Please pass any monies to Claire Hardy at Barlby or Hambleton dojos.

When we have a total in a few weeks time I will post the details.

It is great to see our kids raising some monies for this really worthwhile cause to benefit kids who are less fortunate.

We also had a great afternoon.

My thanks also goes to Claire for suggesting the event, Sensei Andy, Simon and Mikey for their goal keeping skills, and for Kelvin for his refereeing...look out Howard FIFA has seen some potential.

Congratulations to Ellie, Ashley and Liam for winning all the prizes.

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Sunday - Boroughbridge - Kata Course but there was 1hr 40mins of Kihon and Kumite before we started kata, then Gojushiho Sho and Meikyo.

Although Simon and I were invited to join the JKA we did not realise that it was supposed to be a closed course.

Many thanks to JKA Boroughbridge for letting us train, Osu!

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HSKC had a great turn out for the Haxby Carnival.

Jim uses his shield to fight off "snappy" the dragon....

Any ideas for a caption?

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This year they hope to raise £150,000 to support children with cancer and their families. They want 100,000 children taking part. Schools, clubs and groups can choose to keep 25% of the money they raise with 75% going to support CLIC Sargent.

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I was not trying to turn them into karate kids ...I will leave that to Jackie Chan.

My main focus was on situation awareness and simple techniques.

How to stay safe on the streets, on foot, cycling, or a bus or train etc .

How to fall safely, break falls and rolls.

The St Johns, Assess, Act, Escape & Report.

Creating space using Dave Hazard's, No!..Yes! technique (this was my main focus)

Release from grabs.

Up Close and Dangerous - Palm Heels, Elbows, knees, Heels, stamps, scrapes etc

Personal Alarms and managing tension.

Thank you all for getting so involved, and in the words of an old TV programme..."Stay safe out there!"

If any other organisation in North Yorkshire is interested in running a personal safety course, drop me a line and we will try and tailor something to your requirements.

A video demonstrating Kihon.

How many Selby Karateka can you spot in this dojo in Budapest?

Assisting Shihan is Andrey Dermenko Shihan 7th Dan IJKA Russia and Shsitsu Okazaki Shihan 7th Dan IJKA Japan.

A short video from 2008, a bit of Heian Yodan etc.

You can compare what Sensei is teaching with what we did tonight. Osu!

I managed to contact 2 clubs who replied, both were keen to have me training but only one was training on nights I would be there. This was Karate Union Wien (JKA): web address www.karate-kurse.at. So I packed my gi, put it in a rucksack & after the day’s machinations in a very historic medical lecture theatre took myself off, directions in hand to their dojo. Shunning an evening of food & wine with my surgical colleagues. It was quite a walk but I had been given good directions by Marcus. (1st Kyu)

The dojo was compact & bijou, there were 2 rooms in which 3 classes were run, beginners, coloured belts &, black & brown belts. The training was similar to ours, as was the mix of karateka, with kihon, kumite & kata. Great use was made of limited space. I was invited to be with the black & browns, starting with kihon then concentrating on kata as the gradings were approaching. From memory; we went through, Bassai dai, kanku dai, empi, jion & hangetsu. Finishing with some light sparring rotations.

I was treated extremely courteously & made to feel very welcome. The instruction I received was fantastic. As a bonus the session was run in English. Like us they have a sister club…In Salzburg! 4 hours by car.Their grading is in Munich. So no excuses for us! After this I was taken to a non tourist Viennese bar to sample the local wares before walking back through a beautiful city on a warm summer’s night.I must thank those who made my visit special, namely, Andreas Jericha (2nd Dan) and Franz Peischl (3rd Dan), Franz Winter, Stefan Quadlbauer, Michael Fangor & last but not least Marcus Poglitsch with whom I corresponded.

Karate whilst on tour? Most definitely!

Kato Shihan had asked Sensei Ash to practice it as part of his preparation for his Yondan grading. Dave and I were mid kyu grades, but we really liked this kata and would practice it at both Selby and Haxby dojo before anyone else arrived.

As well as challenging my students I also like to challenge myself.

How do I teach Kashu, when I have a mixed class from ungraded students to 1st Kyus?

I divided the class in half, green belt and below and purple and belt up.

For each sequence in the kata I taught a simplified version for the lower grades based on techniques that they know, or could easily pick up and the more advanced kata moves for the higher grades.

Lower grades:

Age Uke, Age Uke, Empi, Gedan bari......

Higher grades:

Jodan bari, Gyaku Zuki, Jodan bari, Gyaku Zuki, Shuto, Empi, Kentsui, Gedan bari....

The higher grades having typically 2 moves, sometimes 3 moves to each of the lower grades single moves.

We looked at the application of Jodan bari, and how combinations from the kata could be used in Jiyu Ippon Kumite for brown belts.

The importance of correct use of the hips in combinations like Kentsui, Gedan bari when you are moving from Kokutsu-dachi to Zenkutsu-dachi, making shomen mid technique is essential to develop power.

I love the application of move 20, Jim from Haxby went spinning to the floor as the strike landed, it has the feel of an Aikido move, you just seem to flow round your attacker as he dissolves at your feet.

I was certainly challenging myself trying to teach a high grade kata and devise a simplified kata as we went along and still maintain a fluid lesson.

I will have to ask Kato Shihan to teach it again, now hopefully my understanding has moved on a bit. I hope you enjoyed our visit to an old friend as much as I did? We won't do many sessions like this, but it is good to look into your future and what most of you were learning is how to learn a kata. By each of the higher grades taking a lead in rotation, it forced you to pay attention and at the end of the night you could all perform a 45 move kata that you had never seen before today, not a bad session, Osu!