Huge effort from everyone at Soncho Karate Club, Cheltenham and Gloucester dojo

Fantastic to have Chris (HDKI GB Squad member) in the dojo with us this week! He brought speed and sharp form, and we added a little extra sparkle!

We kicked off with combinations from Heian Nidan, drilling them in kihon before putting everything together in the full kata.

Great focus in the kata groups later in the week!

Kumite brought plenty of fun, working on combos from squad training, and wow, did they deliver. Awesome control + big smiles all round.

We also focused on Shodan/Nidan grading kumite. Chris gave Elif + Yingtai a fresh challenge as they prepare for their black belt gradings in two weeks. He also jumped in for Jiu Kumite, which was brilliant for all senior grades.

Our youngest members drilled the basics with Jakub, while Natalie Sensei pushed the others a little harder to bring out their best. Focus was on ura mawashi geri - aiming for accuracy over power, and worked on the kick recovery, and mawashi geri - with effective blocks and counters against the kick.

Our senior grades sessions pushed into 1st Kyu, Shodan and Nidan syllabus, where we challenged each other, shared ideas, and leveled up together.

We wrapped up the week with rounds of Shobu Ippon and Shobu Nihon, before Elif and Yingtai performed their kata (for what felt like the millionth time!) in front of everyone - great perseverance!

Wonderful to see our new friends settling in so well, thank you all for creating such a warm and welcoming dojo spirit

Huge effort from everyone at Soncho Karate Club - you’ve earned that double pudding this weekend!

Have a fantastic weekend!