The History of Seaford Karate Club
The history of “Karate” dates back many generations as fathers would teach their sons the secrets of the “open hand.” In 1922 Gichin Funakoshi took Karate from Okinawa, one of the Ryu Kyu islands, south of Japan to demonstrate and teach Karate at the Universities in the capital of Japan, Tokyo. This was considered to be the first modern day Karate where a syllabus was adhered to and belts were given as grades and karate started to become recognized as a sport.
In the late fifties Karate and Judo started to progress into England but few clubs existed and the general public were very naive as to what the art of Karate contained. The tabloids gave Karate a bad name because of the mystic involved and then people built up a fear of the art. In the late Sixties more clubs opened and when Bruce Lee came along in the Seventies people started to realize how the martial arts could improve fitness, speed and co-ordination, this caused a boom in the Martial Arts.
At this time George Bishop was teaching in Eastbourne and Newhaven twice a week. In 1974 at only 15 years old Steve Earl turned up to see what it was all about. The style first practiced was called Wadoryu but after only a short time they changed styles to train in Shotokan. Steve took his black belt in 1977 under the guidance of Mike Brady in Brighton and passed first time. In 1978 he decided to start his own Karate Club at Seaford and has never looked back. The venue where they first started was the Rugby Club at the Salts Recreation ground and membership fluctuated, with Steve often only teaching a handful of students and having to pay for the hall hire from his own pocket. However as the club became more established, membership increased and with constantly expanding classes they soon out grew the Rugby Club and started to look for new premises. The obvious choice was Blatchington Hall at the ‘Downs’, before the Leisure Centre was built, but the hall was only available one night a week.
In 1984 at the A.S.K.A. National championships Steve Earl won the coveted National Open weight Kumite trophy to signal the start of a memorable career. From 1984-1995 Steve never finished outside the top three in the Heavyweight category (except in 1992 when fourth Dans were not allowed to compete), in that year the winner was Everton Ifill from Brighton.
In the senior class Steve progressed up through the Dan grades and into the England Karate Squad until in 1987, as a 3rd Dan, the cartilage in his left knee tore whilst demonstrating a kicking technique in the club. After a painful hospital visit it took another three months before Steve could train properly on it, he missed out on further squad sessions and lost his England place.
Steve had a great love for karate and was an inspiration to a lot of people inside and outside of karate. To some he was a father figure, or big brother, someone to be looked up to and respected, not only by his students, but by those he competed against and his peers.
His dedication to the club and association was emormous. For many years Steve ran the only club in A.S.K.A. in the South of England. Being so far away from the rest of the association sometimes Steve found it hard to constantly travel around the country for gradings, courses and competitions. He fought to get the A.S.K.A. National Championships in Seaford which we did indeed host on two occassions in 1990 and 1992.
Steve was the grading registar in A.S.K.A. for over ten years and in 1995 became the A.S.K.A. England Team Manager. In 1997 he led a squad of eight fighters out to Estonia and his team brought back the men’s individual Kata and Kumite Gold medals as well as the Team Kumite Gold medal.
His proudest inidividual moment came in 1987 when he won an individual bronze medal at the BKF British Karate Championships in the –80kg Kumite at Crystal Palace. Steve’s biggest arch-rival was probably Ashar Phillips from Southall, London. These two fighters dominated the A.S.K.A. heavyweight kumite category for many years with great fights and terrific sportsmanship.
Steve’s biggest arch-rival was probably Ashar Phillips from Southall, London. These two fighters dominated the A.S.K.A. heavyweight kumite category for many years with great fights and terrific sportsmanship.
Sensei Steve trained under some of the world’s greatest instructors including Ticky Donovan while he was in the England ‘A’ squad from 1984-1987. He also trained with Soke Hirokazu Kanazawa 10th Dan.
The year after Sensei Steve won the open weight category, A.S.K.A. split the event into three separate weight divisions. In 1985 Clint Allen entered the Senior heavyweight category and went on to win his division, beating N. Thati from London, giving Seaford their second National Champion in two years.
Clint had joined Seaford Karate Club in 1978 as a 7th Kyu. He achieved his black belt at the age of 21 and gained a place in the A.S.K.A. International team to Northern Ireland when he was 22.
Clint trained regularly and achieved 3rd Dan in 1988. He had an abundance of flair and talent and is considered one of the best ever fighters in the club. This talent was recognized by Ticky Donovan, the British Coach, when Clint was training as a member of the England ‘B’ squad.
Clint continued teaching at the club and fought in the Seaford squad for a number of years in the heavyweight category and helping the team to three successive victories in 1993, 1994 and 1995, beating both the strong Southall and Great Barr dominance.
However, a recurring back injury reduced his capacity to train and he retired in 1996 at the age of 35 having won many medals at all levels. In 1999, Steve retired from karate when he and his family moved to California. Before he left he passed the club on to Sensei Martin (then a 3rd Dan) to run and continue his legacy. Sensei Martin has been training and teaching in the club continuously since 1985.
Seaford Karate Club Black belt Hall of Fame
Steve Earl | 5th Dan |
Clint Allen | 3rd Dan |
Paul Burton | 3rd Dan |
Barry Peerless | 1st Dan |
Dave Reed | 1st Dan |
Dave Morgan | 1st Dan |
Martin Dean | 5th Dan |
Markham Thomas | 1st Dan |
Ian Cox | 1st Dan |
Ian Jackson | 1st Dan |
Theresa Saunders | 1st Dan |
Samantha Thomas | 1st Dan |
Rachel Lane | 1st Dan |
Annie Norris | 2nd Dan |
Jane Baker | 1st Dan |
Darren Payne | 1st Dan |
Simon Baker | 1st Dan |
Simon Lees | 2nd Dan |
Allen Bower | 2nd Dan |
Garry Wright | 1st Dan |
Bob Davenport | 1st Dan |
Clive Butler | 1st Dan |
John Beard | 1st Dan |
Matthew Langridge | 1st Dan |
Ben Dartnall | 1st Dan |
Andrew Funnell | 1st Dan |
Steve Jakes | 2nd Dan |
Keith Funnell | 1st Dan |
Dean Burton | 1st Dan |
Sunil Rajput | 1st Dan |
Jon Tompsett | 1st Dan |
Ivan Wilson | 1st Dan |
Angie Pepper | 2nd Dan |
Simon Lambert | 1st Dan |
Sian Pomeroy | 2nd Dan |
Emily Delaloye | 1st Dan |
Lee Finch | 2nd Dan |
Kieran Young | 1st Dan |
Matthew Delaloye | 1st Dan |
Jan Kus | 1st Dan |
Luke Wetherfield | 1st Dan |
Mark Browning | 1st Dan |
Dominic Tansley | 1st Dan |
Christian Hardman | 1st Dan |
Liam Bray | 1st Dan |




