SOKE BACKGROUND
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Soke Newman Simakuhle was born and bred in Kwanobuhle,
Uitenhage. He started his martial art training in 1977 at the
tender age of 8, he began his training with Judo but after only
a year in 1978, he switched to karate. He trained and
competed in the Eastern Cape area and became a champion of both clicker and knockdown fighting at a very young age. In 1995 he moved to KwaZulu Natal and trained there under the dojo of the late Sensei Alpheus Sabela. In 1996, he was employed by ML Sultan Technikon to develop students in karate at the institution and whilst he was still teaching at ML Sultan Technikon, in 1998 he was also invited to teach the students of the University of KwaZulu Natal. In that same year, he started his own Dojo that was called Newman Kyokushin Karate Dojo and went on to produce numerous champions
around KwaZulu Natal.
In February 2001, Russia was his first overseas country to visit and later that year in June, he visited Osaka, Japan for training and the international referee’s course.
Due to certain reasons, in February 2002 Soke Newman Simakuhle resigned from Kyokushin. In June 2002 he went to the United States of America to meet with the Director of Seidokaikan to attend the international training camp, he stayed and trained at the New York Headquarters for some time.
Soke Background
After his return from USA, Soke Newman introduced Seidokaikan/Shodokaikan in South Africa as a new form of full contact karate, many karate practitioners were very interested and they joined in numbers in various provinces, and Shodokaikan was regarded as the second strongest karate after Kyokushinkaikan in the country.
In 2005, Soke Newman was invited in Seidokaikan Honbu dojo in Osaka, Japan by the chairman, Mr Naoki Nakamoto for training and grading. These two events motivated him and he gained more knowledge as it was an eye opener for him.
During his tenure in Seidokaikan he was invited by the founder of Daido-Juku, Mr Takashi Azuma (Grand Master) who was originally also from Judo and Kyokushin Karate, to participate in the 3rd World Kudo Championships in Tokyo November 2009. Although he performed extremely well, he unfortunately did not win any position but gained experience as he was fighting in that type of fighting (Kudo is a stand up, grab and ground fighting) for the first time.
In ensuring that the community that provided him with space, land and shaped his childhood benefited something from him, in 2010, Soke Newman introduced his own karate art in his hometown of Kwa-Nobuhle, Uitenhage, a fast growing but poverty stricken town forming part of the Nelson Mandela Metro Bay Municipality and spread it to other provinces in South Africa and around the world.
In 2011, he was also invited to take part in Arte Do Combate (ADC) MMA and he became 1st place Champion 1st in the Masters Division in Portugal. In 2012 Soke Newman Simakuhle participated in the World Kumite Organization’s World Cup Karate Championship in Osaka Japan, In August, he was invited to Thailand in the World Kumite Organization’s Headquarters to discuss the official launch of Kyokudokaikan. Subsequently Soke Newman and his students are invited by Shieijyuku Karate Organization to attend the Shieijyuku World Karate Tournament on
18 July 2015 in Japan.
