On the 17th May we had our Summer Dan Grading Day.
Sensei Alan Smith was the chief examiner and head of the Grading Panel.
We had a number of students testing and all were successful a brilliant result for the club.
The results are as follows 'Doru Boblea' 3rd Dan, 'Meabh Fleming', Daniela Karbuseva', Fionn Coen', and 'Luke Southwell' all 2nd Dan. Then 'Vladislav Karbusevs', 'Oisin Murray', 'Caoimhe West' and 'Dylan Thompson' 1st Dan
Recently we held the 1st round of what is a three leg competition in the Faolchú Cup Challenge Competition with Kumite and Kata events.
We had over 45 participants and 80+ entries. Every competitor received points towards the overall cup winner. With bonus points for those who won medals.
The next event will be in the last weekend of June with the categories being Set Kumite and Sport Kenjutsu.
Last week on 18th of April we travelled to Mullingar to take part in the Midlands Competition hosted by Kodoukai Ireland. Ten members took part and performed exceptionally.
The competition was run to suit Novices and beginners. Thanks to Sensei Daniel & Sensei Alan for a wonderfully run event.
Recently we hosted Sensei Alan Smith in the dojo to teach a seminar on kata performance. This was part of our series of listed preparation classes for Dan Gradings.
The Dan grading will be in May and there will be one more available designated class for preparation on the syllabus. Well done everyone that trained on the day.
On Saturday 14th on March some of our senior students travelled to Roachfordbridge to train with Midlands Shotokan Karate and Sensei Alan Smith.
Sensei Alan is head of Kodoukai Ireland which is a branch of the same organisation Kodoukai based in Japan and with a great traditional history.
Everyone had a great day training as they began their preparations towards grading later in the year.
Last week 2nd through to the 8th of March was Women in sport week.
Sensei Marie took the time to take photos of some of the great women we have training with us.
Below is a collection of photos from some of our classes.
On Saturday 7th of Feb '26 we travelled to Nass for Squad training. The course lasted a little over 2hrs and covered Kata & Kumite training.
We were suprised at how many were in attendance with in excess of 70 athletes.
Well done to our representatives on the day you performed brilliantly.
Last Saturday 24th Jan I travelled to Rochfordbridge to train in Midlands Shotokan Karate club with Sensei Alan Smith.
It was a great training day where we covered the Katas, Heian Nidan,Tekki Nidan, Kakioku Nidan and Nijushio. Complemented with some nice Khion and a recap of some of the lessons they had covered during the week.
The training was followed by a light lunch and a chat about karate development and progress between our clubs.
This weekend 17th & 18th January, club instructors Marie & Malcolm took part in two days of training for their IMAC and Sport Ireland accredited coaching certificates.
This is a four day course spread over two weekends. The course covered a vast amount related to coaching athletes and dealt with best practices, legal obligations, integration and scientific methods for coaching students.
To end 2025 we held our Student awards. We do this each year to honour the best performing, most inspiring and most dedicated students. It's always a difficult choice.
This year we choose the following:
Hi everyone, it's been a while since I posted here. So let me begin by wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2026. I thought I'd begin again by filling you in on the highlights of 2025.
For us one big event was our trip to Emden and taking part in the Osaka Cup.
We had a brilliant experience with a full programme for the day.
Firstly we had a seminar for 2hrs with 4 different instructors teaching Bo, Sport Kenjutsu, Kumite and Kata. This was followed by an exibition of cutting with Live Katana.
We took part in a Ireland v Germany challenge and finally the open Osaka Cup in kata and kumite
A brilliant adventure and well done to our representatives and their supporters.
