Sei Shihan Murray Stewart

Sei Shihan Murray first entered Seido Shibu Christchurch in 1979. He gained his Black Belt in 1984.

He first travelled to New York in 1986 for the 10th Anniversary of Seido, training at Honbu on 23rd Street for 6 weeks. This cemented his commitment to Seido and what has turned out to be a lifelong dedication to Seido and it’s way.

In 1985 Hanshi Renzie asked him to teach the beginner’s class. This was the start of Sei Shihan’s Murray teaching journey. He then moved up to teach through the kyu grade ranks and then onto Shodan, ending up teaching the Nidan and above class until 2011.

In 2011, he and his family departed for Melbourne where they settled for 7 years. During that time, Sei Shihan Murray taught senior classes at Richmond Dojo Geelong and Thornbury Dojos.

In 2019, he and his family made another move, this time to Newcastle Australia. Newcastle does not have a dojo so Sei Shihan Murray and his wife, Kyoshi Suzana are members of Shibu Christchurch. They both continue to train twice a week and visit and train at Shibu Christchurch, home, as often as they can.

Sei Shihan Murray’s teaching philosophy is simple – ‘there has to be something in it for everyone’.

Whilst continuing to hold strong relationships with his peers in New Zealand, Sei Shihan Murray also holds a strong presence in Australia.