Sensei Roger Sayce 1942 to 2001 Age 59

This week we remember Sensei Roger Sayce the founder of Tekki Karate Clubs.  Sensei was a great inspiration to everybody who trained under him and although greatly missed we remember him with such happiness and admiration. It’s down to Sensei's enthusiasm and dedication that Tekki is such a great club.

 It's possible that there are now numerous karate-ka  who never trained under Sensei, but the style and attitude of his training can still be experienced through the club seniors.  All our instructors were taught by Sensei right from the beginning of Tekki, and his style can be seen by those who know what to look for.

As a celebration of Sensei's achievements all sessions this weekend will start with a mark of respect to Sensei, and will be free of charge.

For your enjoyment here is the first chapter of Sensei's unfinished story 

I have always had, since the days of primary school, the curious ability to predict and react to an attack. I remember how as a ten or eleven-year-old, I could instinctively foresee an attack, verbal or physical. Certainly, trying to sidestep and block a right cross from my mother when I had done something wrong was superb training for my eventual inclusion into the martial arts.

One Saturday morning many years ago, I wandered into the newly opened local library. As I walked along the shelves, fascinated by the stacks of knowledge that surrounded me, my eye was caught by a small book on Japanese and Chinese self-defence systems. The techniques displayed in this book were a revelation. I remember each and every one of those techniques today, and they are the mainstay of what I teach. I returned home clutching this little piece of magic to my chest and read it from cover to cover, over and over again. Within a week I was ready to unleash my newfound knowledge on the poor unsuspecting public.

Being small in stature, attacks came with amazing regularity, and I used every opportunity to practice these techniques on my enemies - and my friends! The learning curve was fast and furious.

School in those days was not like it is today. Back then, if you incurred the teachers’ wrath retribution was immediate and painful. Even at the tender age of eleven it came in the form of a very large and heavy ruler. Being rather mischievous by nature I well knew the feeling of terror that grips you in the instant before the strike. One teacher in particular was particularly good at wielding this wooden sword, and singled me out on more than one occasion to demonstrate its efficiency. That overwhelming feeling of dread remains unequalled in all my experiences crewing ships in gales and climbing masts for the BBC.

Before I finished primary school, I had decided that violence exists to be controlled, and has no place in schools.

The final day in primary school ended a chapter in my life. Exam results were to be announced and although I had tried, I knew I hadn’t done well. The moment came when, as expected, I was called out to the front of the class to receive my usual dose of punishment. On this last occasion, I was prepared.

The teacher told me to bend over a chair. I refused. When he stepped in with arm raised, holding the heavy wooden ruler in his right hand I remember vividly recalling page 6 of my Japanese book under 'defensive techniques'. As he swung, in a downward arc towards my backside, I stepped forward, blocking the ruler with my left hand and driving with my right fist up into his groin. I heard, the most enormous crunch as he doubled up in pain, water streaming down his eyes, uttering words which even I had never heard before. There was a moment of stunned silence from the rest of my class, about thirty-five strong and then, collectively, they erupted. I ran from school for the last time, with the cheers of my friends ringing in my ears.

My inclusion into the martial arts had begun.