The History of Karate Jutsu Kai
Kancho Creton's martial arts career started when he began practicing Judo as a boy. While he enjoyed the hard physical approach he was quickly converted on first seeing karate and realizing its greater practical potential. His first foray into his new discipline was a local Shotokan group. While he enjoyed rapid progress due to his single-minded approach he quickly realized the limitations of his instructor. His complete absorption with anything to do with martial arts led him to a demonstration by a youthful Brian Dowler, and recognizing the increased scope of the new style of Kyokushinkai, he changed direction.
Mas Oyama's Kyokushinkai Karate continued to absorb him completely for many years, culminating in his success in the World Open Knockdown tournament in 1979 (ranked 6th in the World). The preparation for the success had cost Kancho Creton many years of back-breaking work down the road of knockdown competitions representing the UK and away from the areas of his major interest, such as improving the depth of the style's kata and rationalizing its basics and the way they were taught. His suggestions to the British group's hierarchy on these and the like were met with a lack of enthusiasm, and he regretfully decided that the only way to see his ideas bearing fruit was to found a new coherent system from the ground up. Along with Brian Dowler, whose great political reputation gave the new undertaking the necessary aura of gravity, he launched the British Karate Jutsu Renmei in 1980.
For a number of years he worked earnestly laying the foundations of a Karate style incorporating all of the important areas, as he saw them, into a lucid whole. During that time, however, it became increasingly obvious that his own views and those of Hanshi Dowler were slowly diverging. This led ultimately to the amicable split of the B.K.J.R. into two separate groups. With his gift of insight Kancho Creton recognized the need in his own group for a sign of its ascension from a respected physical system to one incorporating more spiritual values. He decided on the name of British Karate Do Karate Jutsu Kai, emphasizing the unbreakable bond between the demanding physical practice and the strict ethical code embodied by Karate in its purest forms. The last chapter to date in the saga of the realisation of one man's dream is the interchanging of Kokusai for British as the style becomes international with the setting up of the Danish arm by Kancho Creton.
Karate Jutsu Kai is a style harking back to the original period when Karate was both frighteningly effective for the practitioner if used in defence, and influential in his everyday life. It also looks forward, incorporating newly discovered knowledge relevant to its physical development and practice. Lead by the genius of Kancho Creton it will continue to act as the standard bearer in this latest era of Karate's long history.
Below is a brief chronology of the man, Kancho Bernard Creton.
1970: 1st Dan (British Karate Kyokusinkai) after just 3 years training.
1971: B.K.K. Under 21 champion.
1972: Team Captain, 3rd place team B.K.C.C National Championships.1973: 2nd Dan.
1974: First ever to fight Knockdown in Great Britain at Crystal Palace.
1977: 3rd Dan, B.K.K. English Knockdown Team captain for 4 years.
1978: Assistant Chief Instructor B.K.K. 4th Place European Championships.
1979: 6th in World Knockdown championships (Tokyo) . 2nd place B.K.K. British Championships, winning fight England v Wales Knockdown.
1980: Chief Instructor B.K.J.R.
1983: 4th Dan
1985: 5th Dan
1986: Founded B.K.D.K.J.K.
1988: English Karate Council Southern Area Squad Coach.
1991: Formed the Danish Karate Do Karate Jutsu Kai.
1995: Development of Kickboxing into the Karate curriculum.
2011: 9th Dan
