Throughout his childhood, Sensei Stephen Kentridge dealt with a lot of bullying and turned to karate as a form of self-defence.
Over the years, as he progressed with martial arts, he found himself in several sticky situations – some life-threatening.
While working as a chemical sales representative many years ago in Durban, he was securing a parking spot when two local thugs who wanted the same spot confronted him.
The men became aggressive and one tried to hit him on the head with a knobkierie. Sensei Stephen blocked the attack and fought back.
The men were given a taste of their own medicine and after they were arrested, locals informed him that they had been harassing everyone for a very long time and were grateful that he helped rid the streets of them.
On two other separate occasions, Sensei Stephen saved two women from rape.
While living in Cape Town, he heard a noise outside his apartment and upon investigating, saw a man attacking a woman in broad daylight.
He acted fast and shot him in the leg with a spear gun and called the police.
In another incident in Morningside, he witnessed a man attempting to rape a woman and fought him off.
Sensei Stephen described karate as a specialised art and not something everyone can deliver well in a fight, necessarily.
“It takes years of training to perfect the art and one must have discipline,” he said.
He has recently opened Ippon Karate Dojo, with classes held at Pennington’s Relton Hall, where kata, kihon and bunkai are offered.
He felt there was a demand for karate in the area and believes it may help some with health conditions, while for others it can be something fun to do.
“Many families have suffered immense financial pressure. What I am doing not only as a sensei, but as a philanthropist is giving every one, young and old a way of coping with the emotional stress and humiliation of the events that have been bestowed on us through Covid-19 in so many ways. It is a chance to recover with our training methods,” he explained.
The dojo is affiliated to the Japanese Karate Shotokan (JKS) South Africa and its Shihan is ninth dan, Norman Robinson, head of the country’s JKS.
Sensei Stephen, who is second dan, also works on socio economic responsibility as the sensei and head of the JKS Federation for the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
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