Best foot forward as Grant Pritchard starts new venture
Karate expert Grant Pritchard has brought the martial art to Shifnal after opening his own club in the town.
The 29-year-old is a 4th Dan black belt in Shito-Ryu Shukokai karate after practising it for the most of his life – including travelling Asia to hone his skills.
Now, as a registered instructor with the English Karate Federation, Pritchard has created the Shukokai Shropshire Karate club.
“I used to live in Shifnal and I used to travel to Shrewsbury regularly to train karate,” he said. “The longer that I’ve been training and becoming more skilled at what I do and becoming a higher grade, I thought it would be a great way to come full circle.
“It gives people more local to the Shifnal area that same quality of training.
“Like everything, there is different levels of popularity for it and they’ll always be an attraction towards the martial arts.
“There’s so many different types out there and what I really like about what I do is the traditional karate style.
“It’s one of the founding karate styles and is exactly how it should be done, following the traditional principles.”
In his day job, Pritchard works managing a shoe shop in Shrewsbury as well as playing live music and teaching guitar. The latter two have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic but while one door has closed for the time being, he believes another has opened with his new venture.
“With everything happening recently with Covid-19 it’s become hard to play music to audiences and keep up with that side of it,” he added.
“I’ve always wanted to do something with karate anyway and it seemed like perfect timing.”
As well as helping keep people fit, Pritchard insists that the martial art is useful in day-to-day life.
“For me, it helps keep the balance,” he said.
“Whether you’re wanting to train your mind or body it just keeps you focused.
“It is a life skill and every time you feel like you’re getting to the top of the ladder, there’s another ladder immediately afterwards.
“Like with anything in life that’s worth doing, you only get out of it what you put in. Setting new goals, meeting them and then you find something else you want to achieve. That’s a great way to live your life and have those principles in you.
“That applies to everything you do in life, not just in karate training, but karate instils that in you from the start.”
The Shukokai Shropshire Karate club teach classes every Sunday, using the facilities at Bright Star Boxing Academy, which is opposite the village hall in Shifnal town centre.
They teach both junior and adult classes and Pritchard insists everyone from beginners to experts are welcome.
“New members are absolutely always welcome and whether you’ve already had experience in karate or martial arts, or if you’re an absolute beginner, there is a place for you,” he said.
“We’ve had people who are absolute beginners and never been in a martial arts or karate class before and we do get people who have perhaps trained in their younger days and saw an advert that sparked that interest again. There’s something for everybody there.”
Those interested can contact the club at shukokaishropshire@outlook.com or at the Facebook page titled Shukokai Shropshire Karate.
