Frank Woon-A-Tai, 8th Dan, was born in Guyana in 1950, and began training in 1964. He holds a B.A degree in Japanese Studies and History from the University of Toronto. In January 2011, he resigned from the ISKF as Chairman and Technical Director of ISKF Canada, and co-vice Chairman of the ISKF Technical Committee to establish the International Karate Daigaku (IKD) an organization of over 80 dojo(s) in several countries. The IKD has begun its operation in three regions: Canada, The Caribbean and South America and is expected to grow rapidly to the rest of the world.

Master Woon-A-Tai is Kancho (Founder) and Shuseki Shihan (Chief Instructor) of the IKD. Throughout his distinguished career, he served as first president of the Caribbean Karate College and as chief instructor of Jamaica from 1976 to 1980. He is a founder and chief instructor of JKA/ISKF Guyana, and the Guyana Karate College. He founded the Toronto JKA in 1981, and is presently Chairman and Chief Instructor of the Toronto Karate Daigaku, Ontario Karate College, IKD Ontario and IKD Canada.

After studying karate in Japan in the early 1970s, he continued his training, until recently, under Master Teruyuki Okazaki, 10th Dan for 40 years. He also trained under Masters: Yutaka Yaguchi, 9th Dan, Hidetaka Nishiyama, 10th Dan, and the great Masatoshi Nakayama, 10th Dan – all JKA legends. He credits Anthony Gomes as his administration mentor. They met in the late 1960s in Guyana and through Anthony’s efforts he moved to Jamaica.

Master Woon-A-Tai was the first Canadian/Guyanese graduate of the JKA/ISKF Instructor Training Institute, and a 1978 Pan American kata champion. He is a recipient of the French Guiana National Medal of Service for over 25 years of karate service in that country. In 2005, he was inducted in the ISKF Canada Hall of Honour. In 2009, he received the Mayor of Georgetown’s Award for his lifetime of service to the youth of Guyana. He produced two DVDs; Eclipse of Life (1997), and Soul of Kata (2000).

A dedicated teacher, he has produced regional, national, Pan American and world karate champions, all of whom have outstanding tournament records. He hosted the prestigious 2008 ISKF World Shoto Cup in Toronto, and in 2010, the 11th ISKF Pan American Karate Championships in Guyana. This event was attended by His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo and was co-sponsored by the Guyana Government. At the same event, His Honour, the Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green presented Master Okazaki with the ‘Key to the City’.

Master Woon-A-Tai received his first degree black belt in 1971 from the Japan Karate Association in Tokyo, and his eighth degree black belt from Masters Okazaki and Yaguchi in 2008. He also received his A class Instructor, A class Examiner, and A class Judge licences at the same time. In turn, he has produced thousands of black belt students ranging from first to seventh dan as well as several international instructors, examiners and judges.

His main focus is to promote traditional karate in its purest form, but relevant in the 21st Century.

Dr. Wesley Dexter Shim, 8th Dan, M.B., B.S., DLO, FRCS, was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1952. He was educated at the University of The West Indies (UWI), The Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, and The Royal College of Surgeons in England. Dr. Shim is Associate Lecturer at the UWI Medical School and heads the Department of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology at Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

He is Chief Instructor of Trinidad and Tobago and began training in 1968 at St. Mary’s College. He continued training under Sensei Woon-ATai while perusing his medical degree at UWI Jamaica and received his First Dan from Master Okazaki in 1976 and his seventh Dan in 2006.

Dr. Shim moved to Barbados in 1980 and contributed to the standard of karate there. During 1980 and 1982 he and his wife Frieda, visited Japan and trained under a number of world-renowned masters that included Shoji, Asai, Tanaka, Osaka, and Yahara.

Dr. Shim continued with his medical specialist studies that took him to England in 1983. There he had the opportunity to train under Master Enoeda. He represented Enoeda’s dojo and won medals on two occasions. He has also won several national and Caribbean championships. Dr. Shim is the originator of the Caribbean Karate College, a revolutionary new idea for including karate in the educational system. He elaborates on the rationale of such bold and pioneering steps:

There is clearly a need in the society to help curb the violence among young people and to offer people who might not have full academic qualification, but possess the necessary skill, the opportunity to obtain a viable way of earning a living. In addition to this, for the first time, karate has been included in the Caribbean Examination Counsel Physical Education syllabus. We see karate with its maxims of respect and discipline as an important vehicle by which we can help young people find direction. It builds self-esteem and gives an ethic by which a young person can live. As a result there is a need to train Instructors properly to carry out the task of imparting the correct principles by which a person can practice this art…It is also designed to cover the syllabus to be taught for the CXC program and in this way provide a cadre of Instructors who could adequately teach the practical aspect of the CXC martial arts syllabus.