Steve Cattle

[ashjake0]

i trained with steve from about 1988 & followed him from the KUGB to his ESA. i had some great sessions with him in our dojo in Leicester (The Secular Hall) & all over the UK, including his club in Speke, liverpool.

Just wanted to start topic on Steve so people can share there experiences with this great karateman & in turn highlight his name for people who never had the chance to meet/train/drink with him.

Rich mayes

[fujicolt]

In my oppinion the finest karate tactic and strategy expert the world ever saw. a superb example of you do not have to be tall, long limbed and incredibly supple to excel at karate - also a generous, warm hearted and dear friend and much missed sensei.

He also had a wicked sense of mischief ( he got me into all kinds of humorous situations - don't even ask about the 'represent Japan at singing' episode HAHA!) but when 'push came to shove' you would want him there to help you protect a loved one - he was fearless and VERY VERY able to do real damage if he wished to.

Awesome truly awesome guy. Look at his achievements and his students achievements to prove it.

Someone should write his life story it would be fascinating - and i say that with just the stuff i know - the whole story must be nearly unbelievable.

[ashjake0]

i totally agree he was an outstandingkaratka... he was so knowledgeble & hard as nails.
i have trained with so many instructors in this game & i can honestly say that i ALWAYS came off his classes inspired & ready for more.
his classes & the way his mind was thinking in terms of a progressive program of development for the karateka was genius.
he was true TEACHER of the martial arts & he was getting better & better.
he did'nt LOOK like he could do what he actually could... what he taught actually worked & i guess steeped in his viking heritage as much as his samurai one.
i recall reading in an old FAI (i still have it) that the Japanese at the JKA, on one off his many visits said he had more correct fighting spirit than most japanese do!! what a compliment. & we have to remember that steve was training from the 1960's to his death with some fearsome people in & out of the dojo.
i agree his story would be a best seller!!
i also recall that Taiji Kase rated steve as one of his best students who really grasped & developed what Kase was doing. Steve really took people, who chose too, on a journey that really has enhanced & developed their karate.

Rich

[fujicolt]

to gauge how good of a instructor steve was look at him and look at one of his students - George Godfrey. Steve = 5'6'' short limbed, strong but not overly supple, blind as a bat without glasses or contacts yet he brought young George Godfrey on to Euro champ and huge title list andinternational honours George - about 6'3'' long limbed. supple etc . steve c just new how to bring out the best in students no matter what shape or size.

[Allan Shepherd]

If my memory serves me right did Steve Cattle have a club in the Kirkdale Community Centre on Stanley Road, Bootle in Liverpool? Not sure what year(s) it was!

I remember one year at Crystal Palace when he decided that he was not going to captain the Leeds team the team threatened to withdraw from the finals. I think it was 1987, the year that Denise Mcilroy (one of Sensei Billy Higgins students) won the female individual kumite. Sharon McCall (another student of Billy) went on to win the same event in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Best Regards
Allan

[fujicolt]

Allan

Steve did indeed run the VERY successful Kirkdale Club producing many fine Karateka who won many things Team and Individual. the Kirkdale lads and lasses were known for several things (that Echoed Steve Cattle)

ALL Hard as nails
All very good timing
and all absolutely great fun to be with when the event was over and yer were in a Pub

Probably the most well known would be George Godfrey and it is massive credit to Steve Cattle's teaching ability the amount of success George had - simply because Steve was very small and George was huge. yet Steve helped him to become European Champion plus many other Titles - Steve did deck him though when they met in competition

And Yes Billy Higgins did similar with the Wigan lads and lasses

Arghhh i remember it well

[ashjake0]

Hi guys,

this is what i posted the topic for.. to get stories & memories out there off this outstanding karateka!!! anymore, come on steve & allan & others, there MUST be more!!!

i recall steve telling us a funny story of when he went to Africa to teach karate ... the bus he was travelling in too the village he was to stay dropped him off i the middle of the african bush at a very dusty & desolute cross roads, in the middle of nowhere really!!! he was on his own wondering what the F@*K he was gunna do when out of the blue a local african masai mara type jogged up to him ... steve thought he was in the S*#T... steve asked this guy where this particular village was & the guy replied in perfect queens english (apparently he was educated in england -cambridge or oxford etc) that he was from that village etc & asked him to follow him there!!!

all out of the blue... lucky sod!!

