The NWKC was founded in South Creake in 1988 by Sensei Mike Pettifer, who at that time was a 2nd Dan.

Autobiography of Sensei Mike Pettifer:

I started my own karate life in 1973 at the Maidstone dojo of Sensei Geoff Britton. Sensei Britton was a founder member of the Kenbukai Karate club along with Sensei Bob Breen. There were various dojos in London and Kent and during the next 5 years I was to train extensively in all of them under both Sensei Britton and Breen. I was not an outstanding athlete but dogged and slowly worked my way up the grades until as a green belt I was introduced to the 'brutal' art of kumite. In the 70's and 80's competition karate was badly regulated and was often a war of attrition and brutality, the Japanese ethos was one of 'survival of the fitness'. However despite all the broken ribs and noses etc I was moderately successful and became known amongst the Kenbukai karateka as ' the cannon'. During my kumite career I fought in Birmingham/Crystal Palace/Manchester/Essex/Kent and many other places as well. I fought for the Kenbukai team in the British BKA championships and the SKA all British championships. Finally in 1980 Sensei Britton moved back to the USA and myself and Sensei Steve Davies (4th Dan) took over the running of the Maidstone Dojo until I moved to Norfolk in 1986.
During my life in karate I have had the pleasure with training and sparring with some of the greats in English karate, Ticky Donovan/ Meiji Suzuki/ Tatsuo Suzuki/ Greg Wallace and Sensei Oneda to name a few I also had the unforgettable memory of seeing the founder of Wado Ryu Honshu Ohtsuka perform kata at Crystal Palace when he was 93.

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