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[edit] Edwin Stratton

Edwin WJ Stratton has a long history in the martial arts and combat arts. Having trained and taught in numerous countries around the world, teaching martial artists, police and military personnel.

Sadly, Sensei Ted had to leave us. On the 9th of March 2000, Sensei went to join the many past masters of the martial arts after a long fight against cancer. He is sorely missed.

Sensei's first introduction to martial training was when his father bought him a pair of boxing gloves at the age of 9, and his first introduction to the ring was a roped of area in his back garden when he and his friends would have friendly matches - they usually ended up as a free-for-all and bloody noses were order of the day!

Later he was trained by Mr George Pine of Dartford in Kent, who received the MBE for his devotion to amature boxing. The highlights of this time were becoming the Southern Area Lightweight Champion, and boxing on the same bill as Dave Charnly (who became British, European and Empire Lightweight Champion) and a young heavyweight amatuer champion named Henry Cooper.

At 16, Sensei joined the Merchant Navy and had been twice around the world before jumping ship in New Zealand at the age of 19. Two months later he was caught and brought back to England for his national Service. He volunteered for service in Malaysia and this was where he met Master Thamby Rajah.

After Watching Master Thamby, Sensei thought that as a boxer and street fighter he could easily overcome him. He was amazed at how this slight man handled and controlled him. Of course, he did not know that Master Thamby was a student of the great Judo Master Mifune Kyuzo Sensei and the great Aikido Master Gozo Shioda Sensei.

On Sensei's return from Malaysia, he introduced Yoshinkan Aikido for the first time to Great Britain in the early '60's.

During his time in the Army, Sensei was also an international Judo competitor and later also became a professioal wrestler. He became the first martial arts wrestler, and in the mid ;60s, the first British person to smash tiles on television with a headbutt. He went by the name of "Professor Eddy Stratton", but also as the masked baddy, "Doctor Kamikaze".

Sensei travelled to Japan and trained under Gozo Shioda Sensei. Later, Shioda Sensei came to England to stay with Stratton Sensei, where he asked Sensei to form a new school of Yoshinkan Aikido in the UK, but this meant separating from his original teacher, Master Thamby Rajah. Sensei declined the offer and from this the Shudokan Institute of Aikido, International was born, later independent of the Yoshinkan, headed by Master Thamby and Sensei Stratton.

One hightlight in Sensei's memory was when he was invited by Joan Littlewood to give a display at her Theatre Royal, Stratford, London, for a charity night called, "A Night Of The Stars", where all the top stars had paid lots of money to charity to watch. After Sensei's demonstration he was in his changing room when someone walked through the door - it was Sean Connery. He shook Sensei's hand and congratulated him on the demonstration, saying it was the best demonstration he had seen. A memory that Sensei held very dear.

In 1982 Stratton Sensei was invited to the USA to teach at the United States Karate Association's Police Seminar and he also taught at the United States Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs.

Sensei also taught Aiki Jujutsu for Robert Clarke's World Jujutsu Federation (WJJF), with whom Sensei held a 6th Dan in Aiki Jujutsu.