Grading and Christmas Meal

Yes, it is that time of the year!

The first grading of the year will take place on Friday 10th December. The place is not confirmed yet but it is most likely to be in the Dance Studio at the Sports Centre from 6.30 to 9.30pm. In the first hour or so we will train as usual; in the next half everyone will be called up to perform their katas. At the end everyone will be told whether they have passed the grading or not and we will proceed with giving the successful students their shiny new belts!

To celebrate this, we will be having our Christmas meal the next day, on Saturday 11th December at the Century (the Chinese restaurant on Upper Bridge Street, just around the corner of Odeon) at 8pm. We have booked a table for 15-20 people but you need to let Maddie (md304@kent.ac.uk) know if you are attending so we can make sure that we have space for everyone.

Good luck to everyone who will be grading! And remember: DO NOT BE LATE TO THE GRADING OTHERWISE YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GRADE!

Charity Self Defence Course: Sunday 10th October

We are holding a CHARITY SELF DEFENCE COURSE as the University of Kent Karate Club:

COME JOIN US IN THIS CHARITY EVENT AND TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN WAYS OF PROTECTING YOURSELF!

ALL PROFIT will be donated to CANCER RESEARCH UK.

The course will be open to EVERYONE.

The details are as follows:

Date: Sunday, 10th October
Time: 4-7pm
Location: Eliot College Main Hall
Ticket Price: £5

For more info: email ukckarate@hotmail.co.uk

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS; THIS IS ALL FOR CHARITY!

Karate Training Tonight, Friday 8th October

Due to the Main Hall being used for university open day, our training session today from 6pm to 8pm will take place in the squash courts at the Sports Centre (you go in as usual, but instead of turning left towards the Main Hall, you turn right and go through the door). Due to the numbers and the size of the squash courts, we have booked 2 courts. The advanced session (for people who have higher grades) will take place in Squash Court No. 1 and the beginners session will take place in Squash Court No. 3.

Please also note that, again due to the university open day, there won't be any training session on Saturday.

Hope to see you all tonight!

Mailing List

Everyone who wants to be on our Karate Club mailing list so that you are informed of our training sessions, changes, events and socials, please send your e-mails to md304@kent.ac.uk or fs86@kent.ac.uk.

Old members please remember that we have renewed the mailing list and those who were on the old list are no longer in the new list, unless they have requested to be added to the new list. If you would like to continue to receive e-mails from us, please send your e-mails to the addresses above.

Thank you!

Karate Club First Session and Post-training Social

Ready to do some karate??

Come join us on Wednesday 29th September from 6pm to 8pm in the Main Hall (Sports Centre) for the first Karate training. The session is open to everyone from all levels! No membership required for the first 2 weeks! You can wear your gi if you have it, or just wear some comfortable clothing and get ready to kick off!

Don't forget to come to the post-training social right after the training! Join us at Woody's (Parkwood) for some dinner and a few drinks! Get to know each other and have fun!!

Hope to see as many of you as possible at our first training session! Remember; everyone is welcome, no previous experience required!

Join The Club

University of Kent students can join the club and pay for the membership following this link:

http://www.kentunion.co.uk/organisation/UKCKarateClub/

and clicking "Standard Membership". Non-students should choose "Associate Membership" on the same page to join.

Taster Session at Freshers Week

Interested in learning some form of self defence? Want to try out martial arts? How about Karate? Why not come and try it out for free?

Come and have a taster session with the University of Kent KARATE CLUB! See what we do, join in and try it for yourself! Have fun!

EVERYONE is welcome to come and try!

Look out for us at the Sports Day on Wednesday 22nd September! We will be in the Main Hall at the Sports Centre to run our taster session from 2pm till 3pm!

Karate Club at Freshers Fayre

Come and join the KARATE CLUB at the Freshers Fayre 2010/11 on 24th September, Friday!

Members and helpers:
* Help us out with giving out the leaflets and introducing new members to the club!
* Have fun, talk to people, give some demonstrations, do your katas, spar - or simply just be there!
* Come dressed in your amazing gi's!

Everyone else:
* Get to know us and what we do at our club
* Find out about our classes
* Everyone is welcome to join the University of Kent Karate Club. We are one big welcoming family!
* Only £17 to join (for UKC students) which includes ALL CLASSES and ALL GRADINGS!
* Have fun! =)

[Those who want to help us out, please meet us at 11:00am just outside Essentials. More info to follow soon!]

Invite your friends to this amazing event! It is going to be a great day!

See you all there!!

Fatma
University of Kent Karate Club President

Term Has Ended!

The final term of the academic year 2009-10 has ended on 18th June, Friday. With this, official training sessions have also ended; however due to a number of us staying in Canterbury throughout the summer holiday, we have decided to keep training and anyone is welcome to join us. The trainings will probably take place twice a week. The times and venues of the training sessions will be announced soon, so please keep following our posts!

