Profiles

David Phillips 2nd  Degree Black Belt

I became interested in the Martial Arts while serving in the Army and training in the Art of Unarmed Combat. My journey into Kenpo Karate did not start until I became good friends with a Mr Jimmy Poland who was a 2nd Degree Black Belt with the I.K.K.A.

I started to train with Mr Poland and I received my yellow belt in the summer of 1992.
It was while I was training with Mr Poland that I befriended a Mr Kieran Royal who helped me with my fighting skills and a Mr Gerry Senior who broadened my mind.

It was in the year of 1995 while I was competing in the International Championships in Spain that Mr Poland introduced me to a Mr William Kelly. Mr Kelly was teaching Kenpo in Amsterdam and invited myself over to do my Purple Belt test in his School. Little did I know how my life was about to change. After receiving my Belt Mr Kelly invited me to stay in Holland and help him run his Dojo. What a life experience.

I continued to train and grow under the watchful eye of Mr Kelly and with his guidance and some more fighting skills from a Mr Denis Smith I won my first Gold medal at the Jersey International Championship in 1996. It was while I was training with Mr Kelly that I became very good friends with one off his top students a Mr Tony Croke.

In 1997 the International Championships were held in Amsterdam, I was a Green Belt and I had the privilege to fight in the team event with Mr Royal & Mr Croke who were Brown Belts. The team’s name we went under was called The Looney Tunes and against all odds we took first place.

I trained along side a Mr Mark Rijke and with his help I received my 1st Brown Belt from Mr Kelly in 1997. I returned back to Ireland in 1998 and with the recommendations from Mr Kelly I started to train with the well know Mr Gino Fusciardi.
Mr Fusciardi trained me hard for several years and with his guidance I received my
1st Degree Black in April 2001.

My journey is far from over but with the guidance and watchful eyes of my peers I will continue to grow in Kenpo and as a Chinese proverb Sates,

"It is Better to be a Diamond with a Flaw, Than a Pebble with out One"