SMSKC - Paul Willoughby

Paul began his training in 1982 at the age of 14 in Okinawan Shorin-ryu Matsumura Orthodox Karate. In 1983 he began studying Shotokan Karate under Irv Smoot at the Southern Maryland Karate Club. The club disbanded in 1986 as an official entity but several of the die-hard members continued to train on; meeting twice a week and training informally with Irv. During this time, Paul continued to train as much as possible while finishing college, graduate school and starting his career as a Software Engineer. In 1995 Paul became more serious about Karate and trained regularly at the Shotokan Karate Club of Maryland under Najib Amin, Farid Amin, John Elliot and others. In 1998 Paul reformed the club as the Southern Maryland Shotokan Karate Club and continues to run it with Irv's assistance. Paul is a graduate of the the ISKF's Instructor Training Institute under Okazaki Sensei. Paul is a yondan (4th degree black belt), a certified instructor and tournament judge and is certified in Adult/AED, child and infant CPR with the American Red Cross.