Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International
News and Club Notices
Updated January 20th, 2012
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Find us on Facebook… SSKI now have a page on Facebook – click on the Facebook logo above and follow the instructions to join the group and keep up-to-date with all the latest news and events, discussions and on–line chat! Please note: Facebook account required for this – group name: SSKI Honbu Dojo
March 17th Sat… ETNA Nunchaku Course at Hemel Hempstead School from 12.30–2.30pm, £20, all are welcome.
Sat/Sun Feb 4/5… SSKI Open Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan
Training Times
Prices The above Course is at Hemel Hempstead School, Anchor Lane. HP1 1TX. |
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Dec 11th… Results from the 2011 Kata Competition held at the Hemel Hempstead Honbu Dojo.
Dan Grading… On Saturday 3rd December 2011, at the honbu dojo in Hemel Hempstead, the following students successfully passed their respective Dan gradings:
Shodan – Lauren Brooks (Old Basing) and Monika Orban (London)
Nidan – Sarah Brown (London) and Danny Richards (Hemel Hempstead)
Sandan – Stacey Barton (Hemel Hempstead)
Well done to all the above who put up an excellent performance on the day.
 L–R: Sarah Brown, Monika Orban, Stacey Barton, Malcolm Phipps, Danny Richards and Lauren Brooks |
JKS 2011 England Open Shotokan Karate Championships – 27th November…
Ladies 16–18yrs Cadet Kumite – 3rd Arthi Niranjan
We only took six competitors to this very prestigious tournament, which was absolutely packed with competitors and spectators alike, with many spectators having to stand for the whole day’s proceedings. We were very unlucky in certain categories and had some very harsh refereeing decisions go against us. It does seem that in many tournaments that we enter it is a case of if your face fits etc etc, I do tire of poor refereeing decisions and in many cases blatant cheating by certain referees and judges always plumping for their own students. Also, I personally think it is disgusting when you go to certain tournaments where there are three, four or indeed sometimes five of the same association in all the refereeing and judging chairs. I’m not saying they are all cheating but when there is a very close decision to be made when one of their club or association students are competing, they nearly always take the very biased view and give the decision to their own club or association’s student. I have seen this now for many years but I really do think that this year (2011) it has been very noticeable. I cannot think of another sport that has this problem and I know it is hard to rectify but I do think it is up to the Chief Referee or the organisers to see that any refereeing panel has different association referees or judges in all the positions on the day. Also, I personally thought some of our six competitors looked a little tired after the Portsmouth Open the week before and perhaps two major tournaments in eight days is too much.
Well done to Arthi who did very well to win the third place play–off match against a good competitor and to bring home our only medal on the day. Daniel White sensei did extremely well to make the men’s senior kata final and Adam Cockfield sensei also fought really well and made the quarter–finals of the men’s senior kumite event. The senior events on the day had a huge amount of competitors entered in them and most of these events had between 60 and 80 entries in them. I think one plus was that the tournament started dead on time and ran smoothly throughout the day on the three areas. It meant that we all got home at a reasonable time. Another long day but a good one and that is it for another year for outside tournaments. It has been a good year and well done to all the squad and its coaches.
 Arthi Niranjan making a point to take the bronze medal! |
Nov 19th… Results from the 2011 Portsmouth Open Karate Championships held at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth.
Christmas Training Times: The final lesson for the Hemel Hempstead Honbu Dojo before Christmas will be Wednesday 21st December, with training re-starting on Wednesday 4th January.
Congratulations! to Sensei Malcolm Phipps, who was awarded his 8th Dan during the Sensei Dave Hazard course held on September 24th/25th. * Click on each document to see a bigger image.
 A very happy Sensei Phipps receives his 8th Dan Hanshi |
 Letter from Sensei Richard Amos 6th Dan, |
 Email from SSKI–USA * |
 A proud Chief Instructor with his 8th Dan certificates with his Hemel Hempstead dojo students |
Wikipedia… Sensei Malcolm Phipps now has a page on Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopaedia – check it out! Click here to see his page.
Shobu-Ippon Medal Table – SSKI is still in the very prestigious number one spot; well done to all who have helped make it so! Click here to see the table.
Club documentation – Licence Form
Now available, our own Association Japanese script (kanji) for black-belts from Japan.
