Karate: Martial arts community mourns master

To become a karateka, or master of karate, requires a lifetime of devotion to the discipline of martial arts.

The recent loss of Whangarei and Northland's foremost karateka, Robert (Bob) Dalton, will therefore leave a large hole in the region's karate dynasty.

Born October 29, 1936, Sensei Bob had 53 years as a karateka and attained 8th Dan status, one of the highest rankings of karate ability within a particular subject matter.

As a karate coach in Northland for nearly 50 years, he produced some of Northland's finest athletes.

His predecessor as head of Karatedo Shitoryu, Murray Burns, said his loss would be sorely felt within the community.

"He's arguably one of the best coaches in New Zealand and with his loss we've had to amalgamate the two Whangarei clubs," he says.

"It's a significant loss for the style of Shitoryu."

Dalton began training in karate/judo in 1962 under Laurie Hargreaves and after moving to Whangarei in 1966 opened his own dojo in conjunction with judo instructor Owen Dwyer.

He examined many different training styles and after starting in Shotokan, he changed to Seikukan karate in 1975 under the late Sensei John Halphin. Through the Seikukan system, Sensei Bob graded through to 5th Dan, a point at which Burns said "it becomes more about giving back to your students".

Continuing to seek knowledge in karatedo, saw the change to Kofukan Shitoryu under Sensei Keiji Tomiyama in 1995.

After eight years Sensei Bob left Kofukan Shitoryu in March 2003 to formally open what is now Karatedo Shitoryu New Zealand.

In 2007 Karatedo Shitoryu New Zealand formally joined the World Shitoryu Karate Federation (WSKF). Sensei Bob was graded to his 7th Dan in January 2011 and his 8th Dan in December 2014.

Sensei Bob's students have won national titles and represented New Zealand with distinction winning Oceania titles, Commonwealth titles and in 2009 two of his students won silver and bronze at the WSKF World Champs in Beijing.

Four of Sensei Bob's students have won under-21 Northland Sports Person of the Year Awards making him the only coach across all codes to achieve that. Sensei Bob won coach of the year in 2011.

His death is not only keenly felt by Northland's and New Zealand's karate community, but also the international karate community. He is survived by his wife Auretta, children Michael and Joanne and three grandchildren.