Training
Welcome Back II – The return of the adults
Welcome back! It’s been a busy week here at Birmingham & Weoley Castle Shotokan Karate since this is the first week this year both adults and children have been able to train in the dojo. We have had new starters and returning students young and old , some who have not been able to train since before the pandemic. It will come as no surprise that we were overjoyed to see everyone face to face again. Whilst we have been able to keep in touch and train online in Zoom together these past months there is always that extra buzz being back in a dojo not to mention the relief that you no longer have to worry about kicking over your TV! 😃
With so many people unable to train in the dojo or at all for such a long period we have been easing people back into things this week concentrating on basics and kata that people already know but may have become a little rusty at for those who have trained before, rebuilding our fitness levels and of course introducing our new starters to the wonderful world of Shotokan karate. We of course aren’t out of the woods yet with covid-19 so this is all taking place whilst we adhere to strict cornavirus safety measures to ensure the safety and continued good health of our students and instructors.
On Saturday we had a visit from our good friend and Chief Instructor of Enso Shotokan Karate , Sensei Austin Birks 6th dan and Yvonne Skalban 2nd dan both former students of the late Shihan Cyril Cummins 8th dan. This proved the perfect opportunity to present him with a belated 60th birthday present which due to lock downs over the past year and his ongoing battles with cancer has not been possible until now. This was a framed Kanji (Japanese calligraphy script) that roughly translated to our late instructor’s and the club’s motto, Never give up, Never give in.
At present we are back in two of our three venues, Weoley Castle Community Church and Bournville College running classes for all ages and abilities, please see our classes & fees page for times and locations.
So indeed we are pleased to be able to say to all, welcome back to the dojo!
Here are a few photos from our first week and a video kindly produced by Yvonne from the class on Saturday. If you are looking for some video production work please check out her site at https://www.evproductions.co.uk.