Another Success Came From the Open Martial Arts Competition

This past Sunday, 13th June, has seen a very good open martial arts competition at the not-so-far-away Body & Mind Leisure Centre in Canterbury. The competition was held by the Martial Arts All Style International Federation (M.A.A.S.I.F.). It catered for many competitors from all ages and styles such as Karate, Kung Fu, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Tang So Do, Freestyle, Kickboxing, Low Kick Fighting, San-DA, and MMA to name a few; and there were over 40 categories, a few of them being Hard Style Forms - Kata, Soft Style Forms - Chinese, Weapons Forms/Kata, Points Fighting, Continuous Fighting - with leg kicks, and Amateur MMA.

The University of Kent Karate Club has sent its "Mini Squad" formed from Mohammad Reza, Deniz Kayimbasioglu and Fatma Salahioglu, who had all previously been very successful at the Art of Movement Kata Competition.

Deniz and Fatma competed in the novice kata category, and Fatma obtained a second place whereas Deniz managed to get a first place, each coming back home with trophies. In the same category for seniors, Mohammad obtained a stunning first place that came with a great trophy.

Mohammad also competed in the Points Fighting category against people from different styles of martial arts. This change did not affect him and he made his way to a first place by putting up amazing fights, obtaining another great trophy for his achievement.

Therefore, the University's "Mini Squad" returned home with three golds and a silver!

Great Success at London International Karate Championships

Mohammad Reza (third one from the left with a blue belt) celebrating the medal with his Iranian friends in Chelsea team.

Mohammad Reza, a PhD student in Medical Image Computing Group at the University of Kent, won two bronze medals in London International Karate Championships last month on 30th May. He has been the team captain in the University of Kent Karate Club since 2008 and has brought many shiny medals back, such as a gold medal at British University and Colleges Championship (BUCS) and a bronze medal in European Championships.

This time was no different; he has competed very well in two categories against his opponents. In category Senior's -75 kg Individual Kumite, he overcame four opponents to get through the semi-final. In the semi-final he had a beautiful fight against his friend from Iran (Esfandiyari, former national team member of Iran).

“He was an amazing fighter, so fast!” said Mohammad. In the end, Esfandiyari got the gold and Mohammad brought back the bronze medal in the category.

In Team Kumite, he competed in three rounds with the Iranian Team. In the third round they drew against Manchester but due to the score difference they lost and Mohammad's team came 3^rd, bringing back another bronze medal.

Mohammad has been training hard for the past few years to achieve his ultimate goal: competing in World Championship. He is optimistic about going to one of the World Championships soon.

Mohammad says he is very thankful to his instructors Mark Caddy (karate) and Chris Payne (fitness and strength). “Chris has made me much stronger than what I was during the past few weeks. I hope this strength and fitness program continues as it is. I should thank Mel for putting this great program for scholars,” said Mohammad. He also acknowledges the help of the sports scholarship that he was awarded by the University of Kent Sports Centre.

Open Martial Arts Competition: 13th June, Canterbury

M.A.A.S.I.F SUMMER OPEN COMPETITION

Date:	Sunday, 13 June 2010
Time:	10:00 - 18:00
Location:	BODY & MIND LEISURE CENTRE
Town/City:	Canterbury, United Kingdom

M.A.A.S.I.F SUMMER OPEN event is open to any level and any age of competitor and will cater for many different styles of Martial Arts.

We are looking for a great turn out with Competitors and spectators coming from the world of Karate, Kung Fu, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Tang So Do, Freestyle, Kickboxing, Low Kick Fighting, San-DA, and MMA to name a few.

We have over 40 Catorgories for all types of levels and ages from kids, women, under 2 years training etc..

BELOW IS LIST OF CATOGORIES

* Hard Style Forms - Kata
* Soft Style Forms - Chinese
* Weapons Forms/Kata
* Points Fighting
* Continuous Fighting - with leg kicks. (Not full contact)
* Amateur MMA

If you feel your school or yourself maybe interested in this event? Please contact us on here or by the email on fightinglions_uk@yahoo.co.uk or by telephone on 07702011970.

Details of the event can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=123012434399535&ref=ts

End of Term Grading: 11th June, Friday

This term's grading will take place on 11th June, Friday in the Dance Studio (Sports Centre) from 6.15pm till 8.15pm.

Please make sure that you are not late to the grading session.

Good luck to everyone who will be grading!

Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May - Training Session Cancelled

Due to this Monday (31st May) being a Bank Holiday, we are unable to use Darwin Missing Link for our training so the training on this Monday only will not take place.

The rest of the training sessions will take place as usual.

Summer Term 2010 Training Times

The training times and the venues for the final term of 2010 are as follows:

Monday: 6.00-8.00pm Darwin Missing Link
Wednesday: 6.20-8.20pm Squash Courts (Sports Centre - ask at reception for the court number)
Friday: 6.15-8.15pm Dance Studio (Sports Centre)

All the sessions are for everyone from all levels.

