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Senior Instructor - Sama South East
Sensei George Asargiotakis 3rd Dan
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan: 18th February 1996
Passed Nidan Black Belt 2nd Dan: 20th October 2002
Passed Sandan Black Belt 3rd Dan: 1st October 2006
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Originally from Greece I moved to live in Lancing – England in1984. I have always been interested in martial arts since a young age, but where I grew up, there was no one teaching martial arts at the time. Whilst in Greece, someone I knew moved there from America and started teaching Jeet Kune Do. I trained with him for 2 years but then had to serve my national service. It was after I left the army, I came to live in England. I first tried to find a good martial arts club. The only one I came across was the Sama Organisation. I joined up, and trained two or three times a week in the adult's classes under my Instructors Shihan Jacobs and Yondan Klus.I trained hard for four years, then graded for my Shodan – 1 st Dan. As well as my training, I worked hard as a printer- supporting my family. In early 1996, I passed my Black Belt and carried on training and helping out in various classes for a further two years. By doing this I learnt alot and then began teaching a class of my own. I then decided that I wanted to become a full time professional Karate Instructor with the Sama Organisation. So with permission from Hanshi & Shihan I started to open up classes in the Steyning and Henfield area. It was in 1998 when I started my very first class, and it prooved to be very successfull. So I then continued to open up more. After about three years, I branched out and expanded into Uckfield in East Sussex. Three years after opening Sama Uckfield, Crowborough and Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks & Battle area |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Sempai Lydia Jordan 2nd Dan.
Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan: 11th December 1994
Passed Nidan Black Belt 2nd Dan: 7th February 2010
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I first joined the Sama Organisation in 1991 in Worthing when I was just 5 years old. I trained at the old class in Davidsons Leisure Centre for many years with Shihan Jacobs and Yondan Klus. I Continued to train hard doing 3 lessons a week right the way through to 1994 where I passed my Shodan - 1st Dan at the young age of 8. I loved doing Karate, I may have only been small, but tough and would let nothing stand in my way. I left Boundstone High School in Lancing 2002 and then studied accountancy, PE, biology and business studies at Bhasvic College in Brighton untill I was 17. I then undertook a modern apprentership at Worthing Leisure Centre. It was at the Leisure Centre where I kept bumping into my old friends and Instructors in Sama who train every lunchtime in the Gym. At first they didn't recognise me as I hadn't trained or seen them for years. However I was chatting to Sempai Matthew one day and then told him who I was and asked him if he remembered me. Me and Sempai Mat used to be good mates and trained together when we were Kids. I was really keen to get back into the Karate that I had left behind a few years ago, and was soon persuaded by Sempai Matthew to re-join and start my training again. Sempai Mat told me that he had recently left Sama Worthing and had just started teaching classes around the Portsmouth area and said that he could use a little help. I then left the Leisure Centre, teamed up with Sempai Mat and went to do a Karate Apprentership down in Portsmouth. By doing this I learnt alot about teaching, we used to work next to each other every day as I gained alot of Experience. When Sempai Matthew left Portsmouth, I decided to stay on down there, took on two of his old classes and continued my Karate apprentership for a further eight months. I was then approached again by Sempai Mat and Sensei George who then offered me a position in Sama South East. So I followed Matthew and expanded the new area of Crowborough & Tunbridge Wells even further. I now run my own classes under Sensei and teach many children a week full time in the new area. I also really enjoy swimmig and in the past have entered many competitions including Sussex and Southern counties and also swam pier to pier in Brighton in 2002 and 2003. Do Not ever forget her name and call her Olivia! It drives her mad. |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Sempai Vicky Hazelden 2nd Dan.
Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan: 5th December 2004
Passed Nidan Black Belt 2nd Dan: 7th February 2010
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| I first started training in Steyning and Henfield under Sensei 8 years ago. At first I started Kickboxing, the idea of Karate never entered my mind. However my two sons Alex and Brian had already began the Karate. I am not the youngest of students, but for my age I like to think that i'm fit and healthy. I didn't really consider ever doing the Karate - I enjoyed the Kickboxing which I trained every week with my Daughter Clare which continued to keep me in good shape. I always worked hard in class and was doing my best to become a Black belt. I found my Instructor Sensei very friendly and helpful. Roughly one year later, Sensei had persuaded me to try out thet Karate. I gave it ago and my two Sons helped me out a bit. I decided to take up the Karate as well as the Kickboxing but it turned out that it was Karate that I enjoyed more. Another one of the mums "Sarah" had also just started karate too and was also persuaded by Sensei as her son David was also Karate training. So I joined in with her and together we started grading through the coloures towards my Black Belt. As I got higher in Karate I slowed the Kickboxing training down a little to focus fully on my Black Belt in Karate. I trained hard and after four years of Karate training I achieved my Shodan - 1st Dan in 2004. It did take me a couple of attempts, but I got there in the end. Beofre I was a Black Belt, I used to help teach the children in Sensei's classes. When I was experienced enough I was then was offered to go and teach classes of my own. I was very nervous about teaching for myself, but the idea sounded brilliant. I had to gain alot of experience in teaching before I could go out and teach by myself, but my Sensei had already taught me alot. Just before I got to Black Belt in Karate, Sensei gave me a few small classes to run by myself. Since becoming a 1st Dan, I now teach classes every day in Sama South East in the Uckfield and Crowborough areas and have over 100 students of my own. Sensei says....." Vicky is a lovely good mannered student and Instructor who will help out any one at any time. She has gained alot of teaching experience to run her own classes with in my area. She is spoken of very highly by myself (Sensei) and always will be a great Karate student with good respect, manners, and she will always have a smile on her face. " |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Sempai Emma Farrell 1st Dan
Karate Instructor
Kickboxing Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 11th February 2002
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| I was one of the very first students to attend my after school class when Sensei George Asargiotakis first opened up karate in Upper Beeding and Steyning, and since then I have come a long way. It was in 1998 when I first started Karate and really enjoyed it right from the beginning. I trained hard for 4 years and then become the very first student to reach Black Belt under Sensei in 2002 - this making me the highest ranked student in Sama South East. I have recently started teaching full time in Sama South East and teach every day in East Sussex. It was last year when I started with Sempai Darryll, and together we ran classes in many schools accross East Sussex and Kent, however I now teach all my own classes by myself as does Sempai Darryll. Before I started teaching full time and after I left school, I studied for two years at Bhasvic college in Brighton. My older brother Shane does Kickboxing with Sensei and has recently just become a Black Belt too. I am really enjoying being involved with the Sama Organisation and will continue to keep training hard. Sensei Says...... "Emma is proving herself to be a top trainer, a good student, with good manners, etiquette and respect". I am really enjoying working hard full time in Sama South East - and am looking forward to opening up more new classes, and seeing the children train hard to achieve their next grades. I find teaching the children and working with people very rewarding, |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Marc Brooks - 1st Dan
Assistant Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 5th October 2003
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I started Karate in October 1999 when I was 8 years old. To begin with I trained one lesson a week on a friday with Sensei George Asargiotakis at the Steyning Leisure Centre. When I first started, I didn't know quite what to make of it, and wassn't sure if I should stay because I was a real quiet person and lacked a little confidence. Never the less I continued to stay and train towards my colour belts, and as time went on I started to really enjoy it. A year or so into my training - when I became a second blue belt, I started to go to a second lesson a week again with Sensei in Upper Beeding. I trained hard for another couple of years untill I was ready to take my Black belt, and passed on 5th Oct 2003. Since then I still train hard each week, and now help teach during the week with Sensei and Sempai Mat. I also come along to the gradings to teach and help out the kids get through their next belts. This summer I was lucky enough to be selected to join Sempai Matthew's demonstration team, and have enjoyed travelling round the county demonstrating Karate to hundreds of people which I found was alot of fun. I am currently still at Steyning Grammer at college, however I'm not quite sure what I want to do when I leave yet! My other interest is mounting biking, and I love to cycle all over the downs. |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Sempai Jenny Carter - 1st Dan
Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 7th October 2007
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I first heard about the Sama Organisation about six years ago when my sons came home saying that Sama was starting a new after school karate class at their school on thursdays. My boys wanted to give the class a go. I was very interested in what they were saying, so I took a thursday off of work to go along and watch the class in action. I found the lesson very interesting, but at first I was not too sure about the dicipline side of things. Afterwards, I found myself wanting to give it a try as well, but I was a little wary, so I made a decision to try the Kickboxing out istead. After about four months of Kickboxing training, and also watching my boys progress well, I took it upon myself to also join Karate too. I then started to train in more classes with my Instructor Sensei George and got to see more about how Sama was ran. I also started training in Sempai Mat's lessons too. The more I saw, the more my interest grew - then soon I became hooked! The higher I got in karate, the more I wanted to train. After a while, I started to help out in some of the lessons and before I knew it, I was helping pretty much every day. Now almost six years of training, helping and learning, I now am lucky enough to teach my own classes. I still enjoy karate as much as when I first started, and also am still training in Kickboxing. Just a few months ago, I also took up the new Tai Chi lessons and am loving that too. I have recently opened up new classes and expanded Sama South East into Sevenoaks. |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Sempai Andy Pink 1st Dan
