in the style for nearly four years, taking his second Dan with Mas Oyama. The birth of Ishinryu The Kyokushinkai years were a great time for Donovan, but unfortunately splits came, and so Donovan decided the time was right to leave and open his own Dojo, a Dojo that saw the beginning of the now famous Ishinryu style. Donovan remembers that he wanted a name that meant "open mind" but when translated it came out as "empty head" and the idea was quickly scrapped. Meeting a Japanese Judoka while on holiday, he came up with the name 'Ishinryu' meaning "everybody with one heart". Donovan asked if there was an Ishinryu style in Japan, and he said no, and Ishinryu was born (can easily be confused with the Okinawan Isshin-ryu karate system), recognised by The World Karate Federation. At first, Donovan simply used 'Ishinryu' as a club name. However inspired by the suggestion of Shigeru Kimura (a famous Shūkōkai instructor), Ishinryu was incorporated as a style integrating what Donovan had learnt from previous karate instructors - Ishinryu became a unique style developed from Kyokushinkai, Wado-ryu and Shotokan. The first Ishinryu club was formed in Dagenham. Other clubs soon emerged with Peter Dennis opening an Ishinryu club in Basildon; Will Verner opening in East Ham; and Tyrone White opening in Stratford. Administration in the early days of Ishinryu was taken care of by Fred Kidd, a well-respected friend of Ticky's who had previously trained with him in Kyokushinkai. Ishinryu today Donovan still plays a very active role is running the style he formed in 1973. The original Dagenham Ishinryu Dojo still exists as the Woodlane Club and has been joined by many others in the UK and abroad. Today, Ishinryu Karate is taught as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Since 1976, Donovan has hosted an annual Open Summer Course at Clacton in Essex. This course takes place in the last week of June. Donovan's style of Ishinryu should not be confused with Isshin-ryu, a style of Okinawan karate founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku. Achievements as competitor British champion 1973, 1974, 1975 World team champion 1975 Achievements as British team coach Consecutive World championship titles: Taipei 1982, Holland 1984, Australia 1986, Cairo 1988, Mexico 1990 References External links Ishinryu.org - Official website of Ticky Donovan and Ishinryu Karate. Westminster Ishinryu - Interview transcript from 2003 1947 births Living people British male