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Kanji says: Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International and then you can have your name on the other end of the belt in either English or Japanese (Katakana). Cotton belts and silk belts both available. For details of prices and sizes etc please speak to Sensei Phipps. Be proud to wear your personalised Association black-belt and be one of the very first to own such an article! Click on the kanji to see a bigger image. |
Mock Dan Gradings – From December 2009 the Mock Grading in the Hemel Hempstead dojo, which is held ten days prior to the Dan Grading itself, will now be compulsory for ALL students taking Dan Gradings. A student not attending the Mock Grading will not be allowed to take the Dan Grading immediately following. This is for the sole benefit of the student taking the said grading.
Dan Grading Kata – From December 2009 a student taking the nidan exam will not be allowed to perform Bassai-dai kata as their tokui kata. Likewise a student taking the sandan exam will not be allowed to perform katas Jion, Bassai-dai or Hangetsu as their tokui kata. For these advanced gradings a new kata should be studied and performed and not one that has been previously performed as a shitei kata in a previous grading.
‘Little Book of Seishinkai’ – The new, limited edition, special 25th anniversary edition of the ‘Little Book of Seishinkai’ (gold edition) is now available from the Association HQ or ask your sensei for details. Book is £10 and signed copies are available!
New Association Baseball Caps for sale: £12 all sizes, order through Sensei Phipps.
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Sensei Dave Hazard’s Autumn Course with SSKI
Wow! What a wonderful weekend. The Course with Sensei Dave Hazard was just amazing and very well attended, and in all honesty if you didn’t have a good excuse why you weren’t there then you donêt know what you missed and I have to ask why these people are actually training in karate. The weekend’s Course was all based around kata and the first session worked on the kata Heian Shodan. The second session was all about the kata Heian Yondan and if you thought that this might be a little below your expectations, then think again. I have trained in Shotokan karate now for 39 years and I still learnt and picked up a great deal from these two basic kata. We did a great deal of bunkai with these kata and sensei worked on the transition of the individual movements, not just looking at shapes and the finished movement itself. Absolutely brilliant!
Day two was even better attended and the training started off with the more advanced kata, Ji’in. Again, absolutely superb with the dojo buzzing with excitement once this session was finished. As the class was just about to bow out at the end of this session, Sensei Tony Bunting interrupted the proceedings and proceeded to give a speech on my past karate achievements. I personally wondered what the hell was going on but then things became apparent as two large certificates were produced by Sensei Jeff Carson and Sensei Adam Cockfield. A wonderful letter was read out from the WTKO head instructors Sensei Richard Amos and Sensei John Mullin and as Tony finished his speech, then Sensei Dave Hazard took over. I have to say I was very touched by what Sensei Dave had to say about me and it brought a few tears to my eyes to know that someone I hold in the highest regard as the best instructor I have ever trained with actually thought these things about me. I was then presented with two wonderful 8th Dan certificates, one from the ISKS/SSKI and one from the WTKO. The ISKS had also made me up to the shogo title of Hanshi. Everyone then came up and congratulated me and this was just absolutely wonderful and then a photo session took place and these photos, certificates and the wonderful things that were said about me will remain with me until I leave this planet to train in the big dojo in the sky.
The final session was similar to day one where Sensei Hazard worked on the kata Heian Godan and again so much was learnt from his magnificent way of teaching, which just brought all of these kata to life. At the end of this session we had a surprise in store for him and after a quick speech by myself presented Sensei Hazard with a glass plaque, which had on it the following words:
A fitting tribute and ending to a wonderful weekend’s karate and I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Sensei Dave Hazard for such a brilliant weekend and one that will stay in my mind and my students and our guests forever. I personally would also like to thank Sensei Tony Bunting for all his hard work in running around like Secret Squirrel trying to keep the whole day a secret and for all his hard work in getting this award for me. Also, many thanks to the Executive Committee and to Sensei Jeff Carson and Sensei Sue Carson for organising a get–together meal after the Course was over and then opening up their house for drinks afterwards. If I have missed anybody out please forgive me but I am still very much over–awed by the whole day’s proceedings.
