Grading Examinor

Sensei Garry Harford

Garry was born in Salford, Manchester on the 21st of April 1960. He was first introduced to Karate in 1972 at KNK Karate Club, Ardwick, Manchester. He took his Kyu gradings under Sensei Sherry. Garry graded to first Dan on 14th March 1976 under Sensei Enoeda.

His introduction to Karate competition was in the last BKCC All Styles Championships in 1977. Garry was selected as a member of the first Junior KUGB Squad and competed at the 1980 European Senior and Junior Championships held in Bregenz, Austria, at which he won 1st place in the Junior Team Kata and also 1st place in the Senior Kata. He was also part of the Team Kumite winners. His list of achievements also include 1st place in Kata and Kumite in the Shotokan Cup and EKB All Styles Kumite Champion in 1987. Garry was also a KUGB team member that won the EKB in 1985-88 inclusive. He is very proud of the fact that he was a member of the team that for many years dominated European Championships.

The highlight of his career was being a member of the team that won the 1990 World Shotokan Championships held in Sunderland.

As a fighter, Garry was very aware of his compact build and worked extremely hard on his speed and timing. Being very agile, he would maximize his kicking ability by making use of Mawashi-geri Chudan and spinning Ushiro-Mawashi-geri.

As an Instructor, Garry's personal sense of fulfilment was achieved in 1988 when his club team Poynton SKC, won the KUGB National Championships after reaching 3rd place in the 2 preceding years.

Whilst a member of the Junior Squad it was Sensei Sherry’s sheer energy and determination had an enormous impact on him which enabled him to develop his strengths in and out of Karate. Even today, whilst training under Sensei Sherry he still feels that very same energy which made him always want to perform of to the best of his ability.

Grading Examiner

Sensei Billy Higgins

Billy Higgins was born in Bootle, Liverpool on 14th August 1945. Taking a keen interest in sport from an early age, he took up boxing, gymnastics, and football while still at school. In 1965 he started to study Wado Ryu Karate and he very quickly established himself as a fast and skillful fighter. He was selected for the BKCC All Styles Squad and during training, he rapidly realised the high technical standard of the KUGB members of the squad. As he was having difficulty traveling to his Wado club, he decided to join the KUGB in 1970. He has had a long and distinguished competition career, with many national and international titles to his credit. These include Individual 2nd in the WUKO All Styles World Championship in Paris 1975 and 1976 European All Styles Champion. He was captain of the highly successful 1975 British All Styles team that defeated the Japanese team to win the World Championships in Los Angeles. He was also a member of the very successful KUGB Senior International Team that won the Championships of Europe no less than five times! He was coach and manager of the EKB squad and was squad coach for the KUGB Scottish and Southern Regions. He is a KUGB Grading Examiner and a qualified International Referee. He is renowned for his fast and effective fighting style, particularly his lightning-fast Ashi-Barai/Gyaku-Tsuki combination which devastated his opponents and won him many events. Also noted for his dynamic Tai Sabaki, he is a popular teacher and examiner, always in demand around the KUGB clubs. Since joining the KUGB, he has been a dedicated and active member of the organisation, particularly in the field of coaching. He intends to continue to be involved in making sure that the KUGB maintains its Strength and technical ability in the future.