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About
Meet the Team
Contact & Find Us
Membership & Training
Little Ninjas 3+
Galleries
- Photos
- Videos
Safeguarding

Main Photo Gallery
Students ages 7+

(Click on images to enlarge)

Sempai Eleanor trains a junior grade in suri ashi – the sliding-in-to-strike footwork.

Black belt sparring is about quickness, feints and training super-fast reactions.

Mokusu (eyes closed) – is excellent mindfulness: checking in with our breathing and bodies & clearing the mind at the start & end of training.

Sempai Eleanor assists with our recent joiners’ first grading – a fantastic first step on their journey as martial artists.

Sparring practice

David’s excellent head movement and simultaneous counterstrike using the ‘sen no sen’ principle of attack.

Gyakuzuki – the reverse punch – is a key striking technique, which takes much practice to deliver with speed, power and surprise.

Charlotte in sagiashidachi – the crane stance – during her tournament kata performance

Stretching and flexibility are an important part of training. Pushing knees down is as much about controlling your mind, though.

Summer 2024: we were asked by several ‘karate mums’ to run a 10-week women’s self-defence course, teaching tried-and-tested strategies & techniques to help people stay safe.

We train for different knife attack scenarios

5 of our club’s sempais – senior grade students who help set the standards of tranining and assist with tuition.

Collaboration in one of our Saturday classes

Gyakuzuki (reverse punch) and bracing training: how to take a punch to the torso using muscle control.

Pairwork training

Father and son black belts. A lifetime ambition

December 2023: as the club grows, our new class structure allows for more one-to-one training from our instructors and the growing ranks of our other student black belts.

Andrew was literally the poster boy for karate when the organiser’s of the 2024 South Coast Combat Karate Champtionship produced their publicity for the event!

Some of the growing number of our Saturday students, who attend one two morning training sessions

Kata practice. Sensei Lynn, front right, showing perfect form for shikodachi – ‘horseriding stance’ here.

Don’t be fooled by size – it’s all about technique! Eve already produces so much power in her strikes.

Green belt Jake is already building his medal collection – in both kumite and kata – with a silver and bronze medal respectively.

1st Dan David Lewis won Gold in his senior kumite weight category for the third year in a row at the South Coast Combat Karate Champtionship 2024. (Though he acknowledges that a little luck with a bye helped him this year!)

Maegeri – the front kick. A highly effective weapon, both in sports karate and self-defence.

Success as a club comes from teamwork and the mutually supportive atmosphere that we cultivate.

Andrew’s spinning side kick – yokogeri – lands perfectly in the kumite

Ewan’s gold medal in his kumite categoory at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championship

Sianna medals again at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championships

Harry’s kumite silver at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championships

Jake’s kumite silver medal at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championships

David’s kumite gold – for the second year in a row – in the top weight category at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championships

Black belts receive a special grading certificate in Japanese kanjis, to mark this huge achievement.

October 2023: four new blacks, all highly deserving of this massive milestone in their career, after years of training and all of them undeterred by the set-back of the pandemic. Pictured with assistant examiner, David (Shodan), centre.

As the club continues to grow, we can now run 2 classes back-to-back, which allows junior grades to train separately from more senior grade students on a Saturday.

Seoi nage – the shoulder throw

Congratulations to David on becoming a Shodan – a first Dan black belt. He is an outstanding karateka and I am honoured to have been a part of his martial arts journey

Congratulations to Archie on grading to yellow belt!

Congratulations to father and son Bruce and Loki on their first karate gradings

Well done to Seb for taking his first step up the ladder

May 2023: Jake grades to yellow belt in record time….

An unprecedented second grading in the same month for Jake, with another first class pass. All down to his outstanding commitment and work ethic

Kihon (fundamental techniques) and strength & conditioning training stations

Family training session

Focus pad training stations

Part of the club family at the 2023 South Coast Combat Karate Championships

Such a privilege for our club’s safeguarding officer, Lynn and me to meet and train with the legendary Rick Hotton Sensei, over from the USA for his only UK visit this year.

Congratulations to Fin on his orange belt grading. Fin has huge potential

Congratulations to Zach on achieving his yellow belt. He has shown focus and determination

Congratulations to Roman, Oliver, Mia, Ethan, Milo & Harry on grading so well to red belt

Congratulations to Jacob, Angkor, Iris and George on grading so well to achieve their red belts.

Congratulations to Sophie & Alex on achieving their yellow belts. They both have so much ability and further potential

Congratulations to Phoebe on her first grading success – the first exciting step on her journey

Congratulations to Andrew, Ewan, Charlotte & Eleanor on achieving their 3rd brown belts (1st Kyu) = one step away from black belt. They are a formidable group of karatekas, who do our club proud

Congratulations to William on his first grading success!

2023 tournament medals for 3 of our brown belts: gold for Ewan in junior intermediate-advanced kumite, silver for Charlotte in kata & silver for Eleanor in the junior intermediate kumite.

Sharpening up those roundhouse kicks!

We’re so proud of Archie, who never stops smiling and training hard. A well-deserved red belt is just your first step on your journey. Well done, young man

Congratulations to father and son Rich and Toby on their first gradings at the club. They both embody the focus and discipline of true martial artists.

Sensei Ben gets a special mention in Damien Lewis’s latest bestseller

Sensei Ben gets a special mention in Damien Lewis’s latest bestseller

Sensei Ben with his student & Sunday Times bestselling author Damien Lewis, along with Ex-SAS member Des Powell, at their book launch.

Keeping it in the family – siblings Sianna, David and Damien show their medal haul from the 2022 South Coast Applied Karate Tournament

Juniors training their basic techniques (‘kihon’) lead by an experienced senior grade student

Adults training their basics alongside the juniors

Congratulations to Spencer on acheiving his orange belt. He is a seriously good karateka with so much potential.

Sempai (senior student) Mason helps to grade 2 students to 6th Kyu – green belt.

Getting pads on, excited for another ‘free sparring’ session (Jiyu ippon kumite)

The kosadachi(cross-legged) landing stance is very difficult to execute with balance in this kata

Winding up for a head-height roundhouse kick – jodan mawashi geri

Kizamizuki – the jab punc

Dropping his weight and ducking into the classic ‘reverse punch’ – the ‘gyakuzuki’

A good way for beginners to practise kicks is on the floor, taking balance out of the equation to begin with

Sempai (senior grade student) Andrew, teaching beginners their first kata

Great to see our spacious new Saturday training venue filling up fast with new members!

Training hard and making friends along the way

Uchi uke – inner block

Training chokuzuki – the static straight punc

Tobigeri – jumping kick in action

Saturday morning training at our previous venue

Junior black belts sparring

Junior black belt certificate

Junior black belt grading

Chudan mawashigeri – mid-height roundhouse kick

Two proud 1st brown belt graders

Two junior black belts getting to grips with ippon kumite – ‘one step’ controlled sparring

Club founder Sensei Laziz Rakhmatov (pictured left) with his student and successor Sensei Ben Mills

Nage waza – takedown techniques

Gedan barrai – lower block

A senior black belt sets up for an uramawashigeri – reverse roundhouse kick

Phone: 07801 730097

Email: bdemills@yahoo.co.uk

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