July Newsletter

Dear Parents and Karateka,

Thank you all very much for all your hard work and dedication this academic year. In October we had 7 students who passed a very challenging grading to Black Belt. In February we took 9 students to the JSKA National Championships and they won 10 medals between them and in March we hosted our first Inter-Dojo Cup. We have a number of students who have been very dedicated in attending extra classes, holiday clubs, sparring classes and we have seen a fantastic turnout in our summer fair demonstrations as usual. Our adult class is going from strength to strength with more parents taking up Karate for themselves and I have enjoyed teaching every minute of every class. Sensei Tom and Senpai Alex have been very passionately helping to raise the standard of our club and I have been very excited to see Senpai Robert and Senpai Sebastian emerging as assistant instructors. They both started classes with me when they were 6 or 7 years old and now they are 16 and helping me to teach the classes. 

Term Dates:

Our final day of teaching this term is Monday 11th July so all weekly classes will be on summer holiday from Tuesday 12th July onwards The Autumn Term starts on Monday 12th September 

Please note that Ravenscourt Park Prep School and Kew Gren Prep School have different term dates 

Summer Holiday Classes:

From 27th July-31st August we will be running weekly holiday classes every Wednesday in Kew (St. Luke’s House, 270 Sandycombe Road, Kew TW9 3NP). The classes will be 90 minutes each and run from 4:00-5:30pm. The price of the classes will be £10 per student, or £50 for all 6 classes.

The classes will be suitable for children over 6 years old and we will cover a wide range of material as well as practicing the full grading syllabus for the relevant grades. Students training for a specific grading will be given assistance to practice whatever they wish to prioritise.  

The full list of dates are:

27th July

3rd August

10th August

17th August

24th August

31st August

Price Freeze:

Our termly fee has not increased since 2011. In the 5 years since 2011 there have been significant increases in hall hire, insurance, equipment and other costs, and I have committed to keeping the student to teacher ratio at a low level in order to ensure that every student gets a good amount of individual attention. I am planning to introduce new software in the near future which will have features such as online payments, electronic payment receipts and the ability to check when a student has been selected for grading amongst other exciting new features. 

I had been planning to increase prices this September, but in this period of economic uncertainty I have decided that this would now be the wrong time and I have decided to freeze prices until 2017. 

Notice Period:

Please remember that you are supposed to give half a term’s written notice to stop classes. If you are not planning to keep your space in September then please let me know asap if you have not done so already as you might need to pay for the half term if you do not. 

Have a wonderful summer holiday!!!

Yours sincerely,

Sensei Ben Pethick

www.crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

ben@crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

07734 655 057

020 8560 5267

Venue Change

Dear Parents,

I am very sorry for the late notice but I was informed that there has been a double booking at the Kew venue this Saturday 11th June and therefore the venue has now changed for the grading and sparring class. If your child is not taking part in either of these events then there is no need to read on as all the other details in the June newsletter are correct. The time will be the same but the venue is now the Duke’s Meadow Community Hall.

Saturday 11th June – Duke’s Meadow Community Hall, Alexandra Gardens, Chiswick, London. W4 2RX

3:30-4:30pm – Grading

4:30-5:30pm – Sparring Class

It is just on the bend of the road on Alexandra Gardens. 

There is a car park at the venue and free parking on surrounding streets but please arrive early just to make sure. 

Apologies again for the late notice and I hope that the new venue does not cause inconvenience.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Pethick

ben@crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

www.crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

020 8560 5267

07734 655 057

Inter-Dojo Cup

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Congratulations to Mortlake Dojo for winning the first Crouching Tiger Karate Inter-Dojo Cup!!!

Thank you very much to all competitors from all clubs. Over 90 students competed and it was great to see such a high standard of Karate and such a friendly but competitive atmosphere. I thought that the attitude of the participants was spot-on and I feel proud and honoured to be the instructor of every single one of the competitors. 

It was very closely contested and ultimately it was decided in the last two events of board breaking but Mortlake Dojo are the Inter-Dojo Cup Champions. 

The Gold Medal tally was as follows:

Mortlake – 9

Kew – 8

Putney – 6

Grove Park – 2

Duke’s Meadow – 2

East Sheen – 1

St. Margaret’s – 1

Kew Green – 1

I would like to say a special thank you to all of our Black Belt competitors who helped to officiate and judge. Their spirit and enthusiasm for helping was exceptional and we could not have done it without them. Also I would like to thank Sensei Tom and Senpai Alex for their tireless work and to my wife Teo and daughter Kara for helping organise the event.

