Introducing Budo-Nord UK, a.k.a. The Gibsons and The Ramshaws.
Just two families who apparently didn’t have enough to do, so decided that bringing Budo-Nord to the UK seemed like a perfectly sensible next step.
In reality, Budo-Nord UK has grown from a combination of things that have been part of our lives for a long time: family, friendship, sport, adventure and, of course, a genuine love of karate and everything that comes with it.
So, who are we?
The Gibsons and The Ramshaws became friends through work, before our families gradually became friends too. Over the years, we’ve shared plenty of adventures – walking the fells, paddleboarding, running, mountain biking, family days out and generally finding new ways to keep ourselves and our children busy.
Somewhere along the way, the two families became known as The Gibshaws. We’re not entirely sure who came up with it, but unfortunately it stuck.
We’re an active bunch and we want our boys to grow up having as many adventures, experiences and opportunities as possible. Sport plays a huge part in that.
The karate side of the family
For the Gibsons, karate has well and truly taken over family life.
With two boys who are completely obsessed with it, there’s usually someone practising kicks in the living room, talking about the next training session or planning for another competition. Both boys train several times a week, our eldest competes regularly and our youngest is just beginning his own competition journey.
As parents, we’ve had a front-row seat to everything karate can give a young person.
And it goes far beyond medals, trophies and results.
It’s having the confidence to step onto a mat when you’re nervous. It’s learning to lose, reflect and come back ready to try again. It’s the discipline of turning up to training week after week and working at something that doesn’t always come easily.
Perhaps most importantly, it’s the friendships, relationships and sense of community that develop along the way.
Karate has become a huge part of our family life, and the more time we’ve spent around the sport, the more we’ve come to appreciate just how special that community is.
And then there are The Ramshaws
The Ramshaws bring a slightly different sporting background to Budo-Nord UK.
Bev and Kev are keen runners and completed the London Marathon together in 2025, while their son, Ollie, is also a keen runner and mountain biker, as well as our resident amateur photographer. So, alongside helping with Budo-Nord UK, he’ll usually be the one behind the camera capturing what happens along the way.
Ollie doesn’t do karate, but he’s grown up in a family where being active, getting outdoors and having a go at something new are all part of everyday life. Like the Gibsons, the Ramshaws have seen just how much sport can give young people beyond physical fitness – confidence, resilience, friendships, independence and plenty of great experiences along the way.
Between the two families, we’ve got runners, cyclists, paddleboarders, fell walkers, karate competitors, enthusiastic spectators and parents who have spent more hours than we care to calculate driving children backwards and forwards to sporting activities.
Which obviously made us perfectly qualified to start a karate business.
Why Budo-Nord UK?
There is a serious reason behind all of this.
Karate is much more than a hobby to us. We’ve seen the discipline, resilience, confidence and friendships that can grow from being part of the sport, and we want Budo-Nord UK to allow us to become even more involved in that community.
Of course, we want to provide athletes with great-quality karate clothing and equipment. But we’d also like Budo-Nord UK to become more than simply somewhere you buy your next gi.
We want to get to know the clubs, coaches, parents and athletes who make karate what it is. We want to support competitors at every stage, from the child nervously walking onto a competition mat for the first time to experienced athletes competing at the highest levels.
We want to celebrate successes, share experiences, offer useful advice and hopefully play a small part in helping more people enjoy the sport we’ve grown to love.
That’s also part of the reason for creating The Budo Journal. It gives us somewhere to talk about the things that happen around karate as well as on the mat – competitions, training, equipment, family life, lessons we learn along the way and hopefully plenty of useful information for athletes, parents and coaches.
The beginning of our Budo-Nord journey
Budo-Nord UK brings together many of the things that matter most to both of our families: family, community, friendship, confidence, resilience, adventure and supporting young people to grow.
We’re under no illusion that we know exactly where this journey is going to take us. In fact, that’s probably part of the fun.
What we do know is that we’re incredibly excited to bring Budo-Nord to the UK, become part of an already fantastic karate community and see where this next adventure takes The Gibshaws.
So, that’s us.
The Gibsons. The Ramshaws. The Gibshaws. And now, Budo-Nord UK.
Let’s see where this goes.