Paul Hickey Dan Grades

lst Dan	J.K.A	29/11/1978	St James St. C.B.S., Dublin
2^nd Dan	J.K.A	29/1/1980	Crumlin, Dublin
3rd Dan	J.K.A	18/9/1983	Red Triangle Club, Liverpool, England
4th Dan	J.K.A	3/9/1987	Crystal Palace, European Course England
5th Dan	J.K.A	4/5/1995	Crystal Palace, European Course England
6th Dan	K.U.I.	20/10/2001	St. Saviours, Dublin

Paul Hickey has won the Irish National Championships in Team Kata, Team Kumite for many years. He has been the National Kata Individual Championships fifteen times, won eight times in a row and has competed in World and European Championships for many years. He still enters the Kata Event just to stay tuned into what ever changes has to be made so he can teach it to his students.

In competition there are always winners and losers but if you regard each competition as an opportunity to learn you never really lose. The first competition I won was in 1975, I have been in the K.U.I. National Team, Kumite Team, Kata and Individual Kata for over 20 years. The highlight was winning the North of England Open Championships in 1986 in the Kata event, after coming Runner Up in 1985 for Team Kata and placed third in the Individual Kata the same year. I have also competed in World and European Championships since 1980 up to date and have gone from Competitor to Coach of the K.U.I. Squad.

In Karate there is usually a visible change in a person's body as training progresses they will gradually become more muscular and flexible. The effect that Karate Training has on the mind is unseen and therefore is often unrecognised, no matter how strong or fit or flexible your body is it won’t react sharply unless your mind pushes it.

There are finite limits to the physical development your body can achieve but your mind is an infinite resource. It is your mind which sustains you when your body is physically weakened through injury or ageing in Karate. If you ever start to think your technique is perfect you will cease to learn and your Karate will become empty. There is no technique that cannot be improved upon, the speed, focus, form and co-ordination must all be correct on the outside and most importantly the spirit must be strong on the inside. It is this constant striving for perfection which make the study of Shotokan Karate a life long challenge.