Gradings
BWCSK held the main June Kyu gradings at Bournville College dojo on the 14th June with additional gradings taking place over the course of the following week for those unable to attend. Well done everyone who graded!
Awards & Presentations
BWCSK held their first gradings of the year on the 15th March 2025 at the Longbridge dojo. Well done to all those who took their grading and congratulations to all those who passed. A lot of those who graded are now heading into the advanced Kyu grades where things become more difficult and expectations increase as you start to approach your black belt grading.
We also had the pleasure of presenting Dion with his Shodan certificate at the Kenshin dojo after he passed his grading in December a couple of weeks earlier.
Gradings
The Kyu & Dan gradings, December 2024 were held at the Bournville College dojo (A.K.A. South & City College Birmingham – Longbridge Campus) on Saturday 14th December with a few additional gradings taking place the following week at the Weoley Castle dojo. All of us at BWCSK would like to congratulate all those who passed their gradings. Well done we were very pleased with the overall standard on display.
We also had a couple of students attempting different levels of black belt grading. Whilst unfortunately one didn’t pass on the day they put in a shift during the grading and will hopefully fair better when they take it again. As one would expect each higher dan grade gets harder with greater technical proficiency and knowledge required to pass, many require multiple attempst but through persistence and study get there in the end. Even attempting a Dan grading is a difficult task so we offer our heartfelt commiserations to the candidate that failed but are confident that they will come back stronger and better next time. We are pleased to be able to offer our special congratulations to Dion Worthington on achieving the rank of Shodan. Dion is a long time student of the Kenshin dojo and is the third student to achieve their black belt from Kenshin SKC since they became part of BWCSK. Dion started training with Sensei Franklyn Doras from a young age, continuing his training with Sensei Peter Shuter after the death of Sensei Doras and then again when the club became part of BWCSK. His willingness to help and tiredless dedication meant he became the first assistant instructor from Kenshin when it joined BWCSK.
Below is a selection of pictures from the grading days from our Flickr account.
Grading
The Kyu & Dan gradings, September 2024 were held at the Bournville College dojo (A.K.A. South & City College Birmingham – Longbridge Campus) on Saturday 21st September with a few additional gradings taking place the following week at the Weoley Castle dojo. All of us at BWCSK would like to congratulate all those who passed their kyu gradings. Well done we were very pleased with the overall standard on display.
We also had a couple of students attempting their shodan black belt grading and one going for their nidan and are pleased to be able to offer our special congratulations to Alex McMahon and Paige Hopkins on achieving the rank of Shodan and May Smith on achieving the rank of Nidan. Paige has trained with the club for many years and showed great tenacity and perseverance to be able to achieve her black belt after a previous setback. Alex is a long time student of the Kenshin dojo and is the second student to achieve their black belt from Kenshin SKC since they became part of BWCSK. May has trained at BWCSK from a young age and has shown great aptitude for the art producing a notable performance in her grading kumite.
Below is a selection of pictures from the grading days from our Flickr account.
Grading
The Kyu gradings, June 2024 were held at the Bournville College dojo (A.K.A. South & City College Birmingham – Longbridge Campus) over the weekends of the 22nd and 29th June with a few additional gradings taking place the following week at the Weoley Castle dojo. All of us at BWCSK would like to congratulate all those who passed their kyu gradings. Well done we were very pleased with the overall standard on display.
Below is a selection of pictures from the grading days from our Flickr account
Gradings
The Kyu & Dan gradings, March 2024 were held at the Bournville College dojo (A.K.A. South & City College Birmingham – Longbridge Campus) over the weekends of the 16th and 23rd March with a few additional gradings taking place on Monday 25th at the Weoley Castle dojo. All of us at BWCSK would like to congratulate all those who passed their kyu gradings. Well done we were very pleased with the overall standard on display.
We also had three people going for different dan grades this time around and whilst two didn’t quite make it, I’d firstly like to congratulate all of them for choosing to request to take a black belt grading in the first place. Dan gradings are a considerably harder experience than kyu gradings by design and are the culmination of several years of training to reach the point to be able to even attempt the gradings. Many don’t pass at the first attempt but those who persist will eventually reach that goal and can reach heights many never expected, as a now high ranking sensei of mine will often tell people when describing their own karate journey. These gradings get increasingly more difficult with a greater degree of technical skill and knowledge required as you progress up the ranks.
We are very pleased to be able to offer our special congratulations Lincoln Boult who achieved his Nidan (2nd Dan) black belt. He had a very good grading and worked very hard over the last few years since passing his shodan at a relatively young age to reach this point.
We’d also like to thank Sensei Patrick Jones, 3rd Dan, another former student of Shihan Cyril Cummins and training partner of Sensei Richard Amuzu at Enso SKC for agreeing to come and help out on the grading.
Below is a selection of pictures from the grading days from our Flickr account
Gradings
At the next class at the main kenshin dojo in Stechford we took a few light hearted photos to celebrate the students passing their gradings at the Longbridge dojo on the weekend. Well done to you all we were pleased with the progress you have all been making since joining the BWCSK family.
Gradings
Shihan Cummins presented the certificates from the March 2017 dan gradings to his students that had achieved their dan grades on the Saturday class at Bartley Green and Tuesday class at Halesowen dojo. Congratulations to Kathy Dearden from Ippon Ken Shotokan (5th Dan), Susan Hession (4th Dan), Richard Amuzu (4th Dan), Roger Cox (3rd Dan), Perry McEwan (2nd Dan), Ivan Butler (2nd Dan) and Tariq Maluana (2nd Dan) on achieving their grades. These have been a result of years of dedication and training and are great achievements.
Gradings
Congratulations to everyone who graded today on the BHSKC March 2017 gradings. Special congratulations to the new Dan grades: Kathy Dearden from Ippon Ken Shotokan (5th Dan), Susan Hession (4th Dan), Richard Amuzu (4th Dan), Roger Cox (3rd Dan), Perry McEwan (2nd Dan), Ivan Butler (2nd Dan), Tariq Maluana (2nd Dan).
An amazing achievement. Well done to all of you.
Ivan Butler
Tariq Maluana
Perry McEwan
Roger Cox
Richard Amuzu
Susan Hession
Kathy Dearden
Gradings
Well done everyone who passed their gradings, special congratulations to Steve O’Reilly, Eliot, Smantha Abbot & Nick Abbot who achieved the rank of 3rd dan, Leila Partridge who achieved her 2nd dan and Mel O’Reily & Abbi who achieved their 1st dan black belts.
