Learning The Way

Early 2004 saw Matthew return to training, this time at Shoto Budo Castlemilk, in the south side of Glasgow. Matthew trained and developed his skills in the Shotokan style of karate at this club achieving his 1st Dan on the 18th March 2012.

Shortly after this time Matthew took on a bigger role within the club, firstly taking over from his instructor Paul Hanlon as the head instuctor in Castlemilk, before taking over the Balornock class also. He also developed the clubs, utilising social media platforms for advertising and registering his clubs to participate at a number of community projects around the city.

Matthew stayed with Shoto Budo for a few more years and achieved his 2nd Dan with them on the 23rd of March 2014.

At this time Matthew was developing his reach within the martial arts community and during one of his adventures he met Steve Martin an instructor from England and was amazed at his practice. Later that year Matthew made the decision to leave Glasgow, moving to Gravesend in Kent to pursue training with Steve. 

Steve Martin is the founder of Shizendo Karate, which is a mix of Wado-Ryu Karate, Tai Chi, and Wing-Chung. Matthew studied under Steve intensively for five years, and on the 13th October 2019 was presented with his 1st Dan by Steve, which was a massive honour.

Matthew was not just perfecting his martial arts skills at this time but also widening his academic knowledge of coaching, the athlete/coach relationship, and athletic development, studying with the Open University, from which he has a BSc in Sport, Fitness and Coaching.