University

At Westminster since 1990. Daigaku Karate Kai has trained at the University of Westminster under the same instructor for thirty-six years.

1990

At Westminster Since

Oldest

Sports Club at Westminster

Gavin Mulholland

7^th Dan Shihan

25 / 26

Club of the Year

The Partnership

Thirty-Six Years at Regent Street

Daigaku Karate Kai was set up at the University of Westminster in 1990 and has been led by the same instructor - Shihan Gavin Mulholland - from day one. It is the oldest sports club in the university and remains one of the most active.

Sessions run twice weekly in the main hall at 309 Regent Street, with members drawn from across the University as well as the wider public. The club runs a number of events throughout the year including a Summer Camp in Bristol, a winter camp in London, as well as tournaments in April and November.

The teaching is authentic Okinawan Goju-Ryu - a combat-orientated reading focused on close-quarter self-defence, not sport karate.

DKK Karate training in the Westminster main hall

309 Regent Street

Main Hall · Mon & Wed · 6-8pm

UWSU Awards 25 / 26

Club of the Year

University of Westminster Students' Union

At the 2025/26 UWSU Awards, Daigaku Karate Kai was named Club of the Year - Karate. The recognition reflects thirty-six years of consistent training, the strength of the current committee, and the work the club puts in year after year inside and outside the dojo.

For a club whose primary focus is combat rather than competition, the trophy means something different to many of the other awards in the room: it is acknowledgement from the wider University community that the way we train still matters.