Movie Madness

I hope I speak for everyone in saying that yesterday's social was a great night out. For those not familiar with our belt crawls, for many years they have been a popular addition to our club's social calendar. We get together and aim to imbibe a drink for every coloured belt; starting with white all the way to the tenth black (though this is an honour reserved for the deceased). This time we added a twist and asked that people come dressed as movie characters associated with their belt colour. Below are some pictures of the mayhem.

Established members made a great effort with the fancy dress theme.

New guys were more reluctant but showed promise at working through the 'belts'.

No social would be complete without push ups.

Until next time, Kanpai!

Happy Satuday

Last night's training saw the student become the master as our instructor was unfortunately ill. I hope everyone enjoyed learning the new kata and working on the basics. I was really impressed with everyone's progress and well done for picking up Taikyoku Shodan so quickly!

Be sure to check your emails (or view it here: http://eepurl.com/qh16L) as there are some important announcements today with further details about membership, equipment orders and tonight's social.

Be the leaf!

Thanks everyone for really putting your hearts into a physically demanding session yesterday. Was anyone else reminded of being a leaf in the wind during the dodging exercises?



From now on every Wednesday will have a similar focus on fitness, conditioning and sparring, with some traditional elements forming the backbone.

Come along on Friday for a more traditional lesson working on stance and form. We'll be training in a squash court as the open day is kicking us out of the hall.

This Saturday

Hey guys,

just a friendly reminder that our first Karate social is coming up this saturday after training.
If you have joined our facebook group you should be able to see the event, and it is basically a bar crawl around town with a Karate themed twist. Dress up as any fictional character associated with your belt colour, so for all the new white belts we hope to see some coming as Gandalf or the White Witch from Narnia. We hope as many people as possible can make it as it will be a great opportunity for the whole club to get to know one another, and to meet some new people.

Feel free to bring along any friends and housemates, as we want as many people as possible to know about the Karate club. The plan is to meet in Mungo's at around half past 6 and stay there till about 7:30 before heading down to the Monument, where we will get some cheap drink deals. Then we will have a bar crawl around town, so if any freshers fancy getting to know the best bars in town, it will be great to see you. If you can't get a costume don't worry about it come and have a great time and see you all at training this week!

-Dean

Social Secretary

Also this week:

Our next session is this Wenesday (tomorrow) 6-8pm in the Main Hall of the Sports Centre. Come along. Bring a friend. Wear a gi or just ordinary sports-wear. We will be continuing to go over a wide range of techniques to familiarise everyone with the martial art and with our club.
There will also be training on Friday but in the different location due to an Open Day.Training on Friday will be 6-8pm in a squash court.

On Saturday, we will be having another 'Wild Saturday' before the Social. This week's theme is kata (choreographed simulations linking moves together). It will be lead by a special guest instructor, Sempai Koha, an honorary member for life who played a major part in the club last year. Advanced members can expect to learn a fun new kata and beginners will get a head start on their first grading kata. Again, the Open Day has pushed us out so we will be in the Small Hall 1-2pm and move to the Small Hall Balcony 2-3pm.

Week 1

What a fantastic start to the term! It was great to see so many fresh faces at the Sports Fayre and at our first official training session. We will be continuing to do 'taster' sessions for the duration of the two week trial period. If you come along, expect to be led through from walking to flying. For more details, this is the email sent out this week: Week 1 Newsletter

For this week's 'Wild Saturday' we will be running a short kumite (fighting) course. Last Saturday's was a massive success with both experienced and brand-new karateka coming together to practice some hands-on self-defence. Here's a little peek at how it went.

Wild Saturdays!

This year we want to try to do something interesting every Saturday. Whether that is guest instructors, trips around the UK, or just trying sometyhing completely different like weapons!

This Saturday (22nd) we'll be running a 'Goshin-style' street self-defence training session.

Come find us in the Main Hall at the University Sports Centre at 1pm-3pm. And don't forget to come find us at the Sports Fayre on Friday.

Mailing List

We're re-doing our mailing list!

So to keep up-to-date with all of the latest news on guest instructors, seminars and weekly training, subscribe at http://eepurl.com/pA1i1

Or leave your details with us at the Sports Fayre this Friday, 21st September.

Our print order has been placed and we're looking forward to Welcome Week. Here's a sneaky peak.

Jindokai Martial Arts Association

With the new academic year fast approaching, I have a message to share from Professor Stephen Chan, the founder of the new martial arts association that we are proud to be a part of.


"We are Jindokai, "the society of the path of benevolence"

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In the short time since we agreed to leave the Dentokan we have, in a spirit of democracy and transparency, consulted widely among our British and international members and an overwhelming majority have chosen Jindokai as our new name. It means the society of the path of benevolence, which is in keeping with our decades-old values.

"We will start using the new name immediately, but rebranding is always a process rather than something done overnight. Not everybody has been in the loop over recent events. On the 28th of July, after a meeting of national and international dojo heads in London, the English Karate Federation will be officially informed. It has already been informally notified but, as in all constitutionally-driven changes, the formal meeting must first be held to make the change official.

"But, to avoid confusion, the new name will be used from now in all our own communications.

Stephen

The club will continue to train under chief instructor Mark Caddy in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate. Being with Jindokai also connects us with many excellent instructors in other karate styles and other martial arts such as Goshin (modern self defence), Kobujutsu (weapons), JuJutsu and Iai (swords). Essentially it means that we'll have more freedom to cater the running of the club to our students.

Grading on Tuesday 3rd April

The Spring term graing will be held on Tuesday 3rd April at the Dance Studio from 8pm till 10pm. Those who will be grading will need to be there ON TIME.

Good luck to all!

New Committee Elected

The Karate Club committee for the academic year 2012-13 has been elected. The results are as follows:

President - Samantha Corder
Vice president - Bryan Vargas
Secretary - Andrew Voneshen
Treasurer - Robert Bellchambers
Social sec - Dean Hochlaf

Congratulations and good luck to the new committee!