further the Dojo that I opened with Matt in January 2001 at Boston Spa. This has grown very well since then and we would like to emulate the success of the Harrogate Dojo in terms of size and standard.’

Nick retired from the KUGB National Squad at the end of 2002 after 14 years!

Nick was graded to 5^th Dan by Sensei Enoeda in April 2000.

Nick was graded to 6th Dan by Sensei Sherry in April 2008.