Faolchú t-shirts and Hoodies

Tuam Karate Club Faolchú will be starting September with our much requested t-shirts back in stock! Apologies for being sold out over the Summer. T-shirts will cost €8 each (€15 for two) with 10% of each t-shirt sold going towards the start of our squad fund.
Hoodies are now available to order, please ask to see sizes available.

Sensei Dernott O Keeffe seminar in Tuam

Sensei Dermott O Keeffe will be teaching a course in Tuam on Saturday the 17th of September. This course is highly recommended and all Faolchú karate students should attend. Sensei O Keeffe has a wealth of experiance and while running a full time dojo, still has time to compete and win on an Internation and World level. All karateka are welcome to attend and can call Marie for further details.Sensei O’Keeffe has been studying Shotokan Karate-Do since 1979, just two months before his sixteenth birthday, and it was then that he saw the man that would impress on him the true secrets of success and achievement in Shotokan Karate… Good attitude and hard work. This man is Sensei Andy Sherry, 8th Dan.
Sensei O’Keeffe started training in Shotokan in 1979 under KUGB, graded to 1st Kyu under various KUGB Instructors including Sensei Eneoda.
Teaching from 1982 until 1993 and then again in 1997 to present. Sensei’s career to date has brought him to train with some of the worlds best Instructors and has gained great experience from them. Sensei O’Keeffe has been described as having a unique method of teaching, using traditional training methods as well as modern, to ensure that everyone who trains with him gets the best of old and new.
Sensei is a qualified fitness instructor/Personal trainer (NCEHS) and Neuromuscular therapist (NMT). He is also a certified Level 2 Coach with the NCTC. With this experience and knowledge of anatomy and physiology, it means those who train with him learn how to practice karate techniques properly, thus reducing the risk of injury due to bad practice. His only regret is that all too often, politics in Karate prevent Shotokan Karateka from training together as friends,regardless of affiliation.
If this was possible we could improve the development of Shotokan Karate in Ireland make us one of the best nations competing on the International stage.
Bio:
1982 My instructor broke away from the KUI. Took over as Chief Instructor of the Red Dragon Karate Club.
1982-87 Trained and competed with various instructors from different styles, Wado, Goju Ryu, Tae Kwon Do, Kick-boxing. During this time won many All Styles tournaments.
1987 Won the WAKO World All Styles and Kickboxing Championships.
1988 Approached Sensei Tommy McGrane with the view to returning to a recognised Shotokan Karate Organisation JKA.
1990 Received Shodan under Sensei Andy Sherry.
1990 Competed in the World Shoto Cup in Sunderland. Also competed in the ESKA Europeans Championships in Italy.
1992 Graded Nidan under Sensei Andy Sherry.
1993, August Tore medial collateral and damaged Anterior cruciate knee ligaments.
1994 Returned training and ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
1997 Returned training. At this time there had been a split in the KUI.
1999 Graded Sandan under Sensei Andy Sherry.
2001 Re-opened the Red Dragon Shotokan Karate Club.
2004 Graded Yondan under KUGB panel: Sensei Sherry, Sensei Poynton & Sensei Naylor.
2006 Joined Japan Karate Shotorenmei.
2007 Won JKS World Kata Championships.
2008 Graded Godan under JKS panel: Masao Kagawa Sensei JKS World Technical Director
2009 Won Veteran Kata in 10th All-Japan National Championships.
Over the years Sensei O’Keeffe has trained with visiting instructors like Enoeda Sensei (Chief instructor for JKA Europe), Ohta Sensei, Kawasoe Sensei, Kagawa Sensei, Kanazawa Sensei and Sensei Andy Sherry and Sensei Frank Brennan and many more. He travels regularly to Japan, to train in the JKS Hombu dojo under Sensei's Kagawa, Yamaguchi,Kanyama,Ishimine & Inada to name a few.Sensei O’Keeffe hopes to pass on as much of this experience to his students for many years to come.

Updated Events List

I have updated the Events List with some exciting karate events in Tuam and we will put together a handout for all students of the important events to attend in the coming months.

I hope you are all continuing to train hard and please check the new class times and structure and confirm which classes you will be attending.

Back to Regular Karate Classes

Tuam Karate Faolchú and Faolchú Combat classes will be returning to regular weekly times from Tuesday the 6th of September. Classes must be pre-booked as places are limited to maximise best instruction.
Times are:
Tuesday in Indigo Holistic Healing Center 18:00 Little Dragons (4-7yrs)
Tuesday in Indigo Holistic Healing Center 19:00 Combat Class (6yrs+)
Wednesday in Total Fitness Solutions Gym 18:00 Children's Karate (8-15yrs)
Wednesday in Indigo Holistic Healing Center 20:00 Adults Karate
Thursday in Indigo Holistic Healing Center 18:00 Little Dragons (4-7yrs)
Friday in Total Fitness Solutions Gym 18:00 Children's Karate (8-15yrs).
Really looking forward to getting stuck in to regular training we've loads of things happening between now and the end of the year.

