In almost 50 years, Joe Ellis has done plenty in his martial arts career. He chaired Karate England, the All British Karate Organisation and the National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools. He has also worked closely alongside then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. With an extensive martial arts background, the former school pupil from Ashford – now a Reverend – started out in the 1970s when the discipline was enjoying a purple patch. “We had the Bruce Lee era where there was a big boom of karate and martial arts,” he explained. “The take-up in that period was far greater than it is nowada…
