The club session tonight was taken by our guest instructors, John Bruce, 5th Dan and Holly Sterling, 4th Dan from  Sendai Kushiro Karate in Sunderland. Having been guest instructors at the club in the past, we were expecting an inspirational and technical session for all grades. 

John took the Dan grades for the first half, going through kata Tekki Nidan (a club favourite!). The session was based around the principle of developing the ‘small’ movements (hip and slight body rotation) rather than the large, obvious movements. Meanwhile, Holly was instructing the Kyu grades in basics, focusing on posture and timing in punching, and also the kata Heian Nidan.

The instructors then swapped and John took the Kyu grades through aspects of kihon ippon kumite focusing on defences using spinning uraken uchi strikes. Holly took the Dan grades through some kumite techniques linking kicks, sweeps and punches. This was very technical, but most were able to make the combination ‘flow’ by the end of the session – which came all too quickly. 

Overall, the session was enjoyed by all the students, each of whom took something to work on from the expert instruction of two of the best ambassadors for the KUGB. We are already planning the next session with them …