Karate Birmingham
You must be rubbish then!
July 6, 2011 | 
Author One of my students was telling me of a conversation he had with a school friend today.
The student in question is a 13 year old who currently holds a brown belt after training with us since 2007. His friend at school had heard that he does karate and was curious to know some more about it. My student explained to his friend all about Zen-Shin Karate, where he trains and how often etc.
His friend then went on to say that his Sister also does karate and has achieved her Black belt. He then asked my student what colour belt he wears.
My student told his friend that he is currently at Brown belt. His friend then asked him how long had he been training. “Since 2007” answered my student, to which his friend replied “you must be rubbish then, my Sister got her black belt in just two and a half years!”
Here at Zen-Shin we teach traditional Shotokan karate and we pride ourselves on what we refer to as ‘Black Belt Excellence’. Learning karate and becoming an expert is something that not only takes time but also dedication. Training with Zen-shin from white belt with no previous experience, you could in theory achieve a Black Belt in four and a half to five years. When I hear of students with other clubs being awarded their Black belts, often for little more than just turning up for class once a week for a couple of years, I have to ask how can this be possible?
At Zen-Shin we ask our students to attend at least two training sessions a week. We put those considered ready, in for pre-grading and only allow those who achieve the required standard at pre-grading to go forward to the actual grading. Each belt has a minimum training period before you are allowed to take the next grading and with my younger students we have a system of half belt gradings to allow them to progress at a more gradual pace.
Martial Arts aren’t all about how fast you can get to a Black Belt. It’s so much more than that and I constantly tell my students that being awarded a Black Belt with Zen-Shin reflects directly on me and the Academy. Whilst I want all those training with Zen-Shin to eventually be awarded a Black Belt, I can’t allow this to happen by lowering the standards required. To do this is, unfair, unethical and above all dangerous.
Parents, I urge you to consider carefully the Martial Arts School you choose for your child to train with. The colour of a karate belt isn’t always a true indication of how well your child could defend themselves in a real situation!
As with most things in life, there are no short cuts and sometimes the only ones we are really fooling are ourselves.
“One life, live it well”
Kyoshi John Richards 7th Dan Shotokan Karate
Posted in Karate, Karate Birmingham, Sensei's Blog, Zen-shin Black Belt Academy | 
Tags: black belt excellence, learn, learn karate birmingham, learn karate erdington birmingham, learn karate mere green sutton coldfield, learn martial arts birmingham, learn real karate, real karate school, Zen-shin Karate Academy
A Big Thank You, To The Cooper and Jordan School, Aldridge
Those who have manged to qualify, will be representing England at the WKA World Championships to be held Karlsruhe, Germany this coming August.
One member of the team is James Garratt who attends The Cooper and Jordan School in Aldridge. This will be the third time James has represented England, after competing in Spain 2009 and Scotland 2010.
After learning about his Karate achievements to date, The Cooper and Jordan School have been extremely generous and offered James sponsorship to the value of £100.
Competing in any sport at national and international level comes at a cost, karate is no exception and the importance of sponsorship and kind donations cannot be over stated.
On behalf of James and his parents Mark & Jane , we’d like to say a big thank you to The Cooper and Jordan School for this extremely generous offer.
How I wish I’d started Karate & Martial Arts training earlier in life!
I have honestly lost count of the times I’ve heard these words. Not just from some of my own students but from martial artists everywhere.
There are many who start training at a very young age and continue to train as adults making Karate & Martial Arts part of their lives, helping to keep the mind sharp, the body fit and the not to mention the social aspect of belonging to a club like The Zen-Shin Martial Arts Academy.
You’re never too old to start training
We have members who have started training in their 70’s and continue to train on a regular basis and will happily tell others of the health benefits they’ve gained from training.
Likewise we have the very young who have just started to come along our Little Ninja’s classes and will hopefully continue for years to come.
We have members with various disabilities and some with learning difficulties, all are made welcome!
Is there a club near me?
We have classes taking place all over Birmingham, not just at our own Centres in Hockley and Digbeth but also at venues in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Harbourne, Saltley and Kingstanding.
Going back to my original point. With any sport, the younger we get involved the better, but it’s not too late and what I want to get across to anyone considering taking up Karate more than anything is, please don’t put it off any longer!
Don’t just keep thinking about it, take the first step and give me a call today on 0121 233 2577.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kyoshi John Richards
Zen-Shin Mere Green Karate Academy Grading Achievements
Annual Brown & Black Belt Course
Sunday 27th March was a very long and busy day for the Zen-Shin Academy. At the Zen-Shin Headquaters Hockley, Birmingham, we held our Annual Brown and Black Belt Course. We had an excellent turnout for the course and many of those attending were from the Mere Green Club.
In addition to the training and gradings, we had the pleasure of being able to officially present Black Belt certificates to those who have recently been awarded their 1st Dan.
Two of the recipients and from the Mere Green club were:
Zoe Turner and Zak Poutjiouri.
Zoe has been training with ZenShin for 7 years and achieved her Black Belt January 2009
Zak achieved his Black Belt lastJune 2009 and has been with ZenShin since he was 7 years old
Congratulations to both Zoe and Zak.
Sunday also produced some new grading achievements for Mere Green.
Mitchell Davis.
Mitchell was awarded a distinction for the first of his 2nd Dan Modules. Mitchell is now well on the way to achieving his 2nd Dan after training for 12 years.
More recently Mitchell has been working very closely alongside Kyoshi Richards and gaining valuable work experience. He has also very kindly been assisting at numerous training sessions, pre-gradings and courses.
Jane Garratt.
Jane has now achieved her 1st Kyu. As many of you are aware, Jane had a setback during her training and required knee surgery. Jane has had a long and painful road to recovery but is now back to training and takes another step closer to 1st Dan.
James Garratt.
James is now proudly wearing his Brown / White Belt after successfully gaining a merit at 2nd Kyu. James who trains with his sister Lauren, Mum Jane and Dad Mark, is also a member of the Zen-Shin squad.
Many congratulations to all those mentioned above and thank you to everyone who attended on Sunday.
Kyoshi John Richards.
Karate kid story
Filming is underway in Beijing for the remake of The Karate Kid. The story of a young boy and his martial arts mentor has been updated with the central characters being played by Jaden Smith, son of mega star Will Smith and veteran action star Jackie Chan and is now called Kung Fu Kid. Rounding out the cast, is the Oscar nominated Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) who’s playing Smith’s mother in the flick.
The movie is set in modern day Beijing and is being co-produced by Will Smith’s
Overbrook Entertainment. This isn’t the first time father and son have worked together in some capacity. Both Smiths starred in 2006′s Pursuit of Happyness.
The original Karate Kid debuted in 1984 and starred Ralph Macchio and the late Pat Morita.
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The karate kid redux |
