Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
December 28, 2011 | 
Author This holiday season brings a welcome opportunity to say how much we appreciate all of my students at Zen-Shin . May the year ahead bring you health, happiness and continued success.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
from Kyoshi John Richards. Oss
Supermarket Bag Packing Raises £390 For Zen-Shin Squad
On Sunday 7th August – Lauren and James Garratt, Kouros Haywood and Mark Laing all went along to Morrisons Supermarket in Aldridge Walsall and packed bags at the checkouts for about five hours. With plenty of help from Jane and Jean Garratt and Andrea and Junior Laing they managed to raise an incredible grand total of £390.
Well done to all the students who took part, and a sincere thanks to all the parents who helped.
Student of the month June 2011
Student of month June 2011
The student of the month award for for June 2011, has been awarded to 7 year old Leah Isaac who trains with Mere Green Club.
Congratulations to Leah for achieving the highest marks in class last month.
Very well done and keep up all the good work.
You must be rubbish then!
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
Honorary Brown Belt For Josh
Joshua Brown
19th Feb 2001 to 14th May 2011
Joshua Brown joined the Zen-Shin Black Belt Academy in Erdington on September 2007. He was 6 years old.
Joshua was training to go for his brown belt on Sunday 3rd July 2011.
What A Great Kid!
Joshua was the epitome of Karate. Everything Josh did was to the best of his ability.
Joshua would arrive at the Karate classes with a smile on his face and would leave with a smile on his face, no matter how hard the class was or how much I had pushed. Whilst training he was always the first to Kiai.
Josh’s greatest achievement as confirmed by his parents was being selected for the WKA world Championships in Spain 2010.
Sensei John Richards only ever saw Josh at Gradings and Competition. He took grade pleasure in watching his spirit and enthusiasm. He did not really know Josh. He remembers him through the devotion of his dad, who he always sees at these events. He stated it is ‘rare to see a black parent giving their child so much support and attention’.
In the 4 years he has been with us, Josh has left his mark on the Academy and will never be forgotten.
With this in mind we have agreed to make Josh an Honorary Brown Belt.
Finding Your Inner Spirit
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, every one of us is unique and what some find easy, others may find more challenging or difficult.
One thing we all have is our ‘Inner Spirit’ but finding it takes focus and commitment.
Life can throw all sorts of challenges at us and throughout our lives we have to make decisions, often difficult ones and sometimes we will make mistakes. The way we deal with life’s challenges and how we handle situations, is more often than not, something we can influence and control.
How we apply ourselves to school and work, how we treat our families, friends or strangers. The values we hold and that instinct of what’s right or wrong is something we all have within us.
As I look around the Dojo, I see my students as individuals and I know their strengths and weaknesses. I can see when someone isn’t making an effort and likewise those who are. Concentration, effort and focus on what we’re learning are all part of it, but putting it all together, clearing your mind and being totally focused on every little detail, always looking to improve, perfect, become faster, more powerful and accurate is when you’ve found the Inner Spirit.
Striving towards excellence is what makes champions. In just over a year’s time, London will be hosting the greatest sporting event on the planet. Thousands of athletes taking part in hundreds of events and everyone of those competitors has at some time or other needed to dig deep and find their inner spirit. Training hard, making personal sacrifices and staying truly focused on that ultimate goal of an Olympic Gold, is what pushes them on. That winning determination and mentality is what sets them apart.
Natural talent is obviously a factor in becoming a World Champion, but if we apply the right attitude and mindset to everything we do in life including our karate, only then can we achieve our true potential.
“One life, live it well”
Kyoshi John Richards
Sponsored Swim Success For Lauren and James
On Friday 3rd June Lauren and James completed their sponsored swim to raise money for the WKA squad at Oak Part Leisure Centre, Walsall Wood. They managed to complete 102 lengths in total with James doing 42 lengths- just over 1000 metres and lauren doing 60 lengths- 1500 metres. Life guards at the pool signed the sponsor form and issued both with certificates for these distances!
Both were shattered afterwards completing the event in just under an hour but were pleased to have raised a total of
£280
Thank you to everyone who kindly sponsored Lauren and James, we’d particularly like to thank ‘Lime’ hairdressers based on High Street, Aldridge who generously sponsored Lauren and James 50p per length making their contribution an impressive £50 over all………
Congratulations to both Lauren and James, this was a fantastic effort and an excellent result well done.
WKA Open, Squad Training Session
On Saturday 4th June , we are holding a Squad Training Session at the Zen-Shin Hockley Headquarters.
This training session is open to all Zen-Shin students interested in competition Kata and Kumite training.
The training session will begin at 14:00 and finish at approximately 15:30.
Charges for the session are:
Squad members: £7.50 Non Squad members: £10:00
Students of all ages are welcome to attend
Many thanks,
Sensei
Trainee Instructors & Junior Leadership Program
This coming Sunday 5th June, we are holding another Trainee Instructors and Junior Leadership Course.
The course is being held at, The Zen-Shin Martial Arts Factory, Digbeth.
Start time 13:00 and finishing at approximately 15:00.
Can all trainee instructors and juniors participating in the leadership program, please attend.
Many thanks,
Sensei
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.