Towards the end of the term, on 14th June, Monday, a grading session will take place. Those who want to be graded are required to attend as many sessions as they can (this is usually 20 sessions/40 hours of training since the last grading).

Committee Handover

The committee handover for the academic year 2010/11 took place last week, on 5th May. The new committee is as follows:

President: Fatma Salahioglu
Secretary: Maddie Dorey
Treasurer: Peter Ovenden
Social Secretary: James Tolson

Best of luck to the new committee and congratulations to the old one, with special thanks to Deniz who has done a great job as the president of the club!

Art of Movement Kata Competition!

On the 17th of April, three members of our Karate Club (Fatma, Deniz and Mohammad) went to the Art of Movement Kata Competition, organised by the University of London Karate Club. During the competition, our club members achieved great success by Mohammad winning a Silver medal in the senior category and Fatma winning the Gold and Deniz winning the Bronze medal in the Novice category. Well done guys!

End of Term Grading, March 2010

This year's second grading took place on 31st of March, 2010. It was an intense and advanced level grading that went on for 3 hours. Despite the level of the grading, everyone successfully got graded up a belt.

Congratulations to all!!

Colours Ball Success!!!

The Colours Ball

The Colours Sports Award Ball is an annual dinner and award ceremony that celebrates the achievements and successes of the clubs and individuals within the Sports Federation.

This year the Colours Ball took place on 27th March, 2010. It was a beautiful night and a great success for the University of Kent Karate Club. Out of the 6 most important awards, the Karate Club managed to get 2 of them.

These awards were:

Sportsman of the Year Award won by our successful senior member Mohammad Reza.

Outstanding Individual Award won by another successful senior member from University of Kent at Medway, Kimberly Hughes.

This was not the end though!

There were further awards to recognise other achievements of the individuals, and the UKC Karate Club got two more:

1. Our president Deniz Kayimbasioglu has won the Green Award, which is awarded to individuals who show at least:

• Two (2) years of administrative service to the club
• Performed above the call of their elected role
• Made an outstanding difference through their actions for the club
• Give examples of how they have developed their club.

2. Mohammad Reza has won the Blue Award, which is awarded to the individual who has represented:

• At a National level that is comparable to the English standard of that Sport
• In the same season as is being nominated, respective of the sport they play
• At a senior level, not at novice or intermediate levels.

This really is a great achievement for the Karate Club.

Congratulations to everyone!!

Election Results and AGM

Yesterday (Wednesday, 24 March 2010) the club elections for next year and club AGM (Annual General Meeting) took place. During the AGM it was decided that from now on the Female and Male Team Captain positions get elected in the new academic year, on the 3rd week from the beginning of the training sessions. Due to this reason, the members who are chosen for the Team Captain positions (for Female Team Captain: Maddie Dorey and Male Team Captain: Mohammad Reza) will need to be re-elected in the new academic year.

Here are the election results for 2010-2011 academic year:
President: Fatma Salahioglu
Secretary: Maddie Dorey
Treasurer: Peter Ovenden
Social Secretary: James Tolson

As the current committee, we would like to wish the new committee great success in the new academic year. Well done everybody!

Club Squad's Success at the BUCS Championships!

This past weekend (13th - 14th of March) was an important date for the University of Kent Karate Club. After months of hard training, they were finally going to the BUCS Karate Championships in Sheffield, where their hard work would pay off. It was an amazing weekend full of excitement and competition, and the Kent Karate Club certainly did not come back with empty hands.

On Saturday, the club's male team formed from Chris Storey, Marco Selci, Mohammad Reza and Tom Elder showed an amazing performance in Men's Team Kumite and ended up in 3^rd place, leaving behind many universities that took part and bringing home bronze medals. On the same day, the black belt Kimberly Hughes from the University of Kent at Medway, made everyone proud by getting a 1^st place in Women's Senior Kata, coming back home with a shiny gold medal. Also, Fatma Salahioglu, who was competing in Women's Novice Kata, managed to get a 3^rd place, earning Kent another bronze medal. Deniz Kayimbasioglu, who was also competing in the same category, showed a great performance and came 5^th out of over 35 competitors.

On Sunday, Fatma Salahioglu got another bronze medal in Women's Under 57kg Novice Kumite. In the same category, Deniz Kayimbasioglu put up amazing fights. However, she got injured by her opponent, which then affected her performance made her lose the semifinals. Nevertheless, she kept on fighting and got herself a 4^th place. On the other hand, Marco Selci showed an incredible performance and stamina during his fight in Men's Over 84kg Senior Kumite category, and made everyone proud by coming 4^th.

It was a weekend that earned everyone lots of experience and the University of Kent Karate Club came home with a bunch of medals and the pleasure of knowing they have done a good job at the competitions.

Refreshers Fayre

We are all looking forward to welcoming our new members that signed up at the Refreshers Fayre on Monday 25th January. The training times are as stated on the website. Once again, welcome to all of you and hope to see you at the training sessions!