Sensei Malcolm Phipps (SSKI Chief Instructor)
 Sensei Hazard receiving his glass plaque from Sensei Phipps |
June Dan Grading Results… The following students were successful in passing their respective Dan grades at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo on Saturday 4th June 2011:
Sandan: Susan Carson, Arthi Niranjan
Nidan: Leah Groom, Petra Ewington and Lorraine Redford
Shodan: Mark Richards, Philip Barton, Stephanie Farrer, Olivia Christodoulou, Ethan Hagel and Akshay Nugent
Successful Dan Grade participants and the panel from the Association’s very positive June Dan grading
Sat April 9th… Congratulations to the following students who passed their first ETNA Nunchaku exam today at the Hemel Hempstead dojo:
Red Belt: Rachael Houlton, Eve Martinez, Arthi Niranjan, Sarah Brown, Rob Preece, Tony McEvoy, Leah Groom and Cameron West.
August 13th/14th…SSKI Results from the 3rd WJKA World Karate Championships at Wevelgem, Belgium
July 30th/31st… Ohio Ippon Weekend
The weekend was a huge success from start to finish with good, honest and genuine traditional Shotokan karate on show. It all started with the SSKI USA six–monthly Dan Grading where the Coons brothers (Sam, Joel and Josh) all passed their shodan exam in real style at the honbu dojo of SSKI USA, which is at Springfield Athletic club. The examiners for this very strict and tough test were Malcolm Phipps 7th Dan and Worldwide Chief Instructor to SSKI, Tony Bunting 6th Dan and Worldwide Assistant Chief Instructor to SSKI, Jeff Carson 4th Dan and International Chief Referee to SSKI, Jeff Sanders 3rd Dan and Randy Bodey 3rd Dan who are both SSKI USA senior instructors.
Next up on the Saturday was the annual seminar which was taken by Sensei Malcolm Phipps and Sensei Tony Bunting and was held in the Urbana Junior High School gymnasium. The first session was taken by Tony sensei with Malcolm sensei taking the afternoon session. Both sessions were really excellent and very well attended, with the dojo packed with students from SSKI USA, SSKI UK, the Cincinnati Japanese Karate-Do dojo of Sensei Sonny Kim, the Traditional Karate–Do dojo of Sensei Chuck Kerrigan and the Springfield, Illinois dojo. Everyone was buzzing with enthusiasm after this seminar and many lifelong karate friendships were made. This was followed by a cookout and fun at Sensei Randy Bodey’s house, which was a wonderful way to finish a very exciting and a very hot day. Finally, on the Sunday, the first annual Ohio Ippon Traditional Tournament was held at the same venue as the seminar. The camaraderie was amazing and the competition was of an excellent standard and the results can be seen below this article. A brilliant weekend came to an end with everyone saying their goodbyes and looking forward to meeting again in 2012 at this same event. True Shotokan karate at its very best. That same evening another wonderful evening was held at the home of Barry and Lori Hassler and his family where again much fun was had. Tony sensei went back to his home in England on the very next day with the black-belt Carson family of Jeff, Sue, Dougie, Ross and Thomas following suit a day later. Malcolm sensei would be staying for another week and a half teaching at the SSKI USA dojos in Springfield and Mechanicsburg. What a great and very successful weekend and one to be remembered for a long time to come. GOOD JOB!!!!
Jul 31st… Results from the 2011 Ohio Ippon Shotokan Karate Championships, held in Urbana, Ohio.
July 3rd… SSKI Results from the Shikon London International Open Karate Championships at Harlow Leisure Centre:
Men’s Senior Shobu–Ippon Kumite – 1st Adam Cockfield
Ladies Senior Kumite – 3rd Rachael Houlton
Considering the depleted squad that SSKI took to these championships (8 competitors), the above results were an excellent showing in a style of competition karate that we are not totally used to. If the Romanian team hadn’t attended, Adam would’ve picked up two more gold medals in the two kata events that were open to him, as the Romanian men took all three medal positions. Well done to all who took part and especially to Adam and Rachael.
June 8th… Many congratulations to Sensei Peter Welch on the passing of his 4th Dan grading; it was an excellent lesson and his interpretation of the kata Nijushiho was superb. Well done Peter!
March 28th… Hemel Hempstead Sponsored Punch (Proceeds to NSPCC & SSKI Squad)
The following are the totals for Hemel Hempstead’s sponsored punch:
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Sponsored Punch Result… The Hemel Hempstead club raised a total of £950.80; £475.40 will go to the NSPCC with the same amount going to the squad fund. Well done to all who took part in this very worthwhile event and also many thanks go to Sensei Paul Carvell for organising the whole event and collecting in the monies! The Old Basing and Lychpit clubs raised a total of £300.30 (split 50:50) in their one hour, 5,000 sponsored punchathon, so well done too to Sensei Peter Welch and his trusty band.
