Malcolm Phipps

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Malcolm Phipps
Malcolm Phipps.jpg
Born Torquay, England
Style Shotokan Karate
Teacher(s) Hirokazu Kanazawa, Shiro Asano
Rank9th dan karate
Website sski.org

Malcolm Phipps is an English martial artist. He is a 9th Dan Hanshi in Shotokan Karate and is the chief instructor internationally to Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International (SSKI). [1] He started training in karate in the early seventies with a local JKA club, then with Shotokan Karate International (SKI) with Hirokazu Kanazawa. He then moved on to the Amateur Shotokan Karate Association (ASKA), eventually leaving to form his own association, Seishinkai Shotokan Karate, in 1984 and finally turning international in 1995 to the group as it is today, SSKI, [2] with clubs in England, the US, [3] Kazakhstan and India. [4] He was an advisory board member of the World Traditional Karate Organisation from 2003–2013.

Contents

Early years

Born in December 1942 in Torquay, Devon, due to wartime evacuation, Phipps then moved with his mother to Wealdstone to live with his grandparents, spending his formative years there attending Belmont First School. It was during this time that Phipps started his lifelong support of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. In 1953, the family then moved to Hemel Hempstead where Phipps attended Adeyfield Secondary Modern, finally leaving school in 1957. He started working at John Dickinsons, later joining the Royal Navy. After his initial training at HMS Ganges in Shotley, Suffolk where he learnt to be a communications rating in the Visual Signalling Department, and after several incidents of note including learning to march and learning to swim he passed his exams and went to serve on his first ship, the Battle Class Destroyer, HMS Dunkirk. Several ships followed including HMS Rhyl, HMS Aisne, HMS Warrior, HMS Decoy, HMS Delight, HMS Mercury and HMS Jufair, finally leaving the RN in 1968. In his youth Phipps was a prominent football player and played soccer for RN teams throughout the world and in 1966 was actually on the books of Tring Town FC. Once out of the RN, Phipps initially worked for a telecommunications temp agency, gaining full-time employment with a merchant bank (Bunge & Co) working in their communications department. After five years with them, Phipps moved on to work for a commodities broker, Wilson Smithett & Cope; and it was during this time he started his first karate club. [5] [6] [7]

Karate years

Phipps began his karate training in the early seventies with the JKA/SKI [6] training with Kanazawa (SKI) and John van Weenen MBE. He then trained with ASKA, before setting up his own association Seishinkai Shotokan Karate in 1984, which eventually become SSKI in 1995. Throughout his karate life, he has trained in the Shotokan karate style and also took up traditional nunchaku, forming the English Traditional Nunchaku Association (ETNA) in 2003 and is the world-wide Chief Instructor and founder of both SSKI and ETNA. Phipps is also a member of the Independent Traditional Karate Organisation (www.itko.info) and the Shotokan Alliance. He was awarded his 4th Dan in March 1986 (specially awarded by the World Union of Karate Organisations (WUKO) and the English Karate Council for services to karate nationally and internationally) and finally awarded his 8th Dan in September 2011. He has also been awarded a National Referees Certificate (1981), an NCF(MAC) Coaches award (1986), an EKGB Senior Coaching Award (1992) and is authorised as an EKGB Coaching Assessor (1993).

Phipps has coached many national and international champions. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] This has led, in turn to him being awarded 'Sports Personality of the Year' for West Herts (Dacorum) 1985, being runner-up for 'Sports Personality of the Year (Coach)' for West Herts (Dacorum) 2001 and being Highly Commended 'Service to Sport' for Dacorum District/West Herts 2002. Phipps has also had several magazine articles published, including some in Shotokan Karate Magazine [14] [15] [16] [17] and in both Traditional Karate and Combat Magazine and also several books (see details below).

Further highlights to Phipps's karate career include:

Books

Phipps is also an author and has had nine books published to date. Four of these books are on the martial arts: Uchi Deshi and the Master, The Ah So! Stories, The Little Book of Seishinkai and Nunchaku (an in-house training manual) and three novels: Wild Oats in Cornwall, The ConEquest and Wild Oats. His autobiography, Out of the Tiger's Mouth, was published in December 2009 and in 2013 he had a book of poems published, I Pondered Lonely as a Cloud, where all the proceeds were donated to the NSPCC. In 2014 a follow-up poetry book was published, I Pondered Lonely as a Cloud, once more! where all the proceeds went to, Save the Children.

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References

  1. "Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International (www.sski.org)".
  2. "Herts Direct Martial Arts Listing".
  3. "SSKI-USA".
  4. "SSKI-India".
  5. 1 2 Mileham, Patrick. "Interview with Malcolm Phipps Sensei". The Shotokan Way.
  6. "Profile of Malcolm Phipps Sensei". The Shotokan Way.
  7. "Shobu Ippon Championships". Shobu-ippon.com. 20 March 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  8. "Karate Club Is Top of the Chops". Hemel Today. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  9. "Hemel Karate Aces Do England Proud at World Championships". Hemel Today. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  10. "Gould Going For Karate Kings". Hemel Today. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  11. "Instructor Floored By Karate Club's Storming Finish". Hemel Today. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  12. "WTKO UK Championships 2006". The Shotokan Way. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  13. "Shotokan Karate Magazine/Aug 1985". Shotokanmag.com. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  14. "Shotokan Karate Magazine/Aug 1986". Shotokanmag.com. 8 August 1986. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  15. "Shotokan Karate Magazine/May 1990". Shotokanmag.com. 23 May 1990. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  16. "Shotokan Karate Magazine/". Shotokanmag.com. January 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  17. "2003 inductees". USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. 2003. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  18. "WTKO Advisory Panel". Wtko.org. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  19. "Saiko Shihan". International Shotokan-Ryu Karate-Do Shihankai. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  20. "Top Honour Is Awarded To Coach Phipps". Hemel Today. 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2011.