Andy gets a kick out of top award Murdoch honoured by top Karate Master
A Motherwell karate chief has been awarded a prestigious honour from a Japanese delegation who travelled to Scotland for the occasion.
Lenbukai Karate Club Chief Instructor Andy Murdoch was honoured by Lord Bruce, Consul General of Japan Daisuki Matsunaga and Ronnie Watt OBE, 9th Dan Shotokan Karate Master at a ceremony in Aberdeen last month.
For 40 years Andy has taught Shotokan karate all over Lanarkshire with Lenbukai being based at the Ravenscraig sports facility in Motherwell.
At its peak in the early 80’s and 90’s he had 14 venues in Lanarkshire with more than 400 members and regularly flew in Japanese instructors for a weekend to teach and grade at his clubs.
During this time for more than 20 years, Andy has been working with apprentices at ReMIT Scotland teaching and assisting them to obtain their papers in the motor industry.
He has taught karate to hundreds of youngsters along with his two sons Andy ( Jnr) and David who is a 5th Dan.
Andy said: “This has given the kids a good grounding in respect for others and themselves, which has stood by them all.
“They have all done well in the employment world, which he puts down to the training they did at karate making them appreciate education and training.
“The award I received from these very important people was a great honour and I now feel that this would be a good time to completely hand over the reins to my sons, as I now intend to step back and let the boys run the club in Motherwell.
“I will of course still drop in and see how things are going but my time is done. It is their turn now and I wish them all the very best for the future.”
Andy’s final night in charge will be at the 40th anniversary party the club is holding at The Centenary Suite at Fir Park on Friday, September 16, from 7.30pm.
Andy added: “I hope to see some of my old and new students along with their friends and family to celebrate what has been a fantastic 40 years in karate.”
Lenbukai currently have classes at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility on Wednesday and Sunday nights from 6pm and on a Saturday morning from 10am for children aged 4 to 7.
Anyone interested in joining Lenbukai can email enquiries@ lenbukaikarateclub.com.