Karate teacher looks back on 50 golden years
An illustrious karate teacher, Shihan Dave Millar still teaches at his Margate dojo.
THIS year marks a special anniversary for Shihan Dave Millar who started his illustrious karate career in Johannesburg in 1965 then went on to give 50 golden years to this martial art.
When he moved here with his family five years later he started the first karate school in this area, Since then this well-known and popular South Coast instructor has passed on his knowledge and karate skills to so many South Coast students of all ages. He also continued to work hard at his karate career, in the process excelling at the sport. In 1974 a dream came true for Shihan Dave when visited Japan as a member of the South African team. He trained and lived with Master Gogen Yamaguchi in Japan and, two years later, he was graded to Shodan.
Back in South Africa and training under Sensei Ray Ryan, he continued his pursuit of the art and became involved in refereeing. About 10 years later he qualified as national referee and judge, reaching Sandan level by then. Another highlight of Shihan Dave’s international career, in 1992, was training under Sensei Tommy Morris, who graded him to Yondan, Sensei Tommy Morris had trained directly under world-famous Sensei Tani of Kobe, Japan.
In 1992 and for four more consecutive years , Shihan Dave was invited to Scotland to take part in the annual Kobe Osaka International Gusshuku and World Championships. By the turn of the century, Shihan Dave had qualified as a judge and started conducting referee courses across South Africa.
By then he had refereed at several Zone Six tournaments and the Kobe Osaka World Championships in Scotland, where 12 countries took part. He had also been appointed chief referee of South Africa, representing his country at a two-part series Tri-nations Tournament in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand.
Then, in 2000, while still competing and taking gold as the SA Shukokai Masters Champion, he qualified as an All Africa Kata Judge and A-class referee.
Shihan Dave has served on both national and provincial karate association committees since then. In 2007 he was graded to 7th Dan by Soke Takeshi Masuyama in Japan, and till this very day, after 50 years in karate, he still teaches the art in his self-built dojo in Margate. He will be honoured at the Ruyshin Kan International Championship held in Bloemfontein this month.
