Words from Russel Sim Shihan

I currently run 5 dojos, in conjunction with my son, Sensei Jesse Sim, mostly in the East Rand area of Gauteng. In total, we teach about 150 karate-ka across all of our dojos.

My main dojo is situated in St Andrews, Bedfordview in Gauteng. Currently the dojo has 8 black belts – one 6th dan shihan, one 3rd dan sensei, one 2nd dan sempai, and five 1st dan sempai.

We support our underprivileged students by offering vastly reduced training fees and grading fees so that no one leaves because of affordability issues. We would rather have a karate-ka train for free than lose them because they can’t afford the training.

Our students all donate their old karate suits to the dojo and these are handed out at no cost to those who cannot afford the uniform. We have a wonderful family vibe in our dojo and many of the families in the dojo have become house friends outside of the dojo.

When we go on tour, all the parents arrange accommodation in the same place and have a wonderful time socialising with each other. What is also special is that we have many families where the entire family does karate and this creates a bond and a common interest within the family