Paul Morrill – Shotokan Karate Background

This page records Paul Morrill’s Shotokan karate background: where he trained, who graded him, why he stepped away from training, and how he hopes to return to it. It sits outside the main research site and is intended simply as public background context.

Paul Morrill trained in Shotokan karate at Widnes Shotokan Karate Club during the 1980s. According to Morrill’s own account, one of his regular training partners was Norman Patterson, whom Morrill identifies as having served with 22 SAS. Morrill and Patterson took their Shodan examinations together and were graded by Keinosuke Enoeda, then JKA instructor and Chief Instructor of the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB).

During this period Morrill trained and was graded under a number of leading Shotokan instructors, including Masao Kawasoe, Steve Cattle, Bob Rhodes, Terry O’Neill and Frank Cope. His principal club instructor (Sensei) was Steve Hyland.

Morrill later represented Cheshire at county level. He has described the standard of Britain’s leading international competitors of that era — including Ian Roberts, George Best, Elwyn Hall and Frank Brennan — as being beyond the level he himself was able to reach competitively.

In later years Morrill trained with John Cheetham, founder and editor of Shotokan Karate Magazine and a long-standing figure in traditional Shotokan karate.

It is not publicly established whether Morrill continues to practise karate. In later life he experienced significant health problems, including cancer requiring major surgery and treatment over several years.

In later life Morrill experienced significant health problems, including cancer requiring major surgery and treatment over several years. These health challenges — alongside the demands of work and study — brought his regular karate training to a halt.

For the broader context of these early struggles and where he is now, read the mental health journey page.

Despite the interruption, Morrill intends to keep karate part of his life — returning gradually, at a pace that respects his health, and treating the practice as a lifelong path (dō) rather than a competition career.

The bruising and internal bleeding issues associated with haemophilia are issues when it comes to kumite and conditioning training. The fact that his right leg now currently contains more mass than his left is an issue for balance (due to two inches of tissue being removed from his thigh), but he is going to try and get back to some form of training. At his fittest he weighed in at 9 stone wet through — he is now 16.5 stone and a lot older.

Biographical note: the personal training history above is based in part on Paul Morrill’s own recollection. References to third parties are included to describe the historical training context and should not be read as an independent verification of private military service.

This is an independent personal research website. It is not an official University of Bradford website and does not represent the University. Page checked 21 August 2026.

• John Cheetham — Shotokan Karate Magazine(opens in a new tab)

  Profile of the magazine founder and long-standing traditional Shotokan figure.

• Keinosuke Enoeda background — JKA England(opens in a new tab)

  Historical background document on the JKA instructor and former KUGB Chief Instructor.