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About the Ishinryu Dragons

A Short History

The Ishinryu Dragons originated in Australia.  In 2009 sensei Lee Smith was invited to teach at Bruce Hyland’s Dojos in Victoria.  During that teaching tour, sensei Lee saw how karate training had been successfully adapted for students as young as four years old.  Sensei Lee also saw how Australian students, who had started out as Dragons, had then progressed into the main stream karate classes and subsequently moved through to higher grades – some even to Black Belt.

With the permission and blessing of sensei Hyland, Lee established the first UK child-only Ishinryu club in Collier Row, Romford.  The Collier Row Dragons were launched at the Forest Row Centre following a well attended Open Day on Sunday 20 September 2009.  The first weekly lesson followed on Tuesday 29th September with over 20 new students in attendance.  More students joined in the following weeks and Collier Row Dragons continued to train every Tuesday evening for the next 11 years.

Initially the club was run by sensei Lee Smith and sensei Tony Spinks who were both (at that time) Woodlane instructors.  Other Woodlane instructors also helped and assisted over the years, including Dave Lawrence who took on a leading role in the later years of the Collier Row club.

The onset of Covid in early 2020 forced the club to shut.  Unfortunately, many of the young students were lost to the club during the various lock-downs that followed, and the club never re-opened.  However, a small number of Dragon students were very keen to continue, and they joined other Ishinryu clubs once Covid restrictions had lifted.

Over the 11 year life of the Collier Row club, quite a few students transitioned to adult classes in other clubs.  At least three of the original Collier Row students subsequently achieved Black Belt and others continue to train and work towards that goal.

Dragons has now become a generic term for our younger students, irrespective of which club they train in.  Cranham, Rush Green and Woodlane are just three Ishinryu clubs that run dedicated Dragons classes, where children can train separately from Adults.

At the end of 2021 Kay Cameron (2nd Dan) opened an after-school club at Rush Green school in Dagenham.  The Rush Green Dragons are a ‘closed club’, open only to students who attend that school.   In 2023 Rush Green was established as a full Ishinryu club and runs a class every Tuesday afternoon at the Rush Green Commuity Centre.  

Children are our future, and nowhere is this more true than in the Karate Dojo.  Somewhere in our Dragon classes there will be future Black belts, future instructors, and maybe even future England and Olympic Competitors and Champions.

Watch out!  The Dragons are coming!