David Watkinson RIP
Published: Mon, 02/12/18
David Watkinson passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. David was the first person in the UK to start training seriously with Ivar. I came on the scene a couple of months later and we both trained with Ivar at a sports centre in Driffield.
After a year or so we kind of took our approach to Stav in different directions. It would be true to say that I focused more on weapons and David on unarmed combat. There was more too it than that, each of us had a particular vision of where Stav might take us and we each followed our own path.
I won’t claim that we were great friends, we were just too different and there was always a certain amount of rivalry between us. In that first year I think we competed to be Ivar’s best student. Funny looking back since we were both well in our thirties and should have known better. That is why we followed our own paths and then we could accept each other’s interests without necessarily understanding each other fully.
David found inspiration in the Philippines and became formidable in self-defence and knife disarming skills. We would sometimes share a camp and I invited David to Oxfordshire to teach seminars from time to time while I was living there. My students always appreciated the opportunity to train with David.
I always admired David for his uncompromising approach to training and teaching. He was always generous with his teaching and willing to share his hard won expertise with anyone who was seriously interested. You could not ask more from a martial artist and instructor.
Rest in peace David, it was a privilege to know you and sometimes train with you. The world is a less colorful place without you.
regards
Graham
PS I have posted pictures of David on my screencast account. Feel free to copy to Facebook etc as you wish.
This one must have been taken in Wawne around 1994 or 5 David is seated second from right https://www.screencast.com/t/yleLNZxrJR
These three were taken in 2000, not sure where or who the victim, sorry, training partner is https://www.screencast.com/t/KVPKSHCWdgUF https://www.screencast.com/t/gmMirfhcer7f https://www.screencast.com/t/F0bzH2deDH1y
This one must date back to 1994 or 5 and would have been taken in Wawne https://www.screencast.com/t/CNNl5GiaT1K
These two will have been taken in Oxford in the late 1990s https://www.screencast.com/t/OiIbDtpxz https://www.screencast.com/t/k3SIXS09H