The Northern Rivers Shūkōkai Karate Dojo was formed by Stan Harris & Barry Potts, after Stan moved from Canberra to Alstonville in October 2002.
Both Stan and Barry were students of Richard Harris as members of the ACT Shūkōkai Karate Dojo, which was formed when Richard and Barry started training at work in the staff room at lunchtimes.
Barry moved from Canberra to Lismore in August 1994 as a 4th Kyu Purple Belt, and briefly trained with one of the local Karate dojo’s until work and family commitments took a higher priority. After several years of no training, Barry contacted Richard to see if there was a style that he could train with, yet maintain his connection with Shūkōkai. During this phone call, Barry was informed that Stan had just relocated to Alstonville and was now a Black belt (Shodan-Ho).
After a quick call to Stan, Barry and Stan started training in Stan’s garage and when weather permitted, in Barry’s carport. Not long after, in 2003 they started training at the Goonellabah Community Centre on Oliver Ave and the club grew from that point on.

Australian Shūkōkai Karate History

Australian Shūkōkai Karate-Do Renmei

Australian Shūkōkai started with Sensei Alan Murdoch after he emigrated from Scotland in 1972 to Melbourne Vic.

Australian Shūkōkai Karate-Do Remnei was founded and developed in Victoria, Australia in 1972 by Sensei Alan Murdoch (7th Dan) Chief Technical Instructor. Sensei Alan Murdoch started his training in 1969 at the Kobe Osaka Dojo in Glasgow under Sensei Tommy Morris. He received his Shodan (1st Dan) from Sensei Kimura in 1972. He was graded to 2nd and 3rd Dan by Sensei Morris and awarded 4th Dan by Sensei Kimura in 1985. The Australian Shūkōkai Karate dojo is currently located in Dandenong Victoria. Regrettably Sensei Alan Murdoch left Sensei Kimura’s Organisation in 1989 and became a member of Sensei Tommy Morris’s Kobe Osaka International. In 2001 Sensei Alan Murdoch left the Kobe Osaka International and became independent.

Sensei Alan Murdoch passed away on the 18^th of November 2006 leaving his legacy to Sensei Ennio Anselmi (5th dan). Sensei Ennio was born August 1960 in Rome, Italy and arrived in Australia in 1973. Sensei Ennio started karate in 1984, under Sensei Alan Murdoch. Sensei Ennio was awarded his 5^th Dan in 2006 by Sensei Alan. Sensei Ennio continued the technical teachings of Sensei Alan Murdoch and continued to develop numerous state and international competitors. In 2009, Sensei Ennio affiliated to the Shito-Ryu Shūkōkai Karate-Do Union under Haruyoshi Yamada Sensei. In 2017 Sensei Ennio also affiliated to Champions International Karate Association (CIKA) under Junior Le Fevre Sensei. In 2010, Sensei Ennio was awarded his Shidoin (Teaching Grade) by Ishitobi Sensei and in 2011, Sensei Ennio received his International 5^th Dan by Yamada Sensei. 2019, Sensei Ennio received his 6th Dan from Ishitobi Sensei and in 2024 was granted the Shogo title of Jun-Shihan. Sensei Ennio’s philosophy is “Success breads Success.”

Shūkōkai History

What is Shūkōkai karate?

The two main strands of Karate in Okinawa consisted of the Shuri-te system and Naha-te system. The Shuri-te system, from where Shotokan Karate derived, was known for its long range techniques and lengthy stances, while the Naha-te system, from where Goju Karate derived, was known for its shorter technique and close-in fighting ability.

Kenwa Mabuni Sensei (1889-1952) trained under both systems, and from his studies, took the best aspects from each to form what is now known as the Shitoryu style of Karate. Shūkōkai Karate evolved from the Shitoryu style and was developed over a number of years by Chojiro Tani Sensei, a student of Kenwa Mabuni.

Shūkōkai, meaning the “Way for All”^ was designed around the study of body mechanics, and is famed for its ‘double hip twist’ to maximise the force of its strikes. Due to this, Shukokai is known as one of the hardest-hitting Karate styles and is probably the most popular of all the Shitoryu styles practiced throughout the world today.

Chojiro Tani ((谷 長治郎 Tani Chojiro) was born in 1921, and started his formal karate training under Miyagi Chojun, who founded the Goju-ryu style, while a student at the Doshisha University in Kyoto. After a few years, Miyagi Chojun returned to Okinawa and the founder of Shito-ryu, Kenwa Mabuni took over the teaching. Upon graduating from university, Tani began learning Shuri-te and then Shito-ryu from Mabuni as well. After many years of training under Mabuni and becoming one of his most senior students, Tani received the certificate of succession from him and became the head of Shito-ryu, enabling him to use the name Tani-ha Shitoryu.

Chojiro Tani began teaching the Karate style Shūkōkai (meaning the way for all) at a dojo in Kobe, Japan in 1946. Shūkōkai was designed around the study of body mechanics, is very fast due to its relatively high stance aiding mobility,[3] and is known for the double hip twist, which maximises the force of its strikes; making it one of the hardest-hitting Karate styles.

Shūkōkai was established in Kobe in 1951. In occupied Japan immediately after the war the establishment of martial art organizations was not recognized by the GHQ, so Tani Sensei and several leaders founded Shūkōkai (修交会),`an organization(会)) to master (修)) the association of various things’ (交)). It was a time when commodities were scarce so training took place in underground dance-halls or within a ring of trucks lined up to form a circle. When the sanction on Japanese martial arts were finally lifed and it became possible to participate freely in these activities, a national martial arts event was held in Kobe, the Karate demonstration causing a great commotion amongst the many spectators.

^ – Feb 2018, Recent investigation into the proper translation of Shūkōkai has determined a more accurate translation is “Fellowship (Friends) Training together under the same roof”. Thanks goes to Dimitris Petrakis Sensei, 5th Dan, General Secretary & International Liaison Officer, Yamada-Ha Shito-ryu Shūkōkai Union for his tireless research in to the history & origins of Shūkōkai.