Starting karate is easy, just come along to watch a session or better still, wear loose sports clothing and join a class. You'll soon find it is a fascinating way to keep fit.

You don't need to be fit or flexible, these will come as you progress in your training. Easy to follow classes designed for complete beginners where we do not expect you to have any prior martial arts experience - in fact the less experience you have, the faster you will progress.

Physically you will develop effective self defence skills along with fun workouts to progressively improve fitness, stamina, co-ordination and flexibility.

Mentally, karate is about personal development, inner confidence and assertiveness, not aggression. The core philosophy of karate training is courtesy, integrity and perseverance.

Training is conducted in a safe, friendly atmosphere so come along, meet new friends and try out our classes.


Typical Karate Session:

Warm Up

We usually begin with loosening up exercises, nothing strenuous, just sensible warming up with light stretching to help develop a good range of motion and raise the heart rate for exercise.

Reiho

Next, we line up and perform kneeling bow - once to the front and once to the class.

Kihon

We train basic techniques to learn how to use the body for both kicking and punching, first standing on the same spot and then moving, usually in lines together.

Kata

Kata training will follow in which we practice a sequence of movements arranged in a set pattern. These are done on your own but within the group. Kata are the method by which karate has been handed down through generations.

They provide us with a challenging physical and mental puzzle and are very demanding if you want to reach a high level. Well performed kata is often regarded as the epitomy of karate skill. Women often excell in this aspect as men too frequently struggle to use their body naturally and instead perform forceful movements.

Kumite

After kata we train kumite - pair techniques. These range in complexity from basic pre-arranged exchanges to controlled free exchange. We also train some traditional techniques including seated (kneeling) techniques using throwing and joint locks as well as standing knife defence techniques.

Lastly, as we have good facilities in our dojo, we often include bagwork and padwork to help develop good impact in our technique and to give a good cardio workout.

Training will finish with some cooling down stretching and final kneeling bows.

When we are training, we usually use the Japanese terminology which you quickly get used to hearing.

You will only train to the level of your own ability so the amount of time you put into your training determines how far or fast you progress. We use a coloured belt system up to black belt level.

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If you want to get a clearer picture of karate technique then we recommend Shingo Ohgami's books from Amazon (see links below). These provide the definitive guide to Wadoryu karate in English and are excellent reference sources at any stage in your karate training.