About
Our aims, philosophy on Karate and basic structure of a typical lesson.
Wado Ryu Style Karate
Suitable for Men, Women and Children from 6 years of age
Derby Karate Club teaches Wado Ryu style to men, women & children of all abilities from 6 years of age. Lessons are taught by black belts under the supervision of owner and senior grade Sensei Malcolm Hewitson 5th Dan. We have over 100 members from all over Derby and some members travel from the surrounding areas to train with us.
Wado Ryu is a traditional style of Karate and not all about Fighting. So it is suitable for most people, we emphasis the practical elements within Karate katas as an effective method of self-defence.
DKC has been going for over 20 years
Derby Karate Club was started in February 1997 by Sensei Trevor Seddon now retired, passed to Sensei Phil Harris and is now being run by Sensei Hewitson. It was started to provide a family karate club for all comers and this is still our philosophy.
We have around 100 members in and around Derby . Most of our new members come from recommendations from our existing students.
Aims of DKC
Our aim is to run family type Karate clubs with no pressure and no fear. We will teach anybody from 6 years of age upwards providing there is no danger to themselves or other students either from a health or safety point of view. We will not tolerate bullies in my clubs and they will be expected to change their behaviour or find another club to train. We have a range of clubs across the week, some for all ages and grades and some tailored toward specific ages. We have regular seminars with well respected martial artists from our all over the country.
Safety
You need no special clothes when you start and no equipment. It is best to wear a t-shirt and track suit bottoms or something similar when you try Karate. We train in bare feet so no special footwear is required. You should not wear jewellery or anything that might hurt you or a partner when training. You should also make sure that your nails are not too long. You should not chew gum whilst training. Karate is not a fashion show so there is no competition on whose clothes are best. You are expected to keep your Karate suit and yourself in a presentable condition when training, especially for paired work.
Lessons
A Typical Lesson at DKC
Lessons are different every time you train but all have the same theme. They are broken up into various sections each one links to the other sections. We teach the basics and self-defence elements of Karate which are;
- Basic Techniques. How to punch & kick correctly both on the spot and moving in line work.
- Kata. Set patterns which displays stances and defence against an imaginary opponent.
- Bunkai, applications of kata moves for self-defence.
- Paired work, set defences against prescribed attacks to teach timing, distance and reactions to an attack.
- Sparring. Both preset and free sparring when you have learnt control.
You cannot do Karate or any other sport without a warm up. This is designed to get the body moving by starting with gentle exercise. Then sport specific stretching exercises are carried out to help stop you damaging your body. You then do the karate and at the end a cool down period to let the body return to normal. Most lessons last for an hour so here is a typical example.
Typical 1 hour lesson comprises of …
10 Minutes – Warm up
Some form of aerobic activity that will warm the major muscle groups and lead into your basic techniques.
5 minutes – Stretching
This is designed to improve flexibility and reduce injury due to cold and stiff muscles etc..
15 minutes – Basics
Punching – kicking – blocking both on the spot and moving forward. Pad work to develop impact and control of techniques. Combinations adding several moves together to defend and then attack. Karate basics are the grounding that will help you defend yourself in a conflict and need to be practiced and improved at all levels and grades.
15 Minutes – Kata
Kata is a set of moves where you are defending and attacking imaginary opponents.
10 Minutes – Partner Work
This section can be self defence – preset pair work or sparring.
5 Minutes – End of session work.
This can be sparring, pad work, a recap of earlier elements or a cool down.
For any further information please contact us: