Success or Not

Being a Martial Artist we learn and practice discipline and an ethos of self reliance to help us further our physical and emotional skills. We can work with coaches that are the best in the world, train with the best students and in the best facilities. However the...
Black Belt Grading – Congratulations

Black Belt Grading – Congratulations

On the weekend of 2nd December we held our biggest grading of the year in Basingstoke. We had students from Karate, Ju Jitsu and Judo all grading. Of which Seven of them were being examined for their Black Belt. The weekend started with the younger children from the...
Life is like a Jigsaw

Life is like a Jigsaw

Two days before Christmas I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon at a friend’s house. Laid out on the table was a jigsaw. The edges were complete but nothing else, hundreds of pieces scattered around waiting to be found and placed in an orderly fashion. As...
Fear and the Martial Arts

Fear and the Martial Arts

We are all afraid of something at times. Anyone who tells you that they’ve never been afraid is lying. For some people it’s Spiders (Arachnephobia or Arachnophobia) or Clowns (Coulrophobia) or Heights (Hypsiphobia) or Flying (Pteromerhanophobia) or...
Too tired to train?

Too tired to train?

The winter nights are here now. It’s cold outside. You’ve got a good book. A warm cup of coffee. You feel tired from work. There’s a good movie on TV. The dog gets lonely….. The next time you feel like a night off or can’t be bothered,...
The Eight Principles of Martial Arts

The Eight Principles of Martial Arts

  The Eight Principles of Martial Arts by Wayne Roberts On the wall of our dojo in Basingstoke is a list of 8 words that face students every day when we train. I have to admit that even though I have previously looked at these words many times, I don’t...

Brainy Black Belts

According to the BBC a Martial Arts Black Belt’s skill in punching has more to do with his brains rather than his brawn. This is what the article had to say on the subject.   Karate punching power ‘all in the brain’ By Jonathan Ball BBC News Black...