Sad Times

It's been a sad day.

On Monday 18th October 2010, the day our dojo relocated to the Goldsmid Hall, a man who inspired so many of us in Kyokushin, Sensei Norman King, lost his beloved wife Christine. I remember when Sensei Norman, during one of those 'after training chats' back in the nineties, told me that he was planning to retire from teaching. He recalled a time when Christine had been unwell, and how he'd felt obliged to still attend the dojo and teach, and how this had, rightly, troubled him. It was clear to anybody that knows Sensei Norman just how precious his family has always been to him. His daughter, Nicola, was just a little girl next to me in the line when Sensei graded me to brown belt in 1992, and in true Norman style he treated his little girl just the same as the rest of us (and Nicola worked as hard as all of us, too!). The last time I saw Christine was on Christmas Eve a few years ago, when Toyah and myself bumped into her and Norman on Gravesend Overcliffe, and stopped for a chat. I remember Christine as always being humorous and canny, and always seemd to have a fond tolerance of her husband's students, of which I'm proud to count myself as one.

Today, Sensei Norman laid his wife to rest in a very dignified fashion. The suddenness of Christine's passing has left family and friends in deep shock. Myself and a few colleagues from Kyokushin (Ray, Mick, Bali, Iqbal) were proud to have the opportunity stand alongside our friend and mentor and to do our best to support him. Rest in peace, Christine.