I am already thinking of ways to make next year’s event even better and I will be getting Mortlake engraved on the trophy and it will be theirs to defend next year.

Yours sincerely,

Sensei Ben

JSKA National Championships

I would like to thank all competitors who represented our club in the JSKA National Championships in Ash on Saturday 27th February.

Thomas Leask, Robert Bright, Kai Burby, Shaurya Hemrajani, Sophia Joffrin, Sophie Allwright, Charlie Morton, Parker Percy-Brown and Leo Cusden all competed with heart and spirit and between them they managed to achieve 4 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. The standard was very high and it is a fantastic achievement to have done so well. The tournament organisers also complimented our club for their exemplary etiquette. Well done!

Half-Term Clubs

There are no classes from 15th-21st February except for the half-term clubs:

The Half-Term Clubs will take place in Duke’s Meadow Community Centre(Alexandra Gardens, W4 2RX) on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February from 10am-2pm.

The cost of the half-term clubs is £30 for one day or £50 for both days.

We are planning lots of exciting material for these clubs and we hope that some of you can make it! Please email me to book a space.

You will need a packed lunch and drink.

February Newsletter

Dear Parents,

I have some more information about the Squad sessions and half-term clubs. 

Squad Sessions:

Any students planning to attend the JSKA Tournament on 27th February in Ash are strongly advised to attend both squad sessions on 6th February and 26th February. Students who are not going to this particular tournament but are keen to attend similar events this year are also welcome to attend. The minimum age for squad sessions is 8 years old. The squad sessions are split into two 45 minute sessions and and each session costs £5. 

Both squad sessions will take place in Duke’s Meadow Community Centre, Alexandra Gardens, W4 2RX.

Saturday 6th February: 3:00-3:45pm-Kata and 3:45-4:30pm-Kumite (sparring)

Friday 26th February: 6:15-7:00pm-Kata and 7:00-7:45pm-Kumite (sparring)

Finding Duke’s Meadow:

The pinpoint of Google Maps can be slightly confusing so if you look at the map attached the Duke’s Meadow Community Centre is the building with the grey pinpoint marked Meadows Montessori. 

JSKA Tournament:

The JSKA UK Championships will be held in Ash on 27th February. The details of this Tournament are attached in a PDF. Please aim to let me know before Saturday if you are planning to attend this tournament if you have not done so already. It is a great opportunity to compete in a high level national tournament so please let me know if you are thinking of entering and try to come to the squad session this Saturday if you are keen. If your child is nervous and not sure then maybe you could bring them to watch so that they get an idea of what is involved in tournaments. 

Half Term Clubs:

The Half-Term Clubs will take place in Duke’s Meadow Community Centre (Alexandra Gardens, W4 2RX (see map below)) on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February from 10am-2pm. 

The cost of the half-term clubs is £30 for one day or £50 for both days.

We are planning lots of exciting material for these clubs and we hope that some of you can make it! Please email me to book a space.

Inter-Dojo Cup:

The 1st annual Inter-Dojo Cup will take place in Mortlake on Sunday 20th March. I will be sending out entry forms and more details soon.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Pethick

Newsletter 4th January

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope that all of our members’ New Years resolutions involve lots of training and pushing themselves in their Karate 🙂 I am certainly looking forward to working hard myself to make improvements in both my training and teaching! January is a great time to set new targets so I encourage everyone to set themselves targets (such as a belt to achieve, a kata to learn, enter a tournament or remove a bad habit) and work hard to achieve those targets.

All classes will resume this Thursday 7th January so if your class is on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday then the first class will be next week. 

I have copied in the term dates below but it is worth checking the website periodically just in case anything changes. The link for the term dates on the website is: https://crouchingtigerkarate.wordpress.com/term-dates/

I will be in touch again soon with news about gradings, squad sessions, sparring classes, tournaments, holiday clubs and any other news…

Spring Term 2016

First Class: Thursday 7th January

Half Term: 15th – 20th February

Last Class: Wednesday 23rd March

Summer Term 2016

First Class: Thursday 14th April

Half Term: 30th May – 4th June

Last Class: Wednesday 13th July

Yours sincerely,

Sensei Ben Pethick

www.crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

ben@crouchingtigerkarate.co.uk

07734 655 057

020 8560 5267