The club
Our journey, our community, our instructors.
About us
Founded in 2016, Stratford Karate Club started out with just two lessons and a handful of members. Fast forward to today, the club has 11 classes a week and over 100 members! While we may have grown in size, our mission remains the same: to bring genuine karate to our local community in a fun and friendly environment for everyone! With members as young as 6 years old, teenagers, and adults of all ages—from couples looking for a new activity together through to parents of younger members—we have a place for everyone. As far as ability levels go, we’re also proud to have members who train for fun and exercise, alongside those who are ultra-competitive and train to compete at the highest level internationally on the JKA England National Team. As of 2026 we have 7 members selected to represent England.
Chief Instructor
Aaron Storey – 3rd Dan JKA
Sensei Aaron is the club’s chief instructor. With more than 15 years of training and teaching experience, Aaron manages the day-to-day running of the dojo, from curriculum design to personally teaching the club’s classes. When he’s not teaching, Aaron is training hard, as he is also a senior member of JKA England’s national team and is now in his 10th year of competing internationally, representing England on the European and world stage!
This unique combination of being a full-time professional instructor and an active elite-level competitor allows Aaron to coach all levels of students, from beginners as young as 6 years old to seasoned adult competitors competing on the international stage!
Qualifications: Aaron holds all necessary qualifications, including an Enhanced DBS check, coaching license, insurance first aid certification, and child protection & safeguarding training. In addition to these UK-specific qualifications, Aaron is also internationally qualified with the following:
– International Instructor (C) license
– International Referee (C) license
– International Examiner (D) license
Competitive Highlights: Having competed for over 10 years, Aaron has built an impressive competitive career with many national and international achievements. While there are far too many to list in full here’s Aaron’s personal top three!
1. Bronze medal in men’s kata – JKA European Championships 2025: (Aaron is the first and currently only male from England to ever achieve a medal in this category!)
2. Grand champion – JKA England National Championships 2023: (Winner in both men’s kata and men’s kumite. A rare achievement as Aaron is the only Senior male to hold both the kata & the kumite national titles simultaneously in more than 10 years!)
3. Semi-finalist – JKA World Championship Ireland 2017: (Aaron’s first-ever international event after being selected for the team the previous year. While he wasn’t able to secure a medal, getting to the semi-finals of one of the most prestigious championships in traditional karate inspired him to go on to accomplish many other feats up until today.)
Senior Instructors
While sensei Aaron is the primary instructor at the club we’re also very fortunate to be supported by these incredibly taleneted intructors!
Natalia Salisbury – 3rd Dan
Senior Instructor
Bio
Sensei Natalia began her karate journey in 1989 as a child in her hometown in Kosice Slovakia. One year later Natalia moved to Brussels where she trained under the legendary Satoshi Miyazaki Shihan, later moving to New York City in the USA where she continued training under another legendary Instructor Masataka Mori Shihan.
Since moving to the UK Natalia has trained under Ohta sensei as part of JKA England. As well as achieving many national medals Natalia served on the JKA England national team where she represented England at international events and winning
Natalia is qualified at JKA International Instructor D Level.
She is currently working towards Referee & Examiner qualifications.
Brian Williams – 3rd Dan
Senior Instructor
Bio
Sensei Brian, started his karate journey in 1987. his training began with KUGB/JKA under the renowned Sensei Roy Watkins. he trained hard and passed passed his 1st dan black belt examination in 1996. then due to career commitments he took a break from training in 1997. in 2011 during the summer holidays Brian’s sons took up karate and watching them training was the spark to reignite his love for the art, he was in his Gi training the very next class.
Since then Brian has gone on to
achieve many feats in the karate world including grading to up to 3rd Dan and winning the Veteran men’s Kumite title 3 yrs in a row from 2017-2019 at the JKA England Open championships.
Brian is qualified at JKA international instructor D Level.
He is currently working towards Referee & examiner qualifications.
Claire Bernabe – 2nd Dan
Senior instructor
Bio
Sensei Claire started her karate journey by chance as a PE option in Secondary School. After her 1st lesson, she was hooked and trained religiously, attaining Shodan within 4 years. After a break she returned to the dojo under JKA.
She holds a JKA Nidan graded by Ohta Sensei.
She regularly attends JKA England courses including International & National events, Referee and Instructor courses. She also had the privileged to train at JKA Honbu in Tokyo with her son and the infamous Naka Sensei in 2019.
Sensei Claire can be seen helping the students in the club (children and adults), supporting, and encouraging them to achieve the best of themselves whenever the opportunity arises.
claire is is also a talented competitor with various regional and national titles to her name with the most recent being a double gold victory winning kata & Kumite in the JKA England national championships in the veterans category.