Aims of DKC
My aim is to run family type Karate clubs with no pressure and no fear. I will teach anybody from 4 years of age upwards providing there is no danger to themselves or other students either from a safety or health angle. I will not tolerate bullies in my clubs and they will be thrown out. I believe everyone should be able to train where and when they want and not be told to train at this or that club. We have regular meetings with high grades from each of our clubs to discuss any problems that arise but hopefully we avoid them in the first place.
A Typical Lesson at DKC
Lessons are different every time you train but all have the same theme. They are broken up into various sections each one links to the other sections. We teach the three basics of Karate which are;
1. Basic Techniques. How to punch & kick correctly both on the spot and moving in line work.
2. Kata. Set patterns which displays stances and defence against an imaginary opponent.
3. Sparring. Both preset and free sparring when you have learnt control.
You cannot do Karate or any other sport without a warm up. This is designed to get the body moving by starting with gentle exercise. Then sport specific stretching exercises are carried out to help stop you damaging your body. You then do the karate and at the end a cool down period to let the body return to normal. Most lessons last for an hour so here is a typical example.
Approx Time What you do
Details
5 Minutes
Warm up
Bouncing on the spot - running on the spot - swinging arms -All different movements for all of the body
10 minutes
Stretching
Legs apart to stretch muscles -bending -twisting -turning again for all parts of the body
15 minutes
Basics
Punching - kicking - blocking both on the spot and moving forward. Combinations adding several moves together to defend and then attack
15 Minutes
Kata
Kata is a set of moves where you are defending and attacking imaginary opponents
10 Minutes
Partner Work
This section can be self defence - preset pair work or sparring
5 Minutes
Cool down
At the end of a lesson you are hot and the adrenaline is flowing so we finish off with light moves to cool down
Safety
You need no special clothes when you start and no equipment. It is best to wear a t-shirt and track suit bottoms or something similar when you try Karate. We train in bare feet so no problems. You should not wear jewellery or anything that might hurt you or a partner when training. You should also make sure that your nails are not too long. You should not chew gum whilst training. Karate is not a fashion show so there is no competition on whose clothes are best.