The Shotokan Karate Association (SKA) has more than 800 students in 20 clubs across the South Midlands region. Our training sessions take place in local facilities on every week night or Saturday mornings, so there should be a session that is convenient for you. All clubs are run by highly qualified, black belt instructors.
We give new members this letter so they know what to expect when they join one of our clubs.
Our No-Obligation Beginners Course
New members to one of our clubs complete a 5 week beginners course. This is long enough for most people to see if they will enjoy karate and want to participate more regularly. There is a fixed fee of £10 for this, no obligation to join at the end, and no need to buy any equipment at this stage.
Joining A Regular Training Session
If you decide to continue after the beginner's course, it will then be time to begin training towards your first coloured belt(blue belt) by joining one of our regular training sessions. You can look on our web site to see where the nearest club is to where you live, or ask one of the instructors.
Training Fees are £4.00 per person per hour. Beginners attend for 1 hour per week until they grade for their first belt, then move up to join the full class where training will be for 2 hours. All fees are paid weekly at the start of the lesson, so there is no need to pay for lessons that you are unable to attend.
All students need to wear an association Gi, with the association badge on it. This is obtained from your instructor at a cost £25 -£30 (depending on the size) for the standard lightweight item.
Each person training with us must be registered with the governing body and have insurance. We cover this by issuing each student with a license, which must be renewed each year. The license fee is currently £20.
Gradings And Belts
Students' experience and ability is denoted by a series of coloured belts, which are attained in stages, with a grading examination in between to make sure students are ready to progress.
Beginners will need to complete 8 weeks trainining before grading for their first (blue) belt. For higher grades this increases to at least 20 hours training between belts. If you are unable to complete enough hours, you will still be able to come to the training sessions, but you will be unable to grade.
We hold a grading examination about every 12 weeks. These are usually held at the Woughton Centre, Rainbow Drive, Chaffron Way (H7) in Milton Keynes. Beginners start at 10:00am unless told otherwise.
For lower grades, Grading Fees are £25 paid in advance, or £30 on the day (including belt).
We are affiliated the Federation of English Karate Organisations, and the World Karate Federation.