Rich

[james luke]

I recall seeing Jeff Barwick and Owen Murray taking Steve to one side before a competition, minutes before Steve was due on and slapping him with considerable force about the head ! When I asked about this later they said he had a very low heart rate and it was just to "get him going". Dont know about the low heart rate but seemed to work! Also saw Steve in a separate venue during a kumite bout when Steve lost one of his contact lens. The match was halted while the ref, time keepers and even his opponent scoured the mat looking for it, hilarious. only had the privilege of training with Steve 2 or 3 times but a great guy and I remember how deeply saddened we all were at the news of his death.

[ashjake0]

i also recall a tale of when steve was competing in Japan,an international match.. in the middle of the bout that he was in total control off, he gradually stopped, looked up just above his opponents head, staring into space at something... on this the corner judges the ref & his opponent stopped also & looked in the direction steve was looking at ... once his opponent had his head turned steve scored jodan/ippon & took the match.

steve was actually looking at nothing at all, he just totally controlled his oppenent!!!


also remember a tale of how bad steves eyesight was... during a match where he could not wear his glasses, steve was stalking his opponent ...& at a crucial point O'neill shouted out -"he right in front off you stumpy".. steve punched only to totally miss as the opponent was not actually in range.. o'neill was taking the P@#s!!!

rich

[fujicolt]

Hi guys,

this is what i posted the topic for.. to get stories & memories out there off this outstanding karateka!!! anymore, come on steve & allan & others, there MUST be more!!!

i recall steve telling us a funny story of when he went to Africa to teach karate ... the bus he was travelling in too the village he was to stay dropped him off i the middle of the african bush at a very dusty & desolute cross roads, in the middle of nowhere really!!! he was on his own wondering what the F@*K he was gunna do when out of the blue a local african masai mara type jogged up to him ... steve thought he was in the S*#T... steve asked this guy where this particular village was & the guy replied in perfect queens english (apparently he was educated in england -cambridge or oxford etc) that he was from that village etc & asked him to follow him there!!!

all out of the blue... lucky sod!!

Rich

I taught in Kenya for several years and had up to that time trained VERY regularly with Steve Cattle. He would - because it was his living disapear to go off and teach every now and then and usually - but not always discussed where he was going. Then i started traveling to teach in Kenya - on one visit I taught in a Dojo way out in the sticks in Kenya and laughed my head off when a student asked me 'Are all Karate Instructors in England called Steve? I asked him what he meant and he explained that 'i was only the second ever Guest Instructor willing to travel to their remote village to teach them for free and bring Karate Gi's for them. He told me the previous guy was also from England and was called Steve' - he then proudly showed me a photograph - it was Steve Cattle! He never told me he used to go out there - have a holiday and help them.

I was very proud to say to them - that is one of my Instructors.

Go look at old trad karate mags or Combat - i believe i recorded this in an article about 20 years ago.

[fujicolt]

Hi guys,

this is what i posted the topic for.. to get stories & memories out there off this outstanding karateka!!! anymore, come on steve & allan & others, there MUST be more!!!

i recall steve telling us a funny story of when he went to Africa to teach karate ... the bus he was travelling in too the village he was to stay dropped him off i the middle of the african bush at a very dusty & desolute cross roads, in the middle of nowhere really!!! he was on his own wondering what the F@*K he was gunna do when out of the blue a local african masai mara type jogged up to him ... steve thought he was in the S*#T... steve asked this guy where this particular village was & the guy replied in perfect queens english (apparently he was educated in england -cambridge or oxford etc) that he was from that village etc & asked him to follow him there!!!

all out of the blue... lucky sod!!

