This evening we had new starters at our karate club and Sensei catered the class for them with lots of basics and explanations of techniques and the reasons behind they way a karate class is run. During the session the class was split into 2 and I instructed the new students (who are young children) for a while, I showed them how to make a fist and we went through the 3 different height levels used for striking: Jodan, Chudan and Gedan. If you start from the start and explain even the most basic things in detail then it makes things easier for all involved in the long run. So this evening I mainly enjoyed the opportunity of developing my teaching technique.

Later on we also practiced Sanchin kata - we being the senior grades in the class (while Sensei did some stuff with the children and other junior grades). The class ended with a small demonstration of kata for the new starters.

Monday evenings class was good - it was a large class of about 35 students and the training hall was pretty full. Again, we did a lot of basic technique training and also some bagwork (kicking and punching pads) and some kumite (sparring practice).

Today's class involved lots of moving basics, up and down the length of the dojo. This was as a preparation for upcoming gradings, but I am sure that everybody found this kind of training beneficial. The exercises used included:

Stepping forwards in zenkutsu dachi (long stance) and attacking using oi zuki (front hand punch)

Stepping backwards in sanchin dachi (short stance) and blocking using hiki uke (open handed hook block)

Stepping forwards in zenkutsu, attacking gyaku zuki (reverse hand punch)

Stepping back in sanchin dachi and defending using chudan uke (middle level closed hand block)

Forward: attacking using mae geri followed with mawashi hiraken uchi (groin kick followed up with a back fist)

Back: defending using tora guchi uke (roundhouse block)

Forwards: A kicking combination incorporating mae geri, yoko geri, mawashi geri and ushiro geri, finished off with a gyaku zuki (front kick, side kick, roundhouse kick and a spinning back kick followed up by a reverse punch)

...and the list goes on. We practiced several other moving basics variants before moving onto practice straight-line kata (known as Renzoku bunkai or Chokusen Gekisai).

At the end of the class Sensei took students who are preparing for black belt gradings and they went through the moves of kata. Meanwhile I instructed everyone else in Gekisai Dai Ichi kata, going through the sequence of the kata with feet only to begin with, then with the hand movements also and finally breaking the kata into sections and working on particular movements several times in a row before moving onto another part of the kata.

This week we have special visitors at our Dojo here in Liverpool, from Poland. A regular student at our dojo is from Poland, his name is Raphael and he has been training with us now for about 1 year. Sensei often comments that he believes Rafa is a naturally gifted karateka. This week 2 of his friends from his home dojo have traveled to Liverpool to visit and while they are here they have come along to train with us. Sensei Roy is very pleased when we are host to guests from overseas and he likes to make a fuss of guests when possible.

I hope to be able to get a class photo on Thursday evening to be able to post here for you to see our guests in action at our dojo.

Hello after a spell of absence. I have been away on a trip to Norway and I have had to reallocate my time to prepare for the trip. So my time has been mainly spent with my family, working, training and organising myself to get to and from Bergen Norway for a short stay. It was a great experience.

In the meantime training has carried on as usual. The EGKA (England IOGKF group) has hosted a great event in Kent, South East England, the venue for this was Sensei Feridun Shakir's dojo "Chalti Dojo". Unfortunately I was unable to attend this event (work commitments) but I have seen some photos from the event and an article for it also, which I will place on this page shortly.

Preparations for the upcoming IOGKF European Gasshuku in Bournemouth England are now at the advanced stage, with most things now arranged and confirmed. More about this event in the coming months.