Black Belt Kickboxing
Karate Instructor
Kickboxing Instructor
Passed Black Belt Kickboxing 2nd October 2005
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan: 5th October 2008
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I started out in Kickboxing in 2001 when my wife Alison said that she wanted to give it a go. So we went along together to the Wednesday lesson as Steyning Leisure Centre which was run by Sensei George, we joined in and I partnered Alison. This was probably not a good idea as I kept hitting the pads hard, - this put Ali of a bit. However from that point I was hooked. As the weeks went by, I was enjoying the class so much I then started a second lesson a week at Henfield, and then a third again on a friday back at Steyning. One day whilst training on a friday, I noticed Sempai Matteo and Sempai Sonic sparring in the corner of the hall which I really liked the look of. After taking my first couple of Gradings, I put on the gloves and started sparring with the two of them.They taught me lots of things quite quickly, and made me realise that you dont have to be big to hurt someone in sparring. After a couple of years into my Kickboxing, Sensei suggested that I try the Karate. He said that it would help with my trechnique. I took this on board, but still was not really that sure because Karate is alot more diciplined. However I thought that I might as well give it a try - which I did and have loved it ever since. I finally achieved my Black belt in Kickboxing on 2nd October 2005 and I am currently a pass1st Dan in Karate. On passing my Black Belt, Sensei gave me the kind opportunity to start teaching Kickboxing which I thought would be great. So after a time of teaching under Sensei's supervision, I was then given the class that I started at in Steyning which I run once a week. I would also like to teach a Karate class once I have achieved my 1st Dan. Outside of Martial Arts I am just as busy. I have a full time job in Worthing as a manager of a law fiorm. Any spare time left is spent with my beautifull daughter Isabelle who was born on New Years Day 2006. |
Area Instructor - Sama South East
Nigel Warren - 1st Kyu
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Originally from London, I joined the army aged 18. After being there for a interesting 22 years, I left and settled living in Uckfield to work as a locksmith. My daughter Jess who goes to a school in Uckfield, came home one day and said that she wanted to start the Karate lessons that were held at her school. So she started, and soon after I went along to watch and then decided that I wanted to try it too. Soon after that, I decided that Karate was something that I really wanted to do and to work hard at. It was Sensei George who initially trained me in the beginning, but as I progressed I have also been trained by Sempai Matthew at various locations. I stopped work in december 2006 to become a house husband, and so I could spend more time concentrating on my training and to help the Senior Instructors out during their lessons. I also took up Kickboxing in July 2006, and since then have also taken up Tai Chi Chuan Kung Fu . I hope to one day become a full time Instructor in Sama South East too. I once heard someone say "Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out and meet it". - I try to follow that rule! |
Junior Assistant Instructor - Sama South East
Neil Pascoe - 1st Dan
Junior Assistant Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 12th August 2007
I started training when I was 8 with Shihan Jacobs and Sempai Matthew when he was still teaching in Worthing. I knew Sempai Matthew did karate along time before I started, and so thats how I got interested in it. Before then I did gymnastics. When Sempai Mat left Worthing to go and teach in Sama Portsmouth, I continued to train in worthing with Shihan and also Sempai Sonic. A year or so later when I found out that Sempai Matthew had left Sama Portsmouth and was now teaching up the road from me in Upper Beeding, I followed him and started to train there under him again. Soon after I also started to train with Sensei as well. At the moment I am training very hard with my two Instructors Sensei & Sempai In Henfield, Upper Beeding and also in Shoreham, and I have just passed my Black belt. I help out teaching with Sensei on a Monday and Thursday, and hopfully when I am old enough, I would love to become a Sempai myself. When I am not training or doing my homework I like to fly kites, & spend time with my family. Karate has given me alot of confidence, and last summer I was lucky enough to be selected to be a member of Sempai Matthew's demo team, and have really enjoyed showing people what karate is all about (and breaking wood) all over the south. |
Junior Assistant Instructor - Sama South East
Georgie Carpenter - 1st Dan
Junior Assistant Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 1st Octoer 2007
I started Karate In 2003 at the age of 7. I started Karate because my mum had recently started kickboxing and the idea appealed to me, so I signed up. I first went to Sensei George class in Steyning on Friday. I enjoyed it so much that I started a second lesson. I have also entered an few competitions and won 1st place in kata and 1st place in team sparring. On 7th October 2007 I achieved my 1st Dan black belt, I was very excited because I had passed first time! After that I started helping Sampai Emma on Saturdays in Henfield, which I have been doing ever since. I have also recently been awarded with my Sama black belt which I am very proud of. I live in Steyning with my family and pets. I have two dogs called Piglet and Pupski, three horses called Guilly, Rhia and Cheyenne, a fish called Billy and lots of chickens. In my free time I also attend Air cadets, Football, Woodcraft and swimming. I also enjoy walking, horse riding, cycling, camping and sports. I also support Chelsea football club. |
Junior Assistant Instructor - Sama South East
Alex Lightbody - 1st Dan
Junior Assistant Karate Instructor
Passed Shodan Black Belt 1st Dan 1st June 2008
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I started karate when I was nine years old in 2004 at my Primary School in Tunbridge Wells. This was a one hour a week on a Tuesday with Sensei George, but after a couple of months, I started training a second hour a week with Sempai Matthew. After about two years of training, I decided that Karate was the main thing that I wanted to carry on with, so I then also traing in the Tuesday Kata class. This year I have been traing even more because I am getting closer to my Black Belt grading so I am also training on a Monday night down in Uckfield. Since I started my training, I have entered into 2 competitions and won 1st place for sparring in both of them - I find competitions great fun. In 2006 I was lucky enough to be a part of Demo team where I travelled around the county showing Karate skills to hundreds of people at various fetes and shows. I live in Tunbridge Wells with my parents and older sister who is a 2nd blue belt in Kickboxing - also with Sama. I go to a High School in Tonbridge where I enjoy rugby and cricket. I also play Tennis and Swim alot. My favourite holidays are when I go skiing - especially when I get to go down the Black runs! I am also a supporter of Man United Football team. |