Rich

I taught in Kenya for several years and had up to that time trained VERY regularly with Steve Cattle. He would - because it was his living disapear to go off and teach every now and then and usually - but not always discussed where he was going. Then i started traveling to teach in Kenya - on one visit I taught in a Dojo way out in the sticks in Kenya and laughed my head off when a student asked me 'Are all Karate Instructors in England called Steve? I asked him what he meant and he explained that 'i was only the second ever Guest Instructor willing to travel to their remote village to teach them for free and bring Karate Gi's for them. He told me the previous guy was also from England and was called Steve' - he then proudly showed me a photograph - it was Steve Cattle! He never told me he used to go out there - have a holiday and help them.

I was very proud to say to them - that is one of my Instructors. I was very proud of him.

Go look at old trad karate mags or Combat - i believe i recorded this in an article about 20 years ago.

[ashjake0]

that fantastic & exactly what steve was like... i asked him about how he had fractured his hip as i had heard "rumours"... he told it was yahara who did it at the JKA Honbu dojo in japan ... it was a mawashi geri that yahara changed to a mae geri at last minute... steve told me that although yahara was a devil on the dojo floor he was a perfect gent off it & infact paid for steves hospital fees for his rehab whilst in japan...

i also have a FAI article that covers a visit a group from the UK made to japan & the author mentioned to Katsunori Tsuyama that his instructor was Steve Cattle Tsuyama replied that cattle has more samurai spirit than most japanese he knew!!!! must have been Steves viking heritage.

rich

[fujicolt]

rich - would love to give you more anecdotes but i am writing a book about karate in the 70's and 80's in the UK and need to keep some things back. but i will gladly share this one:

when Steve passed away a special memorial was held for him in York. many many very well known Karateka attended and several stood up to speak of him - it was a very positive experience about the man.
I was asked to stand up and speak. i thought about it as i walked up and knew i was following many world famous karateka who had discussed him and gave anecdotes and stories about his exceptional karate skill. so i changed tack and told them this:

I wanted to speak of him as Steve the person:

Steve was one of my main karate sensei - he not only taught at my dojo (initially in hired halls but then at a newly opened full time Dojo) but he also would come and train with me in the mornings regularly - it was awesome.
He socialised with me away from karate and was one of only two visiting Instructors who i introduced to my family (the other being Dave Hazard) both became very fondly considered - my old Mum loved to feed them!
then one day he turned up and said 'what's wrong?' - I sad 'nothing' he said 'don't bullsh8t me' so i told him that i was having financial probs keeping the Dojo open because some money i was expecting was late.

He said - 'you idiot why didn't you tell me?'

He then marched me to the bank - drew money and paid my bills. he then said - 'it is a loan you have to learn to manage your finances'. I paid every penny back to him - but he saved the Dojo and it went on to be very successful.

Some of his family and (away from Karate) friends were at the memorial - they came up to me outside and thanked me for talking of 'Steve the man'.
I miss him terribly to this day

[ashjake0]

Hi Steve, i was there ...it was in the Viking Centre was'nt it although i am not a famouskarateka at all i traained a hell of alot with Steve as he was developing his kase karate & infact relenquished my original 1st dan to re take it with kawazoe's group that stve joined initially after leaving the KUGB & followed steve at The Secular Hall in Leicester with my friend Dave Wilkins along with all the ESA seniors such as Sandy Hopkins, Mike Fedyk, Norman Gomersall etc..

when is the book due out ... i will be ordering a copy?

regards

Rich

[Allan Shepherd]

Hi Rich

I remember when the members of Southport YMCA dojo were given the option to stay with the KUGB or change to what was to become Sensei Kawasoe's UKTKF around 1988. They decided to stay with the KUGB, Sensei John Errington who was a senior instructor at the YMCA opened his own club, Crosshall SKC in Ormskirk and affiliated to Sensei Kawasoe's UKTKF. I had been training with Sensei Billy Higgins for many years at his Skelmersdale dojo but as it closed down I moved to Ormskirk (nearer to me than Billy's other dojo's in and around Wigan) in 1988 training there for 10 years. Some very good memories of the training at Crosshall SKC and of course with Billy.

Best Regards
Allan