LATEST NEWS 2026
To Red Belt 9th Kyu
J’Hakeem Bellot
Avyukt Paliwal
Saumya Sapkota
Oviya Muraleetharan
Sarvesh Sapkota
To Yellow Belt 7th Kyu
Leon Rai
Fathima Mohamed Mahir
Catherine Pirga
Isabella Pirga
Crystal Philip
Aasiya Mohamed Mahir
Vriksha Gokulraj
Inesh Prasanma
To Green Belt 6th Kyu
Subham Koirala
Suniska Kc
Simran Koirala
Chahana Gurung
To Purple Belt 5th Kyu
Advik Thapa
READING GRADING 22nd June 2026
To Purple and White Belt 4th Kyu
Suson Uprety
Ayush Oli
Jyosini Gokulraj
Sebastiano Incisa Di Camerana
To Brown Belt 3rd Kyu
Aarju Oli
Prajesh Thapa
To Brown Belt 2nd Kyu
Daniel Zhou-Markowski
NUNCHAKU
On Saturday 20th June at the Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, the English Traditional Nunchaku Association (ETNA) held its monthly course and a decent turnout and an excellent standard was on show in a very warm and very small dojo, as the main hall was being used.
The Chief Instructor, Sensei Malcolm Phipps taught this amazing weapon for a two hour session using basic blocks and strikes and kumite. The association trains once monthly with this dynamic Okinawan kobudo weapon and most definitely, TRADITIONAL NUNCHAKU, using blocks, strikes, trapping and choking techniques. Every technique must have a true purpose in a real situation and not just spinning the weapon around like you see much of the time which has no real use in a self defence situation whatsoever.
The next session will be on Saturday 11th July and at the same dojo and in the main hall and at the same time (1 - 3pm). Well done to everyone who attended and what an amazing standard by all. All are welcome. If you are interested in joining email, phipps@globalnet.co.uk
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TWO NEW DAN GRADES!
Daniel Harris and Mukil Sethupathi
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD’S SSKI DAN & KYU GRADING
On Thursday 4th June at the Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International’s Dan and Hemel Hempstead Kyu grading which was held at Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, the following students were successful in passing their new grades.
Shodan – Daniel Harris & Mukil Sethupathi.
3rd Kyu – Darren Goldiing.
4th Kyu – Amelia Rambaransingh & Isma'il Ahmed.
5th Kyu – Gabriel Ceausu, Ahmad Wadood & Ayana Mungur.
6th Kyu – James Mould & Hamzah Abdelmonem.
8th Kyu – Nuvesh Suthakaran & Dhaneessh Vijayakumar.
The standard was exceptional and well done to all the above, especially to the two new black belts. Well done to all.
PANEL: Sensei Malcolm Phipps 9th Dan, Sensei Paul Carvell 6th Dan & Sensei Siva Niranjan 3rd Dan
ETNA NUNCHAKU COURSE
On Saturday 9th May at the Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, the English Traditional Nunchaku Association (ETNA) held its monthly course and what a good turnout and an excellent standard was on show. The Chief Instructor, Sensei Malcolm Phipps taught this amazing weapon for one hour which included kihon and combinations and then after a short break the second hour consisted of kata and nicho nunchaku (the use of two sets of the weapon).
The association trains once monthly with this dynamic Okinawan kobudo weapon and most definitely, TRADITIONAL NUNCHAKU, using blocks, strikes, trapping and choking techniques. Every technique must have a true purpose in a real defensive situation. The next session will be on Saturday 20th June and at the same dojo and at the same time (1 - 3pm). Well done to everyone who attended and what an amazing standard by all. All are welcome. If you are interested email phipps@globalnet.co.uk and ask for details.
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On Saturday 28th March at the Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, the English Traditional Nunchaku Association (ETNA) held its monthly course and what an excellent turnout and brilliant standard was on show. The Chief Instructor, Malcolm Phipps taught this amazing weapon for one hour which included kihon and kumite and then after a short break the second hour consisted of kata and kihon.
The association trains once monthly with this dynamic Okinawan kobudo weapon and most definitely, TRADITIONAL NUNCHAKU, using blocks, strikes, trapping and choking techniques. Every technique must have a true purpose in a real defensive situation. The next session will be on Saturday 9th May and at the same dojo and at the same time (1 - 3pm). Well done to everyone who attended and what an amazing standard by all. All are welcome.
MARCH ETNA NUNCHAKU COURSE
SSKI HEMEL HEMPSTEAD DOJO (KYU GRADING)
(Highfield Community Centre – 26th February 2026)
At the grading the following students were successful in passing their respective grades. The standard was excellent and the grading panel all agreed that it was one of the best gradings for quite a while.
1st Kyu – Aliza Mungur and Oliver Marsden.
4th Kyu – Darren Golding.
5th Kyu – Adam Golding, Amelia Rambaransingh, Isma’il Ahmed and Chantelle Golding.
6th Kyu – Ahmad Wadood and Gabriel Ceausu.
7th Kyu – Hamzeh Abdelmonem and James Mould.
8th Kyu – Adiel Mwase.
9th Kyu – Hussain-Ali Hassan, Peter Cooper, Dhaneessh Vijayakumar, Ausere White and Nuvesh Suthakaran.
Well done to all, great result.
Grading Panel: Sensei Malcolm Phipps 9th Dan, Sensei Paul Carvell 6th Dan and Sensei Siva Niranjan 3rd Dan.
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ETNA NUNCHAKU COURSE (21st February 2026)
Another excellent ETNA Nunchaku Course at the Hemel Hempstead dojo with the Chief Instructor, Malcolm Phipps. The standard was really excellent and all enjoyed the Course to the full. The combination techniques and the kata were truly top class from all the students. Well done to all.
The next ETNA Course is on Saturday 28th March at the same dojo at Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, from 1 - 3pm. All are welcome.
JANUARY ETNA NUNCHAKU COURSE and GRADING
On Saturday 17th January at the Highfield Community Centre in Hemel Hempstead, the English Traditional Nunchaku Association (ETNA) held its first course and grading of 2026 and what an excellent turnout and brilliant standard was on show. The Chief Instructor, Malcolm Phipps taught this amazing weapon for one hour and then after a short break the grading began.
The association trains once monthly with this dynamic Okinawan kobudo weapon and most definitely, TRADITIONAL NUNCHAKU, using blocks, strikes, trapping and choking techniques and not just flipping them around like a demented load of majorettes. All very clever but hardly traditional. Every technique must have a true purpose in a real defensive situation.
The next session will be on Saturday 21st February and at the same dojo and at the same time (1 - 3pm). All are welcome. Well done to everyone who attended and graded and what an amazing standard.
The successful students who all passed their first grading for Red Belt were: David Page, Daniel Harris, Sunita Saini, Darren Golding, Amelia Rambaransingh, Oliver Marsden, Isma’il Ahmed, Aliza Mungur and Ayana Mungur.
Grading Panel: Sensei Malcolm Phipps and Sensei Siva Niranjan.
