Stephen Grayston-hanshi first started training in karate in 1964, aged 8. His original teacher, the late Tanaka Meiji-kyoshi kyudan, ninth dan, was Japanese by birth but had lived for over 23 years on the island of Okinawa. He taught kobayashi shorin-ryu, which he had learned from Choshin Chibana-hanshi, and had always felt that he was uchinan (a native of Okinawa) and that Okinawa was his real home. Grayston-hanshi travelled to Fulham in south London twice a week until Tanaka-kyoshi had to move to Antwerp, Belgium, because of a family problem concerning his brother. Tanaka-kyoshi passed away in 1997, aged 82, and will be sadly missed by the few students that he left behind in England and Belgium. When Tanaka-kyoshi moved to Belgium, Grayston-hanshi studied shotokan karate with David Hassard-sensei, and wado-ryu karate with Shinohara Yoshi-sensei and another local teacher. Neither of these ryu-ha were, however, the same as the kobayashi shorin-ryu that he had learned as a child, and the Japanese teaching methods differed greatly from that of the Okinawan way. In 1984, Grayston-hanshi decided, therefore, that it would suit him to combine certain elements of kobayashi shorin-ryu, shotokan and wado-ryu, and so he started to compile and practice this newly formed system. Soon, others wished to participate in and learn Grayston-hanshi's new system, because they'd heard of its suitability for Westerners and of its Okinawan method of teaching. For the first year, the new ryu was known as washindo-ryu, but it was soon changed to simply shindo-ryu, because the shin (reality) is what the style is really all about. Today, the ryu plays a prominent part in Anglo-Japanese relations in the UK, and regularly hosts international events with visiting Okinawan senior ranked masters. At the Natsu Kosu 1996, Grayston-hanshi was presented with his hanshi (example teacher) menkyo (licence) by Minami Hiroshi-sama (former Deputy Director, Embassy of Japan) on behalf of Sekai Shindo-Ryu Karate-Do Renmei. This award makes Grayston-hanshi one of only a small handful of England's most senior ranked masters of karate. Then, on 20 May 2001, Grayston-hanshi was awarded his kyudan, ninth dan, with the menkyo endorsed and presented to him personally by Dr. Vernon Bell-hanshi judan, tenth dan - the first Englishman to introduce karate to England, and the first Englishman to gain a black belt in karate. Bell-hanshi said at the award presentation: "I've achieved a lot in my lifetime in karate, and I look to teachers like Mr. Grayston to continue the growth of traditional karate in England." In 1999, Grayston-hanshi was presented with the Head Founder award by the World Sokeship Council, Cleveland, Ohio (US). And as Grayston-hanshi's illustriousness continued to spread internationally, the Senate of Maryland was so impressed with his achievements in the art of karate, and with his dedication to Anglo-Japanese relations, that it passed an official Senate Resolution to commemorate his lifetime's work; the Senate Resolution was petitioned for by the Japanese master Shintaku Shiro-hanshi. Along with (the now late) Bell-hanshi, Carslake-hanshi and Whitney-hanshi, Shintaku-hanshi also attested Grayston-hanshi's prestigious judan, tenth dan, menkyo, which was presented to him at the Kodo Butoku Renmei Butokusai in November 2003. At the same event, Asano-sama (First Secretary of Japan) presented Grayston-hanshi with an official commendation from the Embassy of Japan to commemorate his forty years' dedicated service to the good of karate and his achievements in Anglo-Japanese relations. Today, Grayston-hanshi is President of Sekai Shindo-Ryu Karate-Do Renmei and of Zen Eikoku Shindo-Ryu Karate-Do Renmei. He is also Life President and Chairman of Kodo Butoku Renmei, Chairman of the elite Hanshi no Iinkai, European Senior Master of Sekai Renmei no Bugeika, Senior Technical Advisor of the World Federation of Martial Artists, an honorary member of the Tokushima Budo Council, a member of the World Head of Family Sokeship Council and a member of the Okinawan Ashita Shakai, to which only three Westerners have ever been given membership. During the 1990s, Grayston-hanshi was editor of the highly regarded publications Martial Arts Plus and later Steve Grayston's Martial Arts. Grayston-hanshi remains in demand as a freelance contributor to international publications, and has been published in 23 martial arts magazines worldwide and has been featured 76 times, including in Terry O'Neill's Fighting Arts International and the Japanese publications of Bugeika, Japan Karate-Do Fan and the Okinawa Times newspaper. Grayston-hanshi is a regular columnist for Traditional Karate, Combat and Fighter magazines in the UK. Grayston-hanshi is proud that he has been able to propagate authentic Okinawan-style karate, particularly to the people of the UK. He has been the first person to introduce to the country some of the most accomplished masters, including: Hayashi Teruo-soke judan, Osaka, Japan (emeritus member WKF Technical Board); Gakiya Yoshiaki-shihan hachidan, eighth dan, Okinawa (matayoshi kobudo); Kinjo Masakazu-kaicho hachidan, Okinawa (uechi-ryu karate); Mitsuya Seinosuke-shihan hachidan, Italy (European Chief Instructor HHSRK); Shintaku Shiro-hanshi kyudan, USA (founder of ten shin ichi ryu); William Stockey-hanshi judan, USA (seibukan karate); and Tim Winters-kyoshi nanadan, seventh dan, USA (seibukan jujutsu), to name but a few. In October 2004, Grayston-hanshi had the great privilege of demonstrating shindo-ryu karatedo at various JKF dojo in Tokyo, Osaka and Wakayama - this is believed to have been the first occasion that a karate style founded by a Westerner has been demonstrated in Japan. Grayston-hanshi believes it was a great honour to have been welcomed and appreciated so warmly by the Japanese, an honour he will never forget.