Photos | Bushido Wado-Ryu Karate

Main Photo Gallery
Students ages 7+

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: 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