Siobhan Leckey. Chief   instructor.                 Siobhan has been training since 1977. Her first public karate exhibition was at the age of four.She is a Martial Arts Commission self-defence coach and taught self defence on behalf of the W.E.A. and various women’s groups. Siobhan has conducted courses for up to 400 people and organised national and international events. She was on the English National Team for the European Championships in 1988 and represented Ireland in the European Opens in 1991-94, and also in the World Championships in November 1992.

Siobhan (above) April 2007            

CONGRATULATIONS TO SIOBHAN:  ON SUNDAY 23 JULY SIOBHAN WAS AWARDED HER 3RD DAN BY SENSI SAKAGAMI - CHIEF INSTRUCTOR WADO KAI UK/IRELAND.  DESPITE HAVING HER 3RD DAN FOR OVER FIFTEEN YEARS, SHE DECIDED TO RETAKE THE FULL PHYSICAL GRADING IN ORDER THAT HER GRADE BE RECOGNISED BY THE JAPANESE KARATE FEDERATION. ALL GRADES HELD BY OPHIR MEMBERS ARE INDEED RECOGNISED BY JKF, WITH ALL DAN GRADES BEING REGISTERED BY THE JKF AND SIGNED BY EIICHI ERIGUCHI, PRESIDENT JKF WADO KAI.                                                  

Her credits include:

Northern Ireland Champion  1992 & 93    

All Ireland Champion  1992 & 93.

European Wado-Kai Kata Championships  Holland 1992 & 94  -  1st

British Open 1993 - Team 2nd   /  Individual 2nd

World Wado Championships  Tokyo 1994 - 3rd. 
  

Open World Championships  San Maxime  France  1993 & 94  - 3rd

World Open Karate Championships  Sardinia  1992 - 1st

Rated by senior Japanese instructors as the number one female wado kai karate-ka in Europe.

Trained under Masters in Japan in 1992 & 1994. 

 World Karate Federation Judge

MARTIN CAMPBELL
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Martin Campbell began training in September 1977 with the AIKW. He was a founder member in 1980 of the NIKW, a group he helped steer to great success in the 1980s and into the early 90s.                                       After a number of years 'on the mats',  he began officiating at competition, eventually gaining national and international qualifications in refereeing. He continued to compete on a national basis until the mid 90s, when he turned his attention to coaching many of the aspiring young fighters coming up through  the ranks. He has studied karate under many of the world's leading exponents of Wado, including, among others: Shiomitsu Sensei, Professor Tatsuo Suzuki, Ohgami Sensei, Harakawa Sensei and Sakagami Sensei. He has taught at courses with up to 400 people and helped organise many international competitions. He has a particular interest in studying the application of kata. As well as coaching self defence in a number of local schools through his involvement with YouthSport, and  in the local universities, he has held a number of positions including:

Instructor:

Bangor Leisure Centre 1979-84

Down Leisure Centre 1984-1992

Ballynahinch Leisure Centre 1987-91

N.I.K.W.Central - 1992-94

Member of Northern Ireland Institute of Coaching since 1984

Studied sport in Soviet Union 1988                                         

Member of UK Sports delegation to Cuba 1990

Taught karate in Minsk, Belarus.

Martial Arts Commission coach  since 1984                                       

 National referee since 1984. Tournaments include: Scotland / England / Wales / Northern Ireland / British Open at Crystal Palace / Irish Open in Dublin / Holland / Sweden / Australia / USA . European Championships in Rome & Dublin etc.

World Karate Federation Judge

Martial  Arts Commision self defence coach.

Taught Women's self defence at the University of Ulster 1992-94.

Trained in Ju Jitsu & Tai Chi.
Trained in the application of Shiatsu

DARREN BROWN

Darren Brown has been training in Karate-do since 1985. During this time he has competed at National, International and World level in both Kumite and Kata.
He would say the highlight of his competitive career was being part of the national squad that took part in the Wado World cup in Tokyo, Japan in 1994.

Darren has always taken great pride in his own personal training and has trained up to 5 nights a week.
He has been instructing for over 15 years and his strong attitude and commitment to the art has been instilled in his students.
This is very evident with their success at all levels of competition.

More recently he has become involved in officiating Karate competition.

He has recently been appointed a World Karate Federation Judge.

TINA BINGHAM

Tina Bingham began training in Wado in 1987 with Oliver Brunton in the N.I.K.W.  Her first major outing was in the British championships in Kelvin Hall in 1987. She had many successes in a career which saw her competing on the Northern Ireland squad in St Maxime, France in 1993, to representing Ireland in the European Championships in Rome in 2000. Her credits include:

Northern Ireland Kumite Champion 1991

All Ireland Kumite and Kata Champion 2002-3

 TOM CUNNINGHAM - Junior Squad Coach                              

 Tom began training in Downpatrick Karate Club in March 1982. Concentrating mainly on kumite, Tom successfully represented his country on many occasions. He competed in the following countries against their national teams:    Poland     Switzerland    Holland    Belgium     Sardinia    Japan (World Wado Championships)     England and Wales. Currently training in Ophir Killyleagh  Club with Darren Brown, Tom is now seeing his daughter Naomh stepping forward as she begins to find success on the mats.  Lately he has been working with the Ophir Junior Squad as they begin to make serious inroads into National competition.