After a decade of teaching Martial Arts in Basingstoke and nearly 40 years of learning and teaching several Martial Arts, my experiences is that we all reach plateaus in our training. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a hard combative martial art like Karate, Judo...
Does experience matter? From time to time that old chestnut pops up on the internet about people who are n’t Black belts teaching Martial Arts and whether this is an acceptable approach or not. The main thrust of the two arguments are:- You don’t need to be a Black...
Congratulations to club coaches, Paula Clarke, Mark van Meerkerk and Emma McDade upon the successful completion and passing of their Level 2 Martial Arts Coaching Qualification under the auspices of the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts.
Saturday 8th February saw our Karate club run a Kata Masterclass in Basingstoke. 4th Dan Lindsey Andrews and current World Veterans Kata Champion taught the Shito Ryu Kata Nipaipo. Lindsey began with a brief history of Nipaipo and throughout the Masterclass gave...
Talking about work and education Following on from my previous update on communication skills in other sports, in this update, I will be looking at how these same skills are transferable into work and education. However as a student with little experience of work I...
Coaching Communication Following on from methods of communication we use for learning martial arts, the next area of my research project involves communication used by martial arts teachers to coach – b) As a martial arts teacher, what methods of communication do we...
Learning and studying Kata is an important part of karate training. As a form of training it teaches us co-ordination, concentration, develops physical strength, speed, focus, power, breath control and martial skill. The process of learning kata involves many layers...
I’m a Black Belt, I don’t need to train as much…Often the immortal words said by someone who thinks they’ve made it and stops training because they are now an awesome ‘Teacher.’ Gichin Funakoshi (Founder of Shotokan Karate) said...
Black Belt Research Project 2013 Introduction by Zane Sewell As part of the preparation for my black belt examination I am going to complete a project looking at how I can help and encourage others to become the best of themselves in their Martial Arts. To explore...
The differences between Beginners and Advanced practitioners. Beginners- White, Orange and Red belts By Jess Muller I feel that beginners should spend the majority of their lesson time working on their fundamentals. This should include: the stances, the blocks, kicks...
The Arts of Communication Grading Project 2013 Aaron Potter My project for my black belt grading is split up into four main areas: a) As a Martial Artist what methods of communication do we use to learn Martial Arts? b) As a Martial Arts teacher what methods of...
As a Martial Artist, most of us want to be the best that we can be, at what we do or at least that’s what many of us tell our instructors/coaches. The first thing we need to ask ourselves is what does “being the best we can be look like” for me? What...
As Martial Artists, we should all seek to constantly challenge ourselves to test our knowledge and skills every time we train. As Gichin Funakoshi (who is credited with introducing Karate to Japan) said “Karate is like warm water. If you don’t heat it...
“Stronger” “Faster” are two of the most overused words in Karate and usually without a correct understanding of the meaning behind the words. Some of the best Karate-ka I have ever seen have come from a ballet or dance background. Sure the flexibility that is...
Our Martial Arts School based in Basingstoke held a grading on Saturday 8th December with members attending from both our Alton and Basingstoke classes. The grading itself was split into four different groups dependent upon age and ability. This was also one of two...
You’ve got real potential! How many time do we hear this said of ourselves and then then start to feel really proud of our accomplishments because someone has said this to us. For most of us this would be the norm. Why? Because it makes us feel good about...
Our Karate club’s Head Coach Bryan Andrews was invited to hold a seminar and grading in Iver for Tsunami Martial Arts, which is a club based in West London and Norfolk. Paul Pretty 4th Dan is the Chief Instructor of the club and he and Bryan have known each...
The Martial Arts are primarily feminine. Many would think this a strange statement until they start to look a bit deeper. By nature men are linked to the sun (yang) and women to the moon (yin). Women have a 28 day biorhythmic cycle and their emotions change to reflect...
One of the primary methods for learning a martial art is repetition. Although our job as coaches is to make classes varied and interesting for the students, it is important that we constantly repeat particular actions, movements and sequences over and over again,...
“Any questions?” A sea of blank faces look back. “Did you understand the principles taught?” Did I almost see a nod from one person? The Martial Arts is a funny old game. We are told that it is traditionally taught by blind acceptance/faith. The Instructor stands...
