Author: Dave Roberts

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HANDBRIDGE SHOTOKAN KARATE CLUB – 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Handbridge Shotokan Karate Club (HSKC) was formally established by Sensei Geoff Wilding on the 4th May 1969 as a totally non-profit making club.

Fast forward 50 years, and the club is still active under the leadership of Chief Instructor Sensei Michael O’ Connor 7th Dan KUGB.

To celebrate this amazing achievement, a special training session has been arranged with Sensei O’ Connor. This will take place on Saturday 4th May 2019 at Queens Park High School from 11:15 to 12:45. In order to make this a very special occasion, we would like to invite students from all KUGB clubs (all grades) to participate in this special training session. Sensei O’ Connor is one of only four 7th Dans in the KUGB and his karate knowledge is extensive.

Following on from the training session, there will be a celebratory gathering at
Westminster Park Community Centre commencing at 5pm. All members and past members are welcome with family as are any other members of the KUGB

We would like to make this a very special event to acknowledge the dedication and
commitment to an outstanding karate instructor, without whom, many members of
HSKC would not be where they are today. Any KUGB member who would like to attend
the special training session and/or the celebratory gathering, please contact us via the contact form, email or on Facebook (Click here for Facebook training session event and here for the party event)

Let’s make this a day to remember.

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Grading results April 2018

Well done to the following who successfully graded at Handbridge last night.

James Matthews (Nuffield Life Centre)
Mason Artell
Elliott Barnes
Jake Nieri
Sophia Sullivan
Niele PeraltaBezerra
Kevin Swanton
Victoria Kolodziejska
Pati Holowacz
Sarah Reynolds
Lydia Stent
Jessica Partington (Hutton)
Lowri Jones

Great training session and grading with Sensei Sherry followed by a full on senior class.

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Grading Results December 2018

Well done to:

Zak Hughes
Elliott Barnes
Ian Crewe
Rowan Evans-Jones
Victoria Kolodziejska
Pati Holowacz
Phoebe Ward
Adam Preece
Sarah Okeny
Lenon Richards (Rhyl and Prestatyn)
Kouki Hirakawa
Mia Hirakawa

For all successfully grading last night.

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Grading and Training December 2018

MONDAY 3rd December 2018 – GRADING

Sensei Sherry is coming to the club for training and grading.

Training to start at 6pm till just after 7pm followed immediately by the HSKC Club grading.

After the grading will be the senior class. Expected start is 7:30pm.

KUGB Guests welcome.

 

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Special Dan Grading Results

Congratulations to Dave Roberts and Phil Dennis who both graded to 3rd Dan at the Special Dan Course in Bath on Saturday the 6th of October. Very well done!

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Sensei Frank Brennan

 

Monday 22nd October 2018

Sensei Frank Brennan

6pm-7pm Beginners/Intermediates Standard and Family Rates

7pm-8:30pm Advanced £10 Adults, £5 Black Belt Juniors

Guests Welcome

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Sensei Frank Brennan

Monday 17th September 2018

Sensei Frank Brennan

6pm-7pm Beginners/Intermediates Standard and Family Rates

7pm-8:30pm Advanced £10 Adults, £5 Black Belt Juniors

Guests Welcome

 

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Sensei Sherry 10th September 2018

Another great session with Sensei Sherry at Handbridge last night.

The kyu grades had the usual detailed review of basics, especially focusing on shuto followed by kata and kumite.

 

This was followed by a mini grading for students that missed the last grading. Well done to Niele Bezerra, Sophia Sullivan and Kevin Swanton for successfully grading to 8th kyu.

Niele Bezerra, Sophia Sullivan and Kevin Swanton with Sensei Sherry.

Then came the black belt session with some good kumite followed by a good look at compulsory katas for 3rd dan in preparation for the Special Dan course in Bath next month for Dave Roberts, Phil Dennis and Alun Hughes.

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Barefoot Karate

I have been reading with interest articles on the potential benefits of barefoot running.

The argument is that modern running shoes and possibly shoes in general could be bad for you.

Now for many years I have had problems with my feet. I was initially diagnosed with fallen arches and spent a fortune on various supports and orthotics none of which worked. If I did a lot of walking, after a while my feet would start to hurt, in particular my right foot.

After seeing a specialist, I was then diagnosed with Morton’s neuroma and was booked in for an operation.

This was 10 years ago, and I was a regular squash player, squash didn’t really affect my feet, but as a 50 year old, I was getting more and more niggly injuries.  I started looking around for something else to do to supplement my squash. I did look at the various classes in the gym where I played squash, but didn’t really fancy them. My son was doing ju-jitsu, but I thought that would be too tough on my back and out of interest googled karate and Chester. So that is how I started karate again after a 30-year break!

Now finding out more about the operation, it turned out I would have to wear a special shoe for 6 months and would not be able to play squash, cycle or train, so I decided to cancel the operation and live with the pain.

Coming back to karate was great, my squash meant I was really fit, and karate improved my flexibility and strength. But another surprising benefit was that slowly but surely all my foot problems disappeared. I can now walk all day with no problems.

This just demonstrates yet another benefit to karate, a benefit that you may not have thought about, so get to the dojo and take those shoes off!