Being a Martial Artist we learn and practice discipline and an ethos of self reliance to help us further our physical and emotional skills. We can work with coaches that are the best in the world, train with the best students and in the best facilities. However the...
On Friday 17th February I was awarded my 6th Dan in Karate from Steve Rowe Sensei/Sifu 9th Dan, head of Shi Kon Martial Arts. Quite a few people have asked me what is involved in a Black Belt grading involved and whether it was simply a time served promotion. The...
As parents we have an ability and even a responsibility to help elevate our children’s confidence to help them become happier and even more successful. Confidence will lead them on the path to success. These 5 Tips for raising a confident child will help you to...
Traditionally December is our biggest grading of the year and the one that prompts the most nerves as it is also the time for our annual Black Belt gradings. During the course of December we ran three Judo gradings (one at the club and two in schools that we run after...
Two days before Christmas I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon at a friend’s house. Laid out on the table was a jigsaw. The edges were complete but nothing else, hundreds of pieces scattered around waiting to be found and placed in an orderly fashion. As...
The winter nights are here now. It’s cold outside. You’ve got a good book. A warm cup of coffee. You feel tired from work. There’s a good movie on TV. The dog gets lonely….. The next time you feel like a night off or can’t be bothered,...
Question C: The question is: When someone is in the middle of a match and they are losing, what do they think and do to encourage themselves to win? What this question tells me: I believe that the question tells me to fight, be outstanding to impress other clubs. It...
Day 3 – Italy Competition Another long day, we all made it for breakfast at 7:00 and I’ve just back to my room at 22:26. But must say it’s been a great day for all of the squad. Another good day of high standard competition and of competent refereeing....
Question A: The first question I will answer is: When we practise a martial art, sometimes things go really well and sometimes they don’t go well at all. How do you encourage someone when things aren’t going so well? First of all I will explain how it feels like when...
Three of the Coaches from Basingstoke’s Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy took part in the World Karate Championships in Slovenia over the weekend of 7-9th June. The Competition was open to national federations and had over 20 nations attending. Lindsey Andrews (38)...
The project I have to do for my Black Belt grading is “Learning a martial art is said to be character building” and I have three questions that I will have to answer. They are: 1 – How would martial arts help someone who is- 2 – Shy 3 – Aggressive 4...
Martial Arts isn’t all about fighting, far from it. Martial Arts is all about setting yourself up for challenges, meeting them and overcoming them. Physically and Emotionally this is the case whether it’s just turning up for your first class, being...
Well the Christmas season is well and truly over. The season of goodwill to all men is gone as well, but it doesn’t have to be. Think about how we act and what we say. How many times do we hear snippets from a conversation that goes something like this....
As Martial Artists, we should all seek to constantly challenge ourselves to test our knowledge and skills every time we train. As Gichin Funakoshi (who is credited with introducing Karate to Japan) said “Karate is like warm water. If you don’t heat it...
We may all have different reasons for taking up Martial Arts but we should all have goals and aspirations for what we want to achieve from our training. It may be that you want to learn how to defend yourself, make new friends, achieve a black belt, be successful in...
You’ve got real potential! How many time do we hear this said of ourselves and then then start to feel really proud of our accomplishments because someone has said this to us. For most of us this would be the norm. Why? Because it makes us feel good about...
