About Us

Dragon Martial Arts Bournemouth has been an established karate club for over 25 years and currently has over 60 registered students.

Our Story

Over 25 years ago Dragon Martial Arts was set up with the goal of delivering

high quality martial arts to as many people as possible regardless of their background.

We are a bournemouth based karate club predominantly teaching Wado Ryu Karate. Once you join dragon martial arts you are not just part of a club , you are part of so much more , a group of friends , a family!

Our karate club celebrates diversity and inclusion, welcoming people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, and skill levels. We believe that the strength of our community lies in the unique perspectives each member brings, and we’re committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and empowered. Through the practice of karate, we aim to build not only physical skills but also mutual respect, unity, and understanding among all members.

Our club has regularly competed in many competitions around the uk and internationally, offering many different competitions to our students is a great way to help our students develop more confidence and allows our students to gain invaluable experience .

In 2018 we were fortunate enough to take one of our students to the WWTSF world championship bringing home 2 gold medals , a silver and a bronze.

All our coaches are DBS registered , and first aid trained. in addition to this our instructors have taken additional safeguarding training to keep not only our younger students but our adult students safe too.

Meet The Team

Master Chris Thomas MBE

Chris has been training and studying martial arts for many years and loves being able to inspire, motivate and develop others. He first started coaching when DMA was set up in 1992 and is extremely proud of the clubs successes and growth.

Chris main focus has been on studying Wado Ryu karate but he has also trained extensively in other Japanese styles as well as arts from China and Korea.

What is it that Chris enjoys the most about martial arts ? His answer was simply "being able to pass on some great life skills and train in what feels like a close and friendly family".

We are extremely passionate about what we do and how we do it and we look forward to welcoming you to one of our clubs.

Master Markus Trott

Markus has studied karate for as long as he can remember (he was much smaller back then) . Karate has been an integral part of his life and has helped shape who he is today.

In 2011 Markus was introduced to dragon martial arts by a family friend and since has never looked back! markus was mentored through has Dan gradings by Master Chris Thomas and continued to train hard throughout his martial arts career.

In 2018 at the age of 17 markus competed in the WWTSF world championships brining home two golds , a silver and a bronze

Shortly after this, Markus took over the instructor role for Howecroft and then Trinity

Markus has competed both nationally and internationally with great success however when asked about his favourite moment he replied “ the most important moment within my martial arts career was my first class as an instructor , I didn’t know it back then but it would soon make me realise the differences that I could make in other peoples lives , the life skills that I could pass on to students and the invaluable sense of family that we had created.”

Sensei Luis Trott