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Sensei James Crooks, Godan
Technical Committee
Sensei James Crooks of the Cayman
Associated Schools of
Karate has been appointed to the Technical Committee of the Wado Karate
Association of Canada.
Crooks sensei, an executive member of
the Cayman Martial
Arts Association, is a Godan (5th-degree blackbelt) in
Wado, Yondan
in Tae Kwon Do and Sandan (3rd-degree blackbelt) in Seido
Karate.
Born in 1956 in Jamaica, West Indies,
Sensei Crooks was first introduced to karate by his nephew in Brooklyn,
New York, at the age of 13.
On his return to Jamaica, and after
several unsuccessful
attempts, because of his age, at joining a karate school, he finally
ended up
at the local YMCA studying Kyo Kushin Kai Kan.
He was awarded the rank of Shodan
(first-degree black belt)
in Seido Juku Karate in 1974 by Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura and the late
Shihan
William Oliver.
Having competed and winning in
numerous tournaments in both
kata and kumite, he became recognized primarily for his tamishiwari
abilities,
particularly head breaks.
Crooks sensei taught karate at the
Jamaica Defence Force
military camp, producing several blackbelts. He also established a dojo
at the
University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
In 1986 he moved to the
Turks and
Caicos Islands and started
the only martial arts school on the Islands – teaching both civilian
and
members of the police force.
In 1992 he established the first Seido
Karate dojo in
Houston, Texas. The dojo was started primarily for adults but quickly
expanded to include children.
On his return
to the Cayman Islands, after a five-year
hiatus, he resumed training at local dojos and now studies under the
tutorage
of Saiko Shihan Greg Reid.
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