About Us
The Bournemouth Karate Academy was founded by Sensei James Rousseau in 1977 and has been run by Sensei Ernie Molyneau since 1982. Its aim is to teach and develop traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu karate.
The quality of the training facilities at the Littledown Centre, combined with the international reputation of Sensei Ernie, attracts members from all over the region - many of whom travel a long way each week to enjoy the privilege of training at our dojo.
We are proud of the exceptionally high standard of teaching we achieve at the academy – a fact that is evidenced by the extensive list of championship titles that present and past members have won over the last twenty years both here in the UK and overseas.
Sensie Damian Gosling
Sensei Damian (4th Dan) has also trained and graded under Sensei Ernie.
Apart from his organisational input, Sensei Damian is most likely to be associated with providing the small words of encouragement we all need when our confidence fails us – the inevitable consequence of training in a dojo led by three exceptional masters and where the first two rows of the dojo are nearly always black belts striving for the higher Dan grades themselves.
It is one thing to be able to execute a technique, and another to teach it. Sensei Damian has the gift of gently encouraging students to keep trying to acquire a new technique without the inevitable embarrassment of knowing they are not even close to achieving it.
