NORTH KENT NEWS – FEBRUARY POST
Hello all!
There is a lot of important information included in this letter, so please read it all carefully and speak to me if you have any problems or general questions.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
NEW KICK BOXING SESSION OPENS! – Every Wednesday, 7.30-8.30pm, Swanscombe Council Offices. Many people are now doing both karate and kick boxing, there are ways in which you can pay, to make things more affordable than paying-per-lesson. Please speak to me if you are interested.
Tigers Badges Lesson! – Sunday 5th February. All Tigers must be in attendance to ensure that they can take their next badge. Please let me know if you have any problems with this date. Because of the cold weather, please note that all Tigers can wear plimsolls to keep their feet warm.
Squad Training Returns! – KUMITE – Friday 10th February, Fleet Down Infant School – 6.15pm – 745pm
This is the first squad training session of the year and it is really important that all fighters make it to this session because of the competition in March. Please don’t forget that this session is not inclusive of your monthly fees and costs just £5 (all proceeds go into the club competition kitty to help future athletes). Kumite squads are open to ALL grades and ages.
Squad Training – KATA – Sunday 12th February, Swanscombe Leisure Centre – 2.30pm-4pm. Kata squads are open exclusively to Green Stripe and above only unless discussed otherwise. All ages welcome. £5 per for the session.
March 4th – SWANSCOMBE LEISURE CENTRE BOOKED UP. We cannot have our usual courts on March the 4th, therefore I propose we take training outside. I will host the Little Tigers in the smaller room upstairs, but I think it would be beneficial to have all other sessions outside and hope for sunny weather! We will of course need to wrap up and stay warm, so bring a jumper or tracksuit top. We will of course be moving a lot, so no one will be too cold! It is the final Sunday before the big competition so I do not want to cancel any training. I will announce exactly what is happening nearer the time.
Junior competition! – Sunday March 11th – Junior Meopham Karate Open – We are returning to this competition as defending champions! What an achievement that would be to win this twice consecutively and even more reason to get to the squad training sessions (mentioned above). These smaller regional competitions are a fantastic way to gain experience and confidence on the competition circuit. They are also a great platform to use, before you go on to compete at the nationals and possibly even international competitions! As always, those who aren’t competing and senior students, please come along and cheer on members of NKMA, we will need all your help to win this twice in a row!
Grading – Saturday March 31st – We all know what this is! Gradings will now be in the afternoons, so as not to clash with the morning karate and kick boxing sessions. Gradings will not begin till 12:15pm, I will announce time slots in next months post. Work hard over the next 6 weeks and you will certainly be put forward for your next belt. Getting to as many training sessions as possible is important here, so please make sure to maintain your training and if you are struggling and need extra help, make sure that you put the extra hours in, there are plenty of sessions available all week.
NATIONAL ENGLISH KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS! – 21st-22nd April 2012. Sheffield.
It has got to the stage now where the club is a few years old and as such – we have a handful of students good enough to compete at this competition! I will announce names of those going to the Nationals in due course. I will also be donating the money from the squad session to pay for accommodation of the athletes selected! This is such a brilliant opportunity for all. Some of you might even want to come and support your club and you are more than welcome to. Watching is also a great way to gain experience, so any future England athletes may want to book this weekend off in their diaries!
Christmas Party awards
I think we can all agree that the NKMA Christmas Party was a real success! It was a great way to end a phenomenal year at the club. The following students took awards at the end of 2011.
Little Tiger Of The Year – George Dugdale
Student Of The Year Boys Junior – Ben Greenland
Student Of The Year Girls Junior - Megan Davis
Student Of The Year Senior – Jacqui Buttery
Student Of The Year Under age 10 – Georgia Dunk-Neale
Most Improved Student – Jack Hargreaves
Kata Award – Riley Woods & Isabelle Buttery (shared award)
Kumite Award – Ruvey Ekinci
Etiquette Award – Frazer Keating
Dedication Award – Kody Wood
Outstanding Achievement Award – Cecilia Harman
Congratulations to all those that won awards. You should be proud of the extra work that you put in to get yourself recognised over some other very hard working and talented individuals. WELL DONE!!
MONDAY EVENING SESSION
The Monday Gravesend club has had problems in terms ventilation during the summer and also there has been a distinct lack of new students coming in through the school. Therefore it has been decided to move the Monday venue as soon as possible. As mentioned, I would like to move the Monday club towards the other side of Gravesend (the Northfleet side), which I think will give other students from the other clubs a chance of getting in some extra training. This will be happening as soon as possible, so please watch this space!
My Surprise Birthday Party
I just want to say a massive massive thank you to everyone that came to the party and a massive massive MASSIVE thank you to everyone that helped to organise in any way. Mainly Shani, Sam and Sarah-jane, but I know there must have been others that helped. To get that many people in one place at a certain time without me finding out, must have taken so much organisation and effort! I cant thank you all enough. I really do have some amazing family, friends and students! I never thought that after a couple years, I would make so many friends with such a fantastic group of people from the club. I will never forget the effort that was made for me. THANK YOU!!!
THATS IT!
As you can see again, there is so much to try and digest, so please do contact me if you are unsure of anything. You can call/text me, email me or please speak to me briefly during lesson.
Regards,
Saj 0790351 3104
kazenkent@mail.com