we’ll be hosting sensei john parnell, 6th dan, on saturday, 28 april. the first session, 16:00-17:00 is open to all grades; followed by a black & brown belt session, 17:00-18:00. fee regular members; guests £7 per person.
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we have two planned sessions with sensei neil jerome at the end of the month:
– thursday 27 july neil will be teaching the regular lesson 8-9:30pm. the final half hour of the lesson will be a “kata clinic” for black belts. neil will be looking at your kata individually to give you some feedback.
– sunday 30 july neil will be teaching an instructors’ class 12-1pm followed by an all grades lesson 1-2:30pm. this time we decided to have the instructors’ class, which will be on construction of combinations, before the general lesson, so you could see how neil uses the principles discussed in an actual lesson. as per usual the first session is intended to anybody who’s teaching or is interested in teaching. the second part of the lesson is for all grades.
i’m very excited to be hosting sensei neil jerome again at the end of may. neil will be making a brief visit to the uk and has very generously offered to teach. we’ll have a general session open to all grades 14:00-15:30 followed by an instructors’ class 15:30 to 16:30. the instructors’ class is aim at instructors, assistants instructors and senior grades involved in teaching or those aspiring to become instructors. fees are £7 per person for the first lesson or £10 for both.
i came across an article about “shisa kanko” or “pointing and calling”, which is a method used by the railway in japan and other organisation to improve accuracy and avoid mistakes and accidents. watch the video which i’m sure will be fascinating. over and above the beauty of the method and the oh-so-japanese feel it has i was also captivated by elegance and commitment with which it is executed. when the train operator points at a sign in the distance he does not do it casually. first he brings his hand to the side of his head and then points very directly and very deliberately at the object in the distance and finally the elegant gesture ends with a kind of “kime”, a certain focus. i could not avoid drawing parallels between it and shuto uchi (e.g. in heian yondan).
what can this teach us about karate? i’m not really sure. draw your own conclusions, but i hope you find the video as fascinating as i did.
we have some great events coming up in the next few months, so mark your diaries:
- thursday, 20 april, 8:00-9:30pm – training with sensei laszlo eross, 2nd dan.
- saturday, 29 april, 15:00-17:00 – kumite workshop with sensei jamie sims, 3rd dan.
- sunday, 28 may, 14:00-16:30 – special lesson with sensei neil jerome, 5th dan, followed by an seminar for instructors and assistant instructors.
- saturday, june 3, 12:00-14:00 – sensei greg hegarty, 5th dan, at the rising sun karate academy.
- sunday, june 25th, 14:00-16:30 – special lesson with sensei john parnell, 6th dan.
we have a number of great events planned for march:
saturday, 11 march – special session with sensei john parnell, 6th dan.
14:00-15:00 – all grades
15:00-16:00 – black & brown belts
free to club members; guests £5.
thursday, 16 march – special session with sensei neil jerome, 5th dan.
20:00-21:30 – black & brown belts only
free to club members; guests £7.
saturday, 25 march – special session and kyu grading with sensei frank brennan, 8th dan.
the rising sun karate academy in woking. see website for details.
this saturday, 21 january, we’re having our first special lesson for 2017. sensei kate taylor, 3rd dan, from haslemere skc will be teaching. 2-3pm all grades; 3-4pm black and brown belts. free to regular members; £5 guests.
thursday, 13 october – no session due to an event at the spectrum
saturday, 15 october – special session with sensei john parnell, 6th dan, and sensei neil jerome, 5th dan.
sunday, 16 october – technical kata clinic with sensei neil jerome, 5th dan, at wimbledon karate SW19 3TZ, 2-4pm.
tuesday, 18 october – no session due to a blood donation event at the spectrum.
sunday, 23 october – advanced black & brown belt lesson with sessei bob poynton, 8th dan, at kenmei karate, 12:30-2:00pm, £10.
sunday, 23 october – special session and kyu grading with sessei bob poynton, 8th dan, at kenmei karate, 2pm onwards. £5 for lesson only, £20 for lesson and grading.
our next special training will be on saturday, 15 october, 2-4pm at the guildford spectrum with both sensei john parnell and sensei neil jerome. all grades welcome.
June and July are packed with lots of great training opportunities with top instructors:
Sutton 5 June 3-5pm – sensei Neil Jerome, 4th dan, is hosting an advanced lesson for black and brown belts. this is a great opportunity for anyone preparing to take their dan grading in the near future. what’s more it is free for regular club members!
Sutton 19 June 3-5pm – another black and brown belt advanced session with sensei Neil Jerome. can’t have too many of those.
Guildford 30 June 8-9:30pm – sensei John Parnell, 5th dan, will be teaching our regular lesson. if you missed the lesson we had with John recently there’s your opportunity to make it up for yourself and if you didn’t then you already know you don’t want to miss this one either.
Sutton 3 July – sensei Garry Harford, 8th dan, is coming to sutton for our joint kyu grading with kenmei karate. there will be an advanced lesson for black and brown belts 11-12:30pm, then a special lesson for kyu grades 13:00-2:30pm followed by the grading. £10 for the black and brown lesson, £20 for the grading or £5 for training only.
Bath 16 July – free black and brown belt course and dan grading. check the KUGB website for details. checklist for those grading: license (of course!), gum shield and mitts, gi and belt (you’d be surprised). check that you sparring mitts comply with current KUGB requirements or get new ones from Kamae. don’t wait for the eve of the grading. check that you have everything ready today!
Woking 17 July – sensei Garry Harford at the Rising Sun Karate Academy for their kyu grading. an opportunity for those who cannot make the grading on the 3rd or just want to train with sensei Harford again, which i’m sure many will do. £12 for training only or £30 for training and grading.
Kanshin Karate club 