Cayman Islands National Karate Do Association
Board of Directors
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Carson Ebanks, MBE JP., President
Mr. Ebanks is our president, a Black Belt in Karate, and a fan of the Sport. He presently holds the position of Secretary General of the CIOC, he has served two other terms as Vice President of the Committee. Mr. Ebanks served as Chef de Mission for the Cayman Islands team at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games and joint Chef de Mission for the Cayman Islands team in the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. He has also served as Bosun, Vice Commodore [sailing] and the Olympic Committee Representative for the Cayman Islands Sailing Club. Mr. Ebanks is also the founding and current President,Cayman Islands Olympian Association.
Mr. Ebanks also had the honor of being on the first Cayman Islands OlympicTeam in 1976, competing in sailing. Some of his other sporting achievements include participation in the sailing events in the 1984 and 1996 Olympic Games; the 1979 Pan Am Games; and 1998 World Championships in Dubai.
James Crooks, Vice President, Technical Director
Sensei James (Jimi) Crooks, our Vice President and Technical Director is a Godan (5th-degree blackbelt) in Wado, Rokudan (6th degree black belt) in Kyokushin Kai, Yondan (4th -degree blackbelt) in Tae Kwon Do and Sandan (3rd-degree blackbelt) in Seido Karate. Born in 1956 in Jamaica, West Indies, Sensei Crooks was first introduced to karate by his nephew in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 13. On his return to Jamaica, and after several unsuccessful attempts, because of his age, at joining a karate school, he finally ended up at the local YMCA studying Kyo Kushin Kai Kan.
He was awarded the rank of Shodan (first-degree black belt) in Seido Juku Karate in 1974 by Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura and the late Shihan William Oliver. Having competed and won in numerous tournaments in both kata and kumite, he became recognized primarily for his tameshiwari abilities, particularly head breaks.
Crooks sensei taught karate at the Jamaica Defence Force military camp, producing several blackbelts. He also established a dojo at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. In 1986 he moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands and started the only martial arts school on the Islands – teaching both civilians and members of the police force. In 1992 he established the first Seido Karate dojo in Houston, Texas. The dojo was started primarily for adults but quickly expanded to include children.
On his return to the Cayman Islands, after a five-year hiatus, he resumed training at local dojos and now studies under the tutelage of Saiko Shihan Greg Reid.
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Gregory Reid, General Secretary
Gregory Reid has breathed and lived karate for most of his life – as a young Karate-ka, a world-class competitor, and an internationally-known teacher. In 1996, he was named by Top Master Masaru Shintani as his successor in Shintani Wado Karate-Do & Shindo worldwide as well as supreme instructor.
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, throughout his karate career, Saiko Shihan Reid has travelled extensively, competing, studying and teaching karate. He competed both individually and on teams, and won regional, international and world-class tournaments in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Japan. In 1993, Reid Shihan trained the Canadian National Wado Team for the 1994 Wado-Kai Nationals as well as the Wado-Kai World Karate-do Cup, both held in Tokyo, Japan.
On May 24th 1997, Reid Shihan returned to Ontario to visit Master Shintani, at which time he was tested and given his 8th Dan certificate to take effect May 2005 for his dedication and promotion of Shintani Wado/Shindo Karate-do. In 1997 Saiko Shihan Reid was appointed technical director for the Wado Karate Association of Canada, and continues to oversee Wado karate and Shindo Kobudo at the World headquarters in the Cayman Islands. In 1998, Reid Shihan and Top Master Shintani wrote the definitive text on Wado kata as taught by the founder Hironori Otsuka and his senior student the late Masaru Shintani.
Presently, Reid Shihan sits as CINKA’s General Secretary and communicates directly with the WKF and PKF, and other organizations. He travels yearly to support our National Association at all International tournaments and congresses.
Patrick Brendel, Assistant General Secretary
Patrick Brendel is a Shodan (first-degree black belt) in Wado and also holds a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He was born in Texas and as a youth and teenager studied Tae Kwon Do under the late Sensei Ralph Jaschke. After settling in the Cayman Islands in 2011, he began studying Wado at CASK Karate.
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Pedro Reis, Membership Director
Pedro Reis was born in Portugal and trained in Shotokan Karate under the legendary Sensei Enoeda throughout the early part of his life. He took a break from training while in university and has resumed his study in the Cayman Islands at CASK Karate. He is married and has two children, his wife is also a black belt with CASK. Pedro works in the financial industry.
Patricia Rutkowski, Treasurer
Sensei Patricia is from the Cayman Islands. Her husband and two children train with CASK as well. She was one of the first women at CASK to earn her first degree black belt in 2012 and the first woman to be awarded the title of Sensei. She instructs the CASK Youth Program. She was awarded her 2nd degree black belt in 2014.
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Owen Lattie, Director at Large