A cheque has now been sent to the NSPCC (Saturday 21st May) for £993.30, which is exactly half the total raised by the Hemel Hempstead, Winnersh and Old Basing sponsored events; the same amount goes to the SSKI Squad Fund. Well done to everybody who took part in these extremely worthwhile events! Click here to see the thank you letter received from the NSPCC.
Winnersh Club in Punchathon Too!… the Winnersh club raised £757 in total towards the NSPCC and the SSKI Squad Fund through their sponsored Punchathon; this total included a grant from KPMG organised by Kelly Peat sensei. Well done to all who participated in this event. See Winnersh Club page for photo.
SSKI Open Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan… Yet another excellent weekend’s seminar was held with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo of the Association on the weekend of 5/6th February. The course was very well subscribed to and everyone enjoyed all the sessions to the full; it is always great to see instructors and students from other Associations training on these courses and it was really nice to see the likes of Terry and George Oliver, Graham Palmer, Donovan Slue, Paul Herbert and many others at this seminar. The sessions included the kata Tekki Sandan and its bunkai, a self-defence session, an excellent punching session and a session working on stances and distance. Sensei Malcolm Phipps 7th Dan and Chief Instructor to SSKI thanked Sensei Hazard for another fantastic weekend’s karate and now everyone looks forward to his return on the weekend of the 24/25th September 2011. Don’t miss out – they don’t come any better than this!
Sensei Phipps and Sensei Hazard
Starting in January 2011… New club in St Albans (Herts) run by Tony Bunting 6th Dan. See UK Clubs for full details.
December Dan Grading Results… The following students were successful in passing their respective Dan grades at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo on Saturday 4th December 2010:
Nidan: Gary Richards, Sam Richards and Cameron West
Shodan: Anthony Kelley, Steven Holt, Cristy Nash, Ben Whitburn, Matthew Redford, Eve Martinez and Lewis Collins
New Dan Grades with a proud Chief Instructor at the December Dan Grading
SSKI Open Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan… Yet another superb weekend’s Course was held with Sensei Hazard at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo of the Association on the weekend of 25/26th September. The Course was well subscribed to and everyone enjoyed all the sessions to the full; it is always great to see instructors and students from other Associations training on these Courses and it was excellent to see the likes of Matt Powell, Terry Oliver, Graham Palmer, Donovan Slue and others at this seminar. The sessions included the kata Jion and its bunkai, a self-defence session and a session on being able to perform kata in a very limited space. Sensei Phipps thanked Sensei Hazard for another fantastic weekend’s karate and now everyone looks forward to his return on the weekend of the 5/6th February 2011.
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Congratulations… At the very prestigious 14th Oceania Karate Championships which were held in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia on the 17–19 September 2010, SSKI’s Teiki Benveniste took an excellent silver medal in the men’s under 75kgs kumite division in front of his home crowd. Many congratulations to Teiki who came home safely and went on to win the SSKI National men’s kumite title in October 2010. Well done Teiki, we are all very proud of you!
June 30th Wed… Malcolm Phipps sensei would just like to thank Darren Jumnoodoo sensei for the superb course he took at the Association’s honbu dojo in Hemel Hempstead School. Everyone enjoyed this course immensely, which gave a totally different outlook on the practice of kata. The course was also attended by the Chief Instructor to SKKIF in Chile, Hernan, and his friend Carlos and afterwards around 15 karateka attended the Bengal Spice for a good curry and a beer. At the beginning of this course, Phipps sensei awarded Adam Cockfield sensei a new silk Kaiten black-belt with the new Association kanji on it and Adam’s name in katakana, thanking him for his tireless hard work with the SSKI squad. Adam sensei takes the squad on a monthly basis and at his request accepts no monies for his time in this venture. Well done Adam and once again thank you Darren.
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June 5th Sat… Congratulations to Luke Redford (Hemel Hempstead dojo) and Caspar Mahoney (London dojo) on passing their shodan grades.
