Olympic Karate

Training starts for everyone in the Dojo learning the basics. When the instructor thinks you are ready you will be entered into low level competitions where you can learn timing, technique and self control as you become better the competitions will do also.

Please note that these competitions are semi Contact and minimal contact is only allowed this changes slightly as the athlete gets older.

To ensure safety Competition categories are split between Age, Weight and Grade ensuring the competitors a fair chance.

After success you will have the option of training with the regional team and then the England team with the opportunity to fight for your country, it is when you are at this level you can go to the World Karate federation Youth league of which you can earn points by competing and give yourselves the opportunity to be selected for the Youth Olympics.

Olympic Karate has been excepted into the Olympics in 2020, this is a semi contact style which is suitable for all interested in competition fighting.

We at the club have a world medalist and an Olympic hopeful and a coach that coaches throughout England and is part of the Governing bodies coaching team.

Here is more information about Kumite (Semi contact Sparring)

Kumite is one of the three elements of karate (karate training includes kihon – technique improvement, kata fight with imaginary opponents, and kumite fight with a real opponent. This is a fight in which basic techniques executed with “empty hands” (an unarmed hand) acquire a real meaning in confronta-tion with a real opponent.

Correctness and thoroughness of techniques execution are the basis of kumite. It is not easy to become aware of it, especially for the beginners.

Only after some time students come to realise that kumite is the kind of fight with the opponent, which aims at own expression and self-improvement. So it is necessary to make the maximum physical and mental effort which would allow to keep constant concentration and to execute each technique with appropriate efficiency and strength.

This is to block the opponents effective reaction. Depending on the level of advancement, contests are led in various ways. We distinguish three categories: basic (fixed distance and announced techniques akihon ippon kumite), semi-free (free distance, at the first, announced attack technique executed in the fixed time – juyu ippon kumite) and free (the competitors can use any technique without a warning).

However, they must be in full control of their blows so as not to hurt an opponent – (jiyu kumite).