Kiryoku Karate

NEWS: Holiday break for training classes

Just to remind all club members, regular training will be cancelled next weekend as the leisure centre is closed over the Christmas break. Classes will resume on Saturday, 3^rd January. Happy holidays all!

NEWS: Kyu grading results

Thanks to Sensei Hamilton and the other organisers for the training and grading session held in Bangor last weekend. Congratulations to all the Kiryoku members who graded and received their next belts:

9th Kyu (red)
Caleb
Ethan

8th Kyu (yellow)
Donna Stinson

6th Kyu (green)
Matthew Blakely
Callum Cormack
Golden Muguti
Carl Stinson
Ryan Stinson

5th Kyu (blue)
David Graham
Conor Bannon
Steven Cairns

Students who did not attend this session are reminded that Sensei Bell will be holding a club grading session in January.
Special congratulations to Arthur on the birth of a baby boy - and commiserations on missing the grading for 3rd Kyu! :)

EVENT: Master Tatsuo Suzuki Winter Course

As announced on WIKF site, the first training course of 2009 will take place in London in February. Students wishing to take their Dan Grade are advised to attend the full three day course. Event details as follows:

Venue: Lewis Sports and Leisure/ Harris CTC College, London

Training day 1: Fri, 20 Feb 18.00 to 21.00
Training day 2: Sat, 21 Feb 10.00 to 13.00
Training day 3: Sun, 22 Feb 10.00 to 13.00

Dan grading:Sun, 22 Feb 14.00 to 16.00

Any Kiryoku members wishing to attend, should speak to Sensei Bell at their earliest opportunity.

NEWS: Extended Kata Training session

Sensei Bell has offered an extended 2-hour Kata training session on a Sunday afternoon prior to the Kyu grading in December. This is open to all club members, and would be especially useful for all Karateka hoping to grade for their next belt. Successful completion of at least one Kata is required for students attaining 7^th Kyu (Orange) and above.
Any students wishing to attend should let Sensei Bell know at the next club training session.

EVENT: Training course and KYU grading

As previously announced, there will be a pre-Christmas training course and grading session for those club members who have been training regularly over the past three months. The course & grading will be conducted by Sensei Bobby Hamilton 6^th Dan in Bangor. All grading requires a valid, up-to-date NI-WIKF license (passport) - all members should ensure that their paperwork is in order.

Venue: Bangor Leisure Centre
Date: Sunday, 14-Dec

Training Time: 14:00 to 15:00 (Sports Deck)
Training Fee: £12 /adult and £7 /child

Grading Time: 15:30 onwards (Squash Court 4)
Grading Fee: £8 /adult and £5 /child

As the course is so close to Christmas, all fees have been kept as low as possible, and all members are urged to attend the training session whether grading or not.

Please note Dan grading under Sensei Suzuki is now planned to take place in the new year.

NEWS: club discount on training equipment

As club members, Kiryoku students are able to take advantage of reduced pricing for training equipment (pads, mitts, belts, gi, etc) through Blitz Sports. Blitz have also just announced a massive clearance sale with up to 80%-off finishing on 1^st of December. If any students would like to purchase any equipment from their catalogue, please give Sensei Bell your wish-list ASAP and he will place a group-buy order.

NEWS: change to regular club training

As previously reported, there will be a special training event for select 3rd Dan and above Karate-Ka in London next weekend with Sensei Suzuki. Once again, Sensei Bell has been invited to attend the 2 day event. However, the regular weekly club training sessions on Saturday & Sunday will still take place under our newly announced instructor, Jessica Morrow. This will be Jessica's debut solo instruction class, and we wish her luck.

NEWS: special training and grading SESSION

Currently the NI-WIKF are attempting to organise another special training session with Sensei Tatsuo Suzuki here in Northern Ireland. No details have been released officially yet regarding dates or venue, but the aim is to invite Sensei Suzuki for a 2 or 3 day training course with student gradings on the final day some time in November. It's always a great honour to train under the WIKF founder and we are all very hopeful that this event takes place.

Sensei Bell has also indicated that he will be holding student grading sessions before Christmas. To date, white, orange and green belt karateka have been informed that they will be expected to grade in November.