Catch up

Been a while since I had the time to sit and write a blog. Don't really have the time now but hey!

My thoughts about summer are mixed. As usual, attendance at classes was low. Be it down to students being away on holiday, not bothering to come for whatever reason or totally blind to the fact that we were open for Karate! The Bring a Buddy period was exciting and has brought in a few new full time members so that was a success. Have to do another one soon. On the other hand the leaflet drop wasn't quite as successful but I do thank those who came out and helped.

On the other foot, those who did appear in the dojo for training, were full of enthusiasm and raring to go. After the National Championships in June, there was only the grading to look forward to before the summer holidays. Now they are over and the schools have re-opened, this is the beginning of a very busy few months for me, Masonically as well as Karatery. Nice word!

In a few days time, I will be at the 3 day International JKA Autumn Course in Crawley at the K2 Leisure Centre. Great time to catch up with all my friends that attend the course. Have a couple of TSKC members trying for a DAN grade on Sunday 28th. Best of luck to you.

The World Championships are taking place in October and our very own Jason Fox and our honorary member Nicole Lester will both be competing for England. In November we have the JKA Open competition on the 1st and our own grading with Ohta Sensei on the 9th.

Many will not be aware but I do actually have a social life too which includes my family, Masonry and Geocaching and as such have plays, soirees, caching and hoards of meetings to attend. Just hope my memory doesn't mess up.

The Royal Latin School deserves a mention as they will keep me extremely busy this year with the 15 NEW students whoa turned up last week. My only concern is how many will make the grade and come back for the next lesson!! All I hope. I think I was nice.

That time of year where the last grass cutting is imminent. Yay!

Sue has started her new Mobile Nail business. Go visit her website: HP Nails

Enjoy the rest of the year.

Dying City

An appeal:

My son, Chris Wellington, is putting on his own production of Christopher Shinn's play - Dying City. Together with his fellow thespian and co-star, Emily Seale Jones, they have acquired the rights to produce this wonderful play. Two theatres have been booked and rehearsals are starting at the end of May. The first tranche of performances will be at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. The second tranche of performances will be at the Upstairs @ The Gatehouse Theatre which is also part of the Camden Fringe 2014. 

This is a huge project for Chris and Emily to undertake so please find the time to support them by going to see the play.

What's the play about?

In Christopher Shinn's new play Dying City, a young therapist, Kelly, whose husband Craig was killed while on military duty in Iraq, is confronted a year later by his identical twin Peter, who suspects that Craig’s death was not accidental. Set in a spare downtown-Manhattan apartment after dark, scenes shift from the confrontation between Peter and Kelly, to Kelly's complicated farewell with her husband Craig. Shinn's creepy, sophisticated drama—infused with references to 9/11 and the war in Iraq—explores how contemporary politics and recent history have transformed the lives of these three characters.

You can get more details and information on tickets by visiting the Twitter and FaceBook links.

For information on the theatre locations:
Rosemary Branch Theatre
Upstairs@The Gatehouse
The Camden Fringe

What's Been Happening?

Since the last entry, a few things have happened in relation to the club. Where do I start? How about - the first thing I can think of. Okay.

There was a JKA England National Course held at Wellingborough which included training for all grades as well as a DAN grading for Shodan & Nidan afterwards. We had 3 students attempting their grading; Ben and Dave C were trying for Shodan but were unfortunately not successful. Nicole was grading to Nidan and was successful. Nice birthday present to herself as the previous day was her 18th! We had a great turnout from TSKC too with a 12.1% yield. Hahahaha.

On 16th February, we held a special KYU grading course in Winslow. This was a 2 hour course for all those - and others if they wished - to have a 'lesson' concentrating solely on the elements of the syllabus for their grading which was due to take place the following Sunday. We had 32 attendees and was very well received.

The following Sunday was the first KYU grading for TSKC of the year. Our grading examiner was Gary Stewart 5th DAN JKA and JKA England Squad Coach. A small grading in comparison to previous gradings but this was complemented by students who wanted to just train - in the first class in particular. There were no temporary passes and I was pleased with the performance of the majority of the students. Well done! Charlie D performed extremely well and double graded from Red (8th kyu) to Green (6th kyu) belt.

On 24th February my daughter passed her driving test! Yay! Well done Grace.

On March 2nd the Instructor and Referees exam took place in Egham. Just need to wait for the results.

Finally, Carlos had asked to host a Kumite course for Purple belts upwards. Again, it was a specialised course, 2 hours duration and held at the Winslow dojo. A hearty 19 students attended an extremely informative and worthy course. Thank you all for attending and supporting TSKC.

22nd March - MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Update:

Today is the first Shodan Assessment for 2014. The Grading will be held on February 9th in Wellingborough. Wonder how many will want to try or Shodan?

On the 'foot' front, things are looking up notwithstanding the feeling of having a car parked on your chest when I woke on Sunday morning. The pain made me forget about my foot and when I got up this morning both pains appear to have gone. So a little more rest should see me alright into February.

We have seen about eleven new members this year so far; as long as the students have the confidence, quite a few trying for Shodan too.

Good luck to you all in 2014.

Don't forget the curry on the 25th January.

Oss!

Unexpected events

It's been over 5 weeks now and the injury to my foot has still not healed. I am more than certain that I must have broken or fractured a bone in my foot. At least I can walk now, it's just putting weight / pressure on that leg or twisting. Have to take it easy if my intention is to attend the 4 day course in May!

The Christmas period has, as usual, taken its toll on me in two different ways:
1) Not as fit as I should be
2) Put some weight on but not as much as I used to so going to have to watch my food intake - again!

Starting to get back into the swing of things and looking forward to seeing my students again.

Oh and the Curry on 25th!

Oss!