Our Teaching Philosophy

We teach karate with passion since we wholeheartedly believe in the results of training in the Martial Art form for
an individual.

 

Karate training is known for developing:

•  Body awareness, balance & posture

• Concentration

• Fitness

• Commitment & Perseverance

• Confidence

• Midline Crossing

• Development of hand-eye co-ordination

• Space awareness

• Small motoric muscles

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Karate is aimed at the individual and every child/adult will develop at his/her own pace. As a sport karate will teach you about fitness, discipline, commitment and instill confidence. It is also ideally suited to aiding a child in the development of skills needed to perform well at school, and also later in life. In training karate, we constantly strive to improve ourselves, not only physically in technique and fitness, but also mentally and in character - to be in whole a better person. Karate is a unique sport, which in training constantly crosses the left and right sides of the brain. The brain receives constant stimulation through the mid-line crossing techniques unique to karate training.

TRADITIONAL KARATE
We are proud to be part of the ISKF (International Shotokan Karate Federation, teaching traditional Shotokan Karate which we believe is an elite martial art that incorporates karate in it's purest form together with practical self-defence.  

 
WEAPON - BO (STAFF) AND NUNCHAKU TRAINING
Although we are by no means weapon experts, our focus being karate, we have with great success introduced training basic nunchaku and staff at our classes, especially with the children. Training with the nunchakus develops hand-eye coordination as well as the small motoric muscles; it's also a lot of fun for the younger members. In training nunchaku we use foam-covered plastic sets with a chain in between, not wooden sets, to prevent injury. We do basic Bo (staff) training simply because it's a practical weapon of self-defence, in class training the traditional Staff is substituted with a broomstick. These classes are strictly controlled and offered in a
small group.
 
SELF-DEFENCE
We strongly believe in practical self-defence (as it is somewhat different from Tournament based Karate). We incorporate practical self-defence into our karate classes when we teach; we think it is so important to be able to defend yourself, especially in South Africa with our high violent crime rate.

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TOURNAMENTS
Competing in tournaments is only a small part of what we believe karate is about, The benefits of training Karate is far greater than placing the emphasis of Karate on tournament achievements. However, there are students who like the competitive side of the Art, and for them, there is ample opportunity to compete. Our affiliations with various organizations, entitles all our students to take part on National and International level, achieving Provincial and National Colours.

EVALUATIONS
Students have the opportunity to grade (do exams) for the next level belts twice per year, June and November until they reach Black Belt. Thereafter Black belt exams are done on merit, when the student has fulfilled all requirements for the selected Black belt level as stipulated by International Traditional Japanese Karate Organizations. Progressing to a next level ensures that all students experience a sense of achievement.
 
EXTRA'S
We offer on a constant basis throughout the year extra specialized seminars in different topics for example self-defence, Kata, Kumite, and weapons. Our aim is to involve as many members as possible in activities where they can experience a sense of achievement, by just taking part, not necessarily winning, for example rewarding all students taking part in a tournament with Medals, not only the winners. Students can take part in various tournaments if they wish, some students don't like to compete, for them attending class, learning the art is sufficient, we respect that too.
 
KARIEN JACOBSZ - PERSONAL BELIEVES AND INSPIRATIONS AS INSTRUCTOR
As a Christian I strongly believe that God gives everyone of us certain talents, whether physically, mentally, to be able to teach, or not. I am using the talents God gave me every day to interact with my students, especially with young people, to teach and be a role-player/ an aid in their development. Other than my Christian believes The Niju Kun and Dojo Kun by Master Gichin Funakoshi inspire me, motivates me to always want to be better- TO BE ALL I CAN BE.