On this day….(February 21)

On this day, 21 February 1956, the earliest known letter is written by Vernon Bell to Henri Plee. It is believed that Bell wrote to the Fédération Française de Karaté on becoming affiliated with them.

On this day, 21 February 1995, Stephen Cattle died following an epileptic fit. He was only forty-seven. Until his untimely death Cattle was one of the longest practicing Shotokan practitioners in Britain. He was also a keen historian of karate.

Nicknamed ‘Stumpy’ as he was only 5ft 6in, Cattle began training in judo in 1961, eventually reaching the rank of 2nd Dan. He represented Britain at the 1967 World Student Games held in Japan.

However, it is for karate that Cattle is best known. He began his karate training in 1963 applying for membership with the British Karate Federation (BKF) in York. He moved to Liverpool to study Degree in Divinity. It was at this time he started training with Keinosuke Enoeda.

Cattle was selected to become a member of the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB) national team. He was a top competitor nationally and internationally, recognized for his accurate punching and great timing.

In the late 1980’s Cattle left the KUGB and joined Taiji Kase’s World Karate Shotokan Karate Association (WKSA).