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4th Dan
Sharon, a married mother of 3 very active children, is currently a 4th Dan in Wado Ryu Karate, and has been practicing Karate for over 22 years, out of that time, she has been teaching for approx. 15 years. She is 'CRB' Checked and holds First Aid Certificates. There are very few female club instructors (Clubs run solely by a females) in Swansea, including Sharon. Throughout the years, Sharon has won various trophies in competitions and Kata. She gained her 1st Dan back in 1992 and her 2nd Dan in 1994, which was a particularly memorable one as she was 'heavily' pregnant with her first child. "It was a hard enough feat in itself to go through the gruelling training of preparing for a 2nd Dan, let alone when pregnant too !" But she stayed focused, fit, ('fat') and determined. Sharon gave it her 'all' and all her hard work paid off. And in 1998 she passed her 3rd Dan. Now after years of hard work Sharon was awarded her 4th Dan in March 2009. She lists these 4 events as her highlights in her long Karate career, along with seeing all 3 of her children beginning training in Karate with her as another memorable moment and now, 2 of them give her a little helping hand at her own clubs more so now with Jennifer becoming a Dan grade. She takes great pride in all her students and states that "nothing beats the proud feeling I get when I see my students in my club (particularly my own three children) pass their gradings and progress on to their next belt". Sharon started karate in 1984 and like her brother ('Bungie') joined the Budokan Wadokai Karate Club under Roberto Mastrangeli (Swede), He had both her respect and admiration, and in return he gave her respect too. It was 'Swede' who gave her the confidence and the will to succeed in a sport that back then, was dominated by boys and men. (When Sharon joined, there were hardly any females in the Association). Her two main influences in her life have been her brother Sensei Hugh 'Bungie' Ruse and Sensei Roberto ('Swede') Mastrangeli. Sharon took 'time-out' from karate back in 1985/6, to study for her 'O' levels and 'CSEs' and in 2000 (for approx. 8 months) she took another 'short' break to have her 3rd child (due to a not-so-smooth 3rd pregnancy, although she did continue to train whilst pregnant with her other 2 children), but apart from that, she has trained and committed herself to her karate for all of the 20+ years in the sport. Sharon enjoys teaching and being able to pass on her knowledge of the sport, along with the discipline and technical side of Karate, listing 'Kata's' as her favourite area of the sport. Whilst 'juggling' family life, Sharon also assists 'Bungie' in teaching at the Budokan Wadokai Karate Club (along with other male and female instructors) AND runs "Akairyuu Karate Club" (meaning 'Red Dragons') at Montana Community Centre in Landore, Swansea, and "Kasai-Ryu Karate Club" (meaning 'Fire Dragons') at St. Michael’s Church Hall Manor Road Manselton Swansea "Families, adults, children of any age or ability, are all made very welcome in my 'Dojos'". |
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Introduction
