What do you mean it’s April already?
It’s April. Easter is here. Term 1 is finished and I still think it’s summertime in January.
Where is the year going?
Big thanks to everyone attending class. We’ve had good numbers in class, pretty good effort in class and this week, a grading to be proud of.
Easter Classes
There will be no class on Thursday the 17th of April or Monday the 21st of April (Easter Monday).
Please Leave a Review
We have a new class page on the Active Activities website and we need reviews from students, parents and friends of the class.
If you can find the time to leave a review here we would greatly appreciate it as it helps us get noticed and helps other people find out about all the great things we are doing and can help people achieve
Behaviour Points Update
Behaviour Points have come as a bit of a shock for some, but in general, they have done exactly what we needed them to do – help people focus.
We want to celebrate positive improvement, so I want to call out Maddy and Zack who’s Mum asked us to award points for their new habits in their new home!
Since moving to a new home, both Maddy and Zack have taken on new chores and have been trying extra hard to help Mum out.
Because of this, they have been awards 5pts each toward their gradings.
Congratulations you two – well done, keep up the efforts!
If you know of someone who has made a real effort to improve themselves, let us know so we can celebrate with them.
School Achievements – Checking before testing
I made a mistake when issuing this terms testing sheets. I forgot to use the new version which has a space for parents to confirm the school aged students have met their expectations for behaviour and achievement during the school term.
Because this is my error, we will let pass for this grading but I will get it right next term.
Recent Testing
Because numbers are increasing, we had to try a different approach for testing this term. We split the test across two class nights, and by a fortunate accident it also ended up splitting the lower and upper ranks as well – it was a fluke, but it worked out well.
To those higher ranks who tested both Monday and Thursday nights, I want to call out how well you did under the challenge we put you – you didn’t know what was happening, yet you assessed the problem and found your own solution. Well done.
Those who have missed out this time round, there will be a catch up test in 4-6wks time.
Not only do you need to know your stuff, you need to be good at it, and you need to be attending class or making some real effort training at home to make sure you’re ready.
If you need a refresher of what you need to learn, check the curriculum pages.
Home Practice
The biggest thing that stood out in this test was those people who are putting in extra effort at home.
Martial Arts is like any other sport, hobby or subject you wish to learn. You can only do so much in class. If you’re not putting in 1-2 hours per week at home, you will only go so far.
For new students up to Orange belt, 1 x 90 minute class per week is probably enough, but 2 classes is better.
For Purple belt and Blue belt, 2 x 90 minute classes per week is essential, and 1-2 hours of home practice is essential.
Once you get to Green belt, 2 x 2 hour classes per week and 3-4 hours of home practice is a must.
Students who reach Brown belt will need to attend more than 90% of 2 hour classes during the year and invest more than an hour per day of practice at home.
As more students reach Green and Brown belts, we will also start weekend sessions. These are usually on a Sunday afternoon and last 1 to 2 hours. They have traditionally been taught from my home where I have more training equipment available. We will begin to look at this as people progress.
The message here is:
If you’re not practicing at home, you won’t improve and you won’t progress.
The responsibility lies with you.
Student Drive for 2025
Big thanks and warm welcome to our new members!
If you know anyone who might be interested, please invite them to try our classes – remember the first 10 classes are free.
I will be making printed flyers that will be available in class in the coming weeks. Please hand these to interested people. We can provide PDF copies if you’d like to email or share on social media.
Helping out in 2025
Yes, I said we would have an Annual General Meeting in April. yes, I am still trying to make it happen. No, there is not enough of me to go around!
We need help with:
- Recruitment – getting new faces
- Social Media – telling our story
- Fundraising – applying for grants and funding
- “General Ideas” – if you’ve got thoughts about how things can be improved – we’re listening!
Keep an eye/ear out for the meeting time – it will be held online to help make it easy for people to attend.
Banking Information
For any new students who need the details, our class bank account is:
Bank: Kiwibank
Acct Name: RYUKYU KEMPO KARATE
Acct Number: 38-9012-0728171-00
Suggested Donations are:
Kids / Students: $30 per school term
Adults: $60 per school term
Again, we would also like to shout out thanks to those people who have donated beyond the suggested amounts – it means a lot and we are very grateful.
If you’re a new member and have been attending for 10 classes or more, please consider adding your donation to the account. Feel free to chat with us if you have any questions or concerns.
Social Media Links:
You can find more information and learning material on these links:
General Information:
(We’ll keep this here for people to refer to)
Uniforms:
A few people have been asking where to get uniforms, so let’s look at what the options are:
- Trackies and T’s
Plain black track pants and a plain black or white TShirt are perfectly fine for training – this is the cheapest option. I haven’t checked lately, but if I’m still correct, The Warehouse have budget brand trackies and tees for about $10ea. This is perfectly fine, and for students who aren’t sure they want to invest in a full uniform, this is the best option.
- Dojo TShirt
From time to time we will place orders for dojo tshirts. These will be well publicised and cost around $45 per shirt. The colours available are:
White
Grey
Green
Blue
Pink
Coral
T-shirt prints have the dojo kanji on the front, and big logo on the rear:
- Karate Uniforms
If you wish to have a full uniform, you have the choice of either an all-white or all-black uniform. Check out the links below for places to purchase:
Belts:
Following the donations-based approach, we have a few options for belts
- Belt Library
We would like to establish a “belt library”. The idea is simple. Unless you wish to keep each and every belt you earn, when you’re done with a belt, you donate it to the library and we can recycle it back to another student in the future. At the moment, we only have a few belts of a few colours, so this will take time to build up a stock.
If you’ve got belts you would like to donate to the library, please drop them to us in class.
- Borrowed/Gifted
If you’d like to lend or gift one of your belts to a fellow student, feel free to make those arrangements with the instructors. For example, if ‘Bob’ is an orange belt, and ‘Bill’ is a yellow belt, ‘Bob” can gift “bill” his Orange belt when ‘Bob’ grades to purple. ‘Bill’ still has to test, but he gets to wear ‘Bob’s’ gifted belt when ‘Bill’ passes the test.
- New Belts
If you prefer new, we can order new belts or provide links for you to order them yourselves. Sizing belts can be a tricky affair – it’s really easy to get confused and order the wrong size. We’re happy to help and in time, I hope to buy a set of “test belts” for people to try on for size.
Training Equipment:
The biggest expense for people is always the gear. Remember, we aim to keep this as affordable as possible.
The following gear is needed as students progress:
Beginners:
Mouthguard and gloves – any sports mouthguard is fine. Consult a dentist for further information if you have braces or dental problems. For gloves, we use Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) gloves – these are lightly padded, fingerless gloves and are (unfortunately) one of the most expensive pieces of equipment. Until students have both, and wear them in class, we have to restrict some levels of training for safety reasons.
Bo Staff:
The first weapons people need will be a 1.8m staff. The cheapest and easiest way to buy one is at Mitre 10 or Bunnings (link for Bunnings) – dowel is about half the price of a hardwood staff, however they do break. If you can afford a full bo/staff, please consider purchasing one as it will be cheaper in the long run.
Students under 1.5m tall: Youth Bo
Above 1.5m tall: Regular Tapered Bo