Tonight we held a catch up grading at our Cleator Dojo for the small number of members who could not challenge their rank at our July grading due to extenuating circumstances, or were unsuccessful and required a period of focused training and mentorship before attempting to resit. 

We're pleased to report that everyone passed and we would like to congratulate those members listed below who all prepared hard for their challenge.

Special congratulations go to Zack Evans and Simon Marley, who have both faced failure at previous gradings and come back with great determination in order to succeed today, where under the same circumstances many others have given up around them. This in our eyes shows the true spirit of karate and earns our deepest respect.

​See you all back in class again soon!       

A few months ago, our chief instructor, Chris Denwood, was asked to be part of a unique book project alongside a selection of highly respected karate teachers from around the world.

Each contributor having a chapter of their own, they were asked to write about the five most important points to consider when training 'practical karate'. The chapters themselves are anonymous with author credits at the back. The idea is for readers to enjoy and consider each chapter on their individual merits, without being 'swayed' the the name(s) attached. You can of course cheat - but that would spoil the whole point (and fun) of the book!

As you can imagine, the result is a treasure trove of information and viewpoints that will surely become a valued part of many personal martial arts libraries across the globe. Andi Kidd, who has compiled this work (and contributed a chapter too) has done a fantastic job pulling it all together and the book is available now from Lulu - hit the link below for more details...

The Problem of Practical Karate >> 

Chris' contribution is actually an adapted chapter from his own upcoming book - Naihanchi Vol.2. So those who can't wait can get a pretty good taster for what it's all about by grabbing a copy of Andi's book now!