2010 Squad – the SSKI Squad 2010 in their new tracksuits at the February training session.
SSKI Open Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan – Another absolutely wonderful weekend’s course was held with Sensei Hazard at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo of the Association on the weekend of 6/7th February. The course was well subscribed to and everyone enjoyed every session they attended. It is always great to see instructors and students from other Associations training on these courses and it was excellent to see the likes of Matt Powell, Graham Palmer, Donovan Slue and others at this seminar. The junior session on the Saturday concentrated mainly on blocking and counter attacking, in a kind of a clock formation, covering all of the basic blocks and using many different angles while the senior session was a kicking lesson using most of the kicks used in Shotokan karate. On the first session on the Sunday Sensei Hazard concentrated on the Shotokan kata Empi and its applications with the final session being used for close-quarter combat using open-handed techniques only. Sensei Phipps thanked Sensei Hazard for another fantastic weekend’s karate and now everyone looks forward to his return in September of this year.
Sensei Phipps and Sensei Hazard.
Sponsorship – Many thanks must go to Sensei Tony Bunting 6th Dan, who has obtained sponsorship to the tune of £900 from the Buckinghamshire Building Society and the Harpenden Building Society for the new 2010 squad tracksuit tops. Well done Tony, you’re a star!
New SSKI USA Website – we are pleased to announce that the new SSKI USA website is now up and running.
4th Dan Grading – Many congratulations to Jeff Carson who passed his 4th Dan Grading on Monday December 14th.
Dan Gradings – Congratulations to all who passed at the Association Dan Grading on Saturday December 12th: Shodan – Danny Richards, Emily Blundell and Karen Snowley. Nidan – Teiki Benveniste and Thomas Oliver.
Sept 19/20 Sat/Sun… Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan – SSKI Open Autumn Course: Another absolutely brilliant SSKI Open Course with Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan was experienced by those who attended on the two days of Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September 2009. Sessions included street situations using our karate skills, the kata Gankaku and its bunkai and an excellent keri (kicking) session to finish the weekend off. At these seminars four instructors from the USA branch of SSKI attended and were in absolute awe of Sensei Hazard and the superb Course. The four, who travelled 8000 miles round trip to train with Sensei Hazard were Randy Bodey 2nd Dan, Jeff Sanders 2nd Dan, Jan Meyer 2nd Dan and Dennis Huff 1st Dan. Sensei Phipps thanked Sensei Hazard for the brilliant weekend and everyone is looking forward to the two Courses with Sensei Hazard in 2010. The dates are 6/7th February and 25/26th September 2010.
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(L to R: Dave Hazard, Randy Bodey, Jan Meyer, Jeff Sanders, Malcolm Phipps, Dennis Huff, Shaun Banfield) |
July 4/5th – Sensei Hazard 7th Dan Course: Another brilliant weekend’s course (at the Hemel Hempstead Dojo) with Sensei Hazard, where on the Saturday he covered the kata Gojushiho-dai for the senior grades and on the Sunday close–quarter techniques using the elbows and open-handed techniques. The junior grades were treated to an excellent kicking lesson on the Sunday which involved many intricate ways of improving your mawashi-geri. On the Saturday they concentrated mainly on basics and kata (Heian Sandan and Tekki Shodan). This course was very well attended with guests coming from many different groups and everyone went away with something to work on. Sensei Phipps thanked Sensei Hazard for a wonderful weekend and we all look forward to Sensei Hazard’s return on 19/20th September of this year. Keep an eye on the website for new times and prices for this seminar.
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Dan Gradings – At the Association Dan Grading on Saturday 13th June 2009, the following participants were successful in passing their grading: Shodan – Leah Groom, Petra Ewington, Imran Ullah and Paul Munjic. Nidan – Kaan Yargici, Nicholas Ross–McCall, Anthony Holt and Thomas Carson. Congratulations to all of them.
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New Association Structure
Association Hierarchy – The following positions and titles come into effect from February 2009:
» Chief Instructor and Chairman – Sensei Malcolm Phipps 7th Dan
» Assistant Chief Instructor and Chairman – Sensei Tony Bunting 6th Dan
» Association Team Coach – Sensei Adam Cockfield 4th Dan
» Association Chief Referee – Sensei Jeff Carson 3rd Dan
Executive & Technical Committee – The above four sensei plus: Sensei Daniel White 3rd Dan, Sensei Paul Carvell 3rd Dan, Sensei Nick Forgham 3rd Dan and Sensei Peter Welch 3rd Dan.
Hemel Hempstead Honbu Black-Belts – Photograph of students that trained on Wednesday 11th February on the Black–Belt only session. The lesson, taken by Sensei Phipps, consisted of the kata Kanku–dai and Jiyu–Ippon line training drills. The next of these lessons will be on Wednesday 11th March.