Chosen Charity for 2011

Like last year we have chosen a charity to support with an event later in the year. Our charity is "Hand in Hand" a West of Ireland charity supporting children with cancer and their families.

We will post later with details of the event but please visit their site http://www.handinhand.ie/ or search for them on Facebook.

JKS Karate Free Course

Tuam Karate Club Faolchú will be travelling on the 11th of September to Moate for a very active day of karate.

The JKS Ireland plan FREE a seminar open to all with a guest instructor annually. This years guest is Scottish Sensei Robert Steggles, 5th dan. Having previously trained with Sensei Steggles, I can highly recommend this course. Robert has the ability to train his students very hard whilst keeping a smile on your face!

Tuam's Karate Club Champions will all be travelling on the day to represent Tuam and Galway JKS, in the All Ireland JKS Club Championships and would love to receive the support and backing of the fellow Faolchú students.

All this will be preceeded by the final squad training for the Irish JKS Karate Team before the go to the World Championships which will be held in Scotland this year.

The time table for the day is as follows:

10:30-12:30 Squad training (open to all).

12:30-13:30 Club Championships.

14:00-16:00 Seminar with Sensei Robert Steggles.

JKS Hombu Dojo Competition

On the 21st of August Hombu dojo Dublin will be holding a training and competition event. It is open to all JKS Ireland members and squad member or not, everyone is encouraged to attend. It will provide an opportunity to test your skills and help improve yourself for competition. Any Faolchú students who wish to attend, please contact you sensei for further details.

Summer Karate Squad Training

Squad training will be on in Total Fitness Solutions, Tuam on Saturday the 13th and Sunday the 28th of August at 10am.
Squad training is open to all Faolchú students who wish to train and will benefit kata and kumite in general but is strongly recommended for those who wish to compete. The JKS Club Championships will be on in September and the JKS Autumn Championships will be on in Dublin in October.

Tuam Karate Nunchaku Course

We had great fun on Saturday at our Tuam Karate Nunchaku Beginners Course. Sensei Stephen Kelly kindly came down to Tuam to instruct the course. We started with a mix of ages where we covered basic holding, catching and throwing to get familiar with handling the weapon. As the day progressed Sensei Stephen helped us all develop all the basic strikes, blocks and the movement of the nunchaku.
After a small break all of the younger children finished up and the adults and teenagers where introduced to some more difficult aspects of movement with nunchaku. We covered Kihon Nunchaku Kata, with Sensei Stephen taking time and care to demonstrate movements and applications within the kata and through partner work. Everyone had a wonderful time and there was a buzz from the small children all the way up to the adults class.
A big thanks to Sensei Stephen Kelly and all students who participated on the day.

JKS Club Championship

Our Tuam Karate Champions for the JKS Ireland Tournament have now been confirmed. The Championship will take place on the 11th of September in Moat. There is no fee for entering the competition. Representing Tuam and JKS Galway are:
Alyssa Fahy; age 5 - 7 kata,
Joe Mullan; age 7 and under gohon kumite,
Jayden Murphy; age 5 - 7 kumite,
Aaron Quinn; age 9 and under gohon kumite,
Ben Ronan; age 8 - 10 kumite,
Dylan Buckley; age 8 - 10 kata,
Nathan Collins; age 11 - 13 kata,
Regan Warde; age 11 - 13 kumite.
Congratulations to all our Champions, keep training hard!
There will be squad training sessions in Total Fitness Solutions at 10 am on the 13th and the 28th of August. These squad training sessions are for all students and not just those competing in the Club Championships.

New Training Times

Due to the demand for Karate in Tuam we have changed some of our training times. Please make note of the training times and the location of each class displayed on the sidebar of this page.
We will need to know A.S.A.P. which class you would like to attend.
Please remember that if you attend one class per week that you can avail of two club gradings per year. However if you commit to training twice per week consistently while attending other seminars we host you will gain the opportunity to grade a third time during the year.

Reminder: Nunchaku Course

Tuam Karate Club Faolchú and friends will have our beginners nunchaku course on Saturday the 6th of August in Total Fitness Solutions, Tuam on the Ballygaddy road.
All participants should be there before 10am for the first class. Class times are;
10:00 - 11:30 All ages
11:30 - 12:00 Break
12:00 - 13:00 Ages 12+ only.
This course is now fully booked.