Sensei Ichigowa 8th Dan with Sensei Andy Major 5th Dan Te-Ashi-Do.

                        After training and a nice meal and a few beers a most enjoyable trip.

Training in JAPAN 2012 Sensei Mick Ellis 6th Dan /Matt Demarzo 3rd Dan /Sensei Rob Curtis 6th Dan/Sensei Andy Major 5th Dan/ George Gravestock 1st Dan & Joe 1st Dan .
At Sofia university Dojo .

A Happy Christmas to everyone i hope you all had a lovely break ,All classes resume on Monday 7th January .

A Happy New year to all of you this year we will be holding regular squad training for competition practice so watch this space .
Here is Sensei Sugimoto 6th Dan 2x former world shotokan kumite champion and Kata champion with Sensei Andy Major 5th Dan.

Sunday 15th July 2012.
We had a very sucessfull grading with 45 students taking and passing their grades, Every single one of them performed to a high standard and made it a very pleasant day and as the grading panel said "it made their job easy".
Following on from the general grading we had 5 candidates going for their Dan grades .
Billy Roche was taking hes Black belt 1st Dan , Charlie Lampshire/Paul Fitzgerald/Alan Worrell and John Lawrenson were all taking their 2nd Dan grades.
The grading panel consisted of Sensei's Mick Ellis 5th Dan Rob Curtis 5th Dan Andy Major 5th Dan and fellow instructor Colin Blencowe 2nd Dan.
All candidates were taken/ drilled through basic techniques followed by pre-set combination's and then Kata , one Kata chosen by the candidate then 2 high level and 1 Pinan chosen by the panel. All were performed very well showing the right spirit and tempo , one or two very minor faults appeared but overall their standard was good this was followed by throwing and locking techniques working with a partner. After an exhausting 2 hours the Kumite commenced each candidate had to fight each with a minimum of 3 fights each after which they were all very very tired but also all had passed. A big well done to all of them its great to see students you've trained for many years come through to such a good level of Karate and long may they continue to progress . 

Newsletter

Here is a reminder of one or two up and coming events for your diary.

Adult students only   I will be holding a Knife defense course on Sunday 22^nd May at Epping sports centre it will be in the afternoon (about 3 – 5) time to be confirmed those of you who have been before please bring along your practice knives, please book in advance as this is a very popular event.

We have been asked to do a demonstration at Epping junior school on Saturday 18^th June in St Johns rd the time is to be confirmed, this is for their school fete and I would like to see as many of you as possible helping out so they we can put on a great display.

We have also been asked to do a demonstration on Sunday 19^th June at Stonards hill in Epping for the Epping Town Day event which will involve many other clubs from and around Epping taking part, again this is a great opportunity for us to promote the Karate club and recruit some new members so please do try to support both events.

Note.  If your school is having an event/fete and would like to have a Karate display let your teacher know that we would be happy to do one for them.

There will be a grading on Sunday 10^th July at St Johns senior school in Epping those of you who will be grading will receive a grading form from your instructor. I will be holding a KATA course prior to the grading on Sunday 26^th June as a few of you have said that this would help you to prepare for your grading I will confirm the time and venue a.s.a.p.

Summer T-Shirts   We now have club T-Shirts for sale at £15 these can be worn in class during the hot weather (not at gradings) and can be worn as an undergarment in winter so buy one.

KATA d.v.ds   We also have two Kata d.v.ds for you to buy the first one covers all the basic Pinan Kata as well as Tyoku sono ichi  the second one is for the advanced Kata such as Kushanku / Naihanchi and Seishan at £10 each. These are an invaluable training aid for you as you can practice at home as well as in the class it shows the Kata in detail from many different angles and they show the correct footwork and hand positions and techniques so see your instructor about buying them.

We will be doing our club competition for the juniors around September time and I will give out entry forms once a date and venue are confirmed this will be a Kumite competition and all participants will receive a medal for taking part.

And lastly just a reminder to check and make sure your license is up to date.