Sensei Lomax started training in the Martial Arts in the 1970's. He started boxing at an amateur level and was successful winning quite a few fights but decided he wanted more out of his Martial Arts training.

 

He joined his local Karate club in the 1980's which was affiliated to the Amateur Shotokan Karate Association (ASKA). He started training 3 nights a week but then became more serious and trained most days with the aim of perfecting his techniques.

 

He passed his 1st Dan in 1988 and realised that you start training properly when you get to Black Belt. He travelled all over the country to train with the top Karate instructors with the aim of gaining the best possible  knowledge of Shotokan Karate. The Japanese instructors included Sensei's Kanazawa, Kase, Enoeda, Kawasoe, Tanaka, Yahara, Asano, Kato, Ochi, Asai, Funakoshi, Kagawa, Yamaguchi to name a few.  He has also trained with top British instructors including Sensei's O'Neill, Hazard, Brennan, Sherry, Hooper. Rhodes and Hall.  After training with Sensei Kawasoe for many years he decided to leave ASKA and learn the true Shotokan with the UKTKF.  During this time he was introduced to Sensei Akita,  Sensei Kawasoe's assistant.  Sensei Akita asked Sensei Lomax to join with him and start a new association which was called the Shotokan Karate Alliance (SKA).  This was a great success but when Sensei Akita left to live and train in Germany, Sensei Lomax joined the Midland Shotokan Karate Federation. Sensei Lomax left the MSKF in 2017 and formed Ilkeston Shotokan Karate Association which now has member clubs in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

 

Sensei Lomax does a lot of conditioning training work to strengthen and perfect technique, incorporating the use of a makiwara boards and punch bags.  He believes that even though a lot of karate training is done in the Dojo going up and down blocking and punching it is important that you experience the impact of hitting a target to understand what it feels like.  

 

During his time training he has taken part in a lot of tournaments and has also been a referee at many EKB competitions.  Sensei Lomax passed his 1st Dan in 1988, 2nd Dan in 1990, 3rd Dan in 1993, 4th Dan in 1997 and 5th Dan in 2011.  Ultimately he enjoys training and learning the art of Shotokan Karate with the aim of passing this knowledge on to all of his students.