6th December 2017 | Grading
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...24th February 2017 | Grading
On Friday 17th February I was awarded my 6th Dan in Karate from Steve Rowe Sensei/Sifu 9th Dan, head of Shi Kon Martial Arts. Quite a few people have asked me what is involved in a Black Belt grading involved and whether it was simply a time served promotion. The... 
10th January 2017 | Self Defence, Uncategorized
As parents we have an ability and even a responsibility to help elevate our children’s confidence to help them become happier and even more successful. Confidence will lead them on the path to success. These 5 Tips for raising a confident child will help you to... 
15th December 2016 | Grading
Traditionally December is our biggest grading of the year and the one that prompts the most nerves as it is also the time for our annual Black Belt gradings. During the course of December we ran three Judo gradings (one at the club and two in schools that we run after... 
4th January 2016 | Coaching
SO YOU THINK IT’S EASY FOR ME? ‘Yes, but it’s easy for you’ are words I hear frequently when coaching, typically when asking students to challenge themselves with something they cannot yet do. Yes I’m a Kata World champion, European champion, British champion and... 
31st December 2015 | Blog Posts
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... 
28th October 2015 | Coaching
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...24th October 2013 | Black Belt Research Project 2013
Fear as described in the dictionary is: An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat, but what does it actually do when we feel it? The brain structure that is the center of most neurobiological...2nd October 2013 | Black Belt Research Project 2013
Question A: The first question I will answer is: When we practise a martial art, sometimes things go really well and sometimes they don’t go well at all. How do you encourage someone when things aren’t going so well? First of all I will explain how it feels like when... 
1st May 2013 | Black Belt Research Project 2013
The project I have to do for my Black Belt grading is “Learning a martial art is said to be character building” and I have three questions that I will have to answer. They are: 1 – How would martial arts help someone who is- 2 – Shy 3 – Aggressive 4...17th February 2013 | Health and Fitness
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... 
8th February 2013 | Self Defence
Martial Arts isn’t all about fighting, far from it. Martial Arts is all about setting yourself up for challenges, meeting them and overcoming them. Physically and Emotionally this is the case whether it’s just turning up for your first class, being...27th January 2013 | Coaching, Self Defence
Well the Christmas season is well and truly over. The season of goodwill to all men is gone as well, but it doesn’t have to be. Think about how we act and what we say. How many times do we hear snippets from a conversation that goes something like this.... 
24th January 2013 | Grading, Updates
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... 
3rd January 2013 | Coaching
“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...29th December 2012 | Health and Fitness, Self Defence
Here we go again. It’s time for people to start their annual fitness regime with all the best intentions in the world. You can just hear it can’t you……”Well it’s a new Year and I’m going to get fit and lose weight.”... 
26th December 2012 | Health and Fitness, Self Defence
At our Martial Arts school in Basingstoke we talk about developing the student ‘holistically’ or developing the ‘whole person’ rather than ‘teaching people how to fight.’ What does this mean? Some schools say that the sole purpose of training in the... 
14th December 2012 | Coaching
We may all have different reasons for taking up Martial Arts but we should all have goals and aspirations for what we want to achieve from our training. It may be that you want to learn how to defend yourself, make new friends, achieve a black belt, be successful in... 
7th December 2012 | Coaching
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...