In the Fall of 1974, the Town of High River Continuing Education brought instructor Wayne Wright from the Calgary South YMCA to High River to teach a karate class. This lasted for 4 months, before moving back to Calgary due to lack of interest in High River. However, several members – including Lyle Braunwarth, who would become the High River Karate Club’s longest teaching Sensei – continued attending classes in Calgary at the South YMCA from Brian Verbin. After a few months, the group had to move locations due to disagreements with the YMCA related to cleanliness (the space was shared with dog grooming and pellet shooting classes), and the group split to attend either the down town YMCA or Mount Royal College. The group from High River attended the Mount Royal class and trained under Frank Prystupa for a year and a half.
In 1976, High River Continuing Education brought Gerry Reeves down to teach classes at Senator Riley High School. This time, the club was a success, and classes moved to their current location at Spitzee School in 1977. Over the next few years, David Cheung taught for the majority of the time, with a brief stint by a local instructor Ron Hair.
In December of 1979, Lyle Braunwarth attained his Shodan (1st degree) black belt, and in January 1980 he began teaching the class, as David Cheung returned to Calgary. Lyle’s family – his wife Dorothy (6th degree black belt) and their two children, Donald and Shelley, were all actively involved in the club. Sensei Lyle Braunwarth retired in 2014 after 40 years training, and 35 years teaching, as a Hachidan (8th degree) black belt.
In 2014, Robert Robinson took over as Sensei of the High River Karate Club. Sensei Robert began training in 1980 in High River, and took over instruction of the Tekka Karate Club in Vulcan in 2005. Sensei Robert passed away unexpectedly in February of 2025, and is succeeded by Sensei Gillian Hurst and Sensei Travis Gauvreau in High River, and Sensei Sue Schmeelke in Vulcan. Sensei Robert was a Shichidan (7th degree) black belt and had been training for over 40 years, and teaching for more than 15 years in Vulcan and High River.
High River Karate Club 