CEO of the international charity Ikkaido Inclusive Martial Arts, Ray Sweeney is a 6th Dan, Level 4 National Karate Coach and Master of Karate (Spain).
Ray studied with Kent Business School and has served at board level in 7 construction companies and 4 charities in three different countries and holds a Diploma in Business Leadership from the University of Leicester.
As a SEND assistant teacher and a tutor, assessor and internal quality assurer of regulated accredited qualifications, he is a leading international expert on inclusive martial arts coach education and has lectured on inclusive practice and accessibility in over 50 countries including Malaysia, Japan, S. Korea, Philippines, Tunisia, Russia and Iran. Most recently he has been engaged with Big Tech coast to coast in the US reviewing their challenges and successes in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
Ray sits on the EDI Panel of the United Nations Global Compact for the Sustainable Development Goals, is a Member of UN Women and has Special Consultancy Status to the United Nations.
He was named as the 35th most influential sports coach in the world, holds a Diploma in Psychology and develops educational resources on inclusive and accessible well-being. Two of Ray’s students have been awarded UK Coaching’s UK Disability Coach of the Year by Princess Anne and were invited to Buckingham Palace.
This year he achieved a lifelong dream to create the world’s first martial arts digital coach education platform that is both inclusive and accessible.
As you can probably tell from this necessarily brief bio, Ray has Asperger Syndrome!