 Hemel Hempstead Honbu Black–Belts |
SSKI Course (18th January 2009 – Hemel Hempstead dojo). The course instructors for this were Malcolm Phipps sensei, Tony Bunting sensei and Adam Cockfield sensei. The course was split into three groups, using three separate halls and each sensei worked on one important aspect of Shotokan karate (kata, kumite and kihon); this was one of the most successful SSKI courses held for many a year. Many thanks to all three instructors and here’s to the next similar course on Sunday 5th April.
Please also see your club’s AGM Minutes for some very important changes, especially to Dan Gradings, Squad Training sessions and Black-belt only lessons.
December 6th Sat…At the Association’s Dan Grading at the Hemel Hempstead dojo, the following were successful in passing their dan grades: Antony Bunting to Rokudan (6th Dan), Stacey Barton to Nidan (2nd Dan) and Paul Hazell to Nidan (2nd Dan). Sensei Phipps gave a small speech before awarding Sensei Bunting with his 6th Dan certificate, thanking him for his fantastic support during Sensei Phipps’ illness and indeed since. Tony is a true, loyal and very respected instructor who is a credit to the Association and indeed a great friend. His grade is therefore thoroughly well-deserved. Stacey Barton and Paul Hazell both passed their Nidan grades in real style giving even more strength to the very powerful Hemel Hempstead dojo and indeed the Association as a whole.
 Malcolm Phipps presenting Tony Bunting with his certificate |
 Stacey Barton, Malcolm Phipps, Tony Bunting and Paul Hazell |
September 27th Sat… Congratulations to Sensei Malcolm Phipps 7th Dan, our Chief Instructor, for being unanimously voted to the position of Chairman to the Shotokan Alliance at the meeting at the Holiday Inn, Reading on Saturday 27th September 2008. (We've had Chairman Mao, now we've got Chairman Mal!!!)
New SSKI Dan Grades – On Saturday 6th September at the Hemel Hempstead Honbu Dojo the following students passed their Dan Gradings: Shodan – Gary Richards, Sam Richards and Claire Cerins. Congratulations to these fine new shodans, which now gives the Honbu Dojo no less than twenty–five training Black-belts.
Successful Yondan Grading – on Wednesday 16th April, under the watchful eye of Sensei Malcolm Phipps 7th Dan and Sensei Tony Bunting 5th Dan, Sensei Adam Cockfield passed his yondan (4th Dan) examination in real style. Adam had to perform a kata that had been given to him by the above panel, three months previously. The panel had chosen kata Meikyo to which Adam had to perform the kata in front of the panel and the senior class. Then, with four of his London club’s black-belts, had to show the panel the oyo/bunkai of the kata; Adam performed this once slowly and then once at full speed. Adam then went on to take a one and a half hour senior grade lesson in front of the panel. Adam also had to write a thesis on any subject pertaining to karate training and also a smaller thesis on the kata Meikyo. Adam’s chosen subject for his main thesis was ‘The Impact of Competition on Modern Shotokan Karate’; click here to read Adam's two excellent and well-researched theses. The whole grading was a huge success; both Sensei Malcolm and Sensei Tony commented that this was the very best yondan grading they had ever witnessed and has set a real benchmark for future participants. A grade which was really earned and not just given for a certain amount of time elapsing or any other such means. Adam is the very successful Association’s Coach and his London club is now a real force to be reckoned with, with eight excellent black-belts and a strong club below these yudansha. Well done, Adam, and well-deserved!
Sensei Dave Hazard 7th Dan Course – on Sunday 20th April at the Hemel Hempstead honbu dojo, SSKI students and their guests were treated to yet another absolutely brilliant Course by Sensei Hazard. Guests came from as far afield as Ramsgate, Norwich and Billingshurst to train with Sensei Hazard and this excellent Course made the journey worthwhile. In the junior session Sensei concentrated on the kata Heian Yondan, cleverly giving bunkai and partner work in the early part and then putting the kata together near the end of this session. In the senior session a similar idea was put into operation concentrating on the kata Jion which contained some very interesting oyo and bunkai. Another absolutely superb Course with Sensei Hazard and everyone looks forward to his return on the weekend of 20/21st of September to the Hemel Hempstead dojo. Sensei Phipps thanked Sensei Hazard at the end of the senior session for such a great day and then both Sensei Phipps and Sensei Hazard presented Sensei Adam Cockfield with his 4th Dan certificate for his successful grading the previous Wednesday.
