For our junior class schedule & term dates and terms & conditions of payment please click the respective links.
General info on our junior program:
Karate is a method of self-defence and self-protection with additional features such as the health & fitness aspect, building self-esteem & confidence, increasing concentration levels and working in an atmosphere where mutual respect and self-discipline play major roles.
Our school certainly recognizes these important aspects while maintaining that fundamentally karate is about the ability to defend yourself if the necessity ever occurs. The methodology that is used if that of kata (classical forms) which transmit the full scale of defensive principles and tactics used in our school.
The defensive applications culminated in kata (forms) are developed through what is referred to in Japanese as futari geiko practice which means 2-person drill training. Without linking the defensive themes of kata to functional 2 person drill training developing functional spontaneity of the techniques kata deals with is virtually impossible.
Our kata list consists of a selection of kata that can be found in different modern karate styles such as:
- Naifanchin, the original kata Itosu Ankoh (Funakoshi Gishin’s teacher) derived the Tekki kata from.
- Passai, Niseishi and Seisan renamed Bassai, Nijushiho and Hangetsu in its modern interpretation by Funakoshi sensei (Shotokan).
- Kusankun, the kata the Pinan series (Wado Ryu) were derived from.
- Sanchin and Chokyu-gata (Goju Ryu’s Gekisai) etc
The ‘old’ versions (i.e. Naifanchin, not Tekki, Kusankun, not Kanku etc) move away from a modern ‘form over function’ approach in search of the classical self-defense based themes kata transmits.
This study into the universal principles shared by these varies styles is reflected in our kata curriculum.
The kata are: Sanchin, Tai Sabaki, Chokyu, Happoren, Seisan, Naifanchin, Nanshu, Hakutsuru, Kusankun, Nepai, Passai, Rakanken, Ryushan, Sochin, Unsu, Niseishi and Wando.
A heavy influence of White Crane gongfu can be seen too i.e. Happoren, Nepai, Hakatsuru are all either classical white crane routines or compilations of those defensive principles found in the White Crane arts.
In addition to our kata program, which includes the 2 person drill practices (futari geiko) associated to kata, our club defines 3 levels of engagement of kumite practice (sparring) that roughly run parallel with the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels in our club. These 3 levels are:
- standing impact (i.e. punches, kicks, defences & counters)
- standing impact combined with nage waza (throws & take-downs)
- ground work
It should be noted that these different levels of engagement go back to before the establishment of formal rules & regulations in modern sports karate which have re-defined the art as solely about of punching and kicking, moving away from the core subject the art specializes in: self-defence and self-protection regardless the type of attacks i.e. being punched, thrown, kicked while on the ground etc..
For more info on our junior program please contact us through this site or talk to the instructor at class.
From January 2012 our junior karate program takes place in the following area’s: Bethnal Green (E2), Homerton (E9), Hoxton( N1), Isleworth (Middlesex) and Holloway (N7).
Other Junior Clubs:
ABA Boxing Awards
An extracurricular class that runs on behalf of the Amateur Boxing Association England (ABA) held at Abney Hall in Stoke Newington (Hackney) in East London.
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