Get your kicks at karate club

Bradley Grant-Smith wants to make sure his students learn more than just how to punch and kick.

The seventh-degree blackbelt in Kimura Shukokai karate has opened clubs in Vernon and Armstrong

The Samurai Karate Academy has classes for adults and children.

Grant-Smith moved to the Okanagan from Cape Town, South Africa where he's coached hundreds of students over the years.

Grant-Smith has trained karate and other martial arts for more 38 years and is a four time World KSI Karate Champion, having seen success is in multiple categories.

Along with teaching the many aspects of karate, Grant-Smith places an emphasis on personal self defence.

“Coming from South Africa with all the crime that was very active in our lives, the applicable part of karate is very important to me,” Grant-Smith said. “It's not just sport only; students, kids and adults should be walking away with a life skill that can enable them to defend themselves and to make the right decisions under pressure, whether it is run away or act.”

Along with self defence, Grant-Smith also teaches the sport side of karate that allows students to compete.

“For me it has taken me all over Europe and North America,” he said. “I have travelled a lot because of the sporting and I have been able to see the world.”

The training also includes traditional technique that Grant-Smith says is a “mind-body connection thing.”

For more information, visit the Samurai Karate Academy website.