Elite Karate Academy Newsletter
March 2023
Welcome to the March newsletter of 2023.
St Patrick’s Day Parade
We will once again take part in this year’s parade. All members of the Academy are welcome to walk with us as are their families and friends. The more the merrier.
Children are asked to wear their karate uniform. Depending on the weather, they can wear normal clothes under their uniform.
We will be meeting in Clondalkin Sports & Leisure Club Car Park, Old Nangor Rd, between 1-1:30pm on the 17th. The parade starts at 2pm and is estimated to finish at 4pm.
There will be no regular classes on St Patrick’s Day.
Elite Karate Academy Expo
The annual Elite Karate Expo will take place on Sunday 23rd of April 2023, once again in the Green Isle Hotel. This is the biggest event in the Elite Calendar.
The aim of the Expo, as always, is to allowing students demonstrate their skills and abilities to their family and friends, whilst educating parents about the aims and ethos of Elite Karate Academy, in a relaxed fun environment.
All students will be taking part, those not grading will be involved in demonstrations.
This event is open to anyone. So bring the grandparents, this year’s Expo will include;
- Grading (see below for details)
- Club Sparring Competition (semi-finals and finals only, early rounds will take place in class through March, entries now closed)
- Demonstrations (Instructor & Students)
- Award Ceremony (Grading, Competition, and Special Awards, including Student of the year)
- Full Bar Facilities
- Bake & Cake Sale
- Raffle – Can you or your business can donate a prize?
Grading
Those eligible to grade must pay their grading fee before 7th of April to insure they receive their certificate at the Expo.
Please check with Sensei Gareth if you are unsure if your child is eligible to grade. Gradings will take place in their regular classes prior to the expo and receive their results at the Expo.
Tickets
Pre-entry for the Expo now on sale.
Current members of the Academy do not need to pay for entry, only their families. Those that pre-pay will gain entry to Expo earlier to secure better seats.
Children’s Anti Bullying Program
We have now started our Children’s Anti-Bullying Program – this course will teach children how to stay safe, avoid trouble and how to deal with bullies by building their confidence and teaching simple protection skills.
All done in class via our mat chats.
App
Our new Elite Karate Academy App is now up and running.
This is a game changer for modern karate students, video tutorials for every technique they will ever learn to black belt and beyond in an ever-growing resource in the palm of their hand 24/7.
If anybody has difficulty logging into the app, please message me and I will resend the log in details. If you did not receive an email, please check your spam folder, as some of the emails were landing there.
Once you have the App downloaded to your phone, long press on the app to bring up the app info and turn notifications on.
Leadership Program
The Elite Karate Academy Leadership Team program has been designed for students who are interested in leadership in martial arts or life and is now up and running. Over the coming weeks these new Academy leaders will be assisting in various classes within the Academy.
Those selected students should now make themselves available in the class times that suit them and confirm with Sensei. All leaders start a 30-day intro program once they attend their first class as leader. After 30-days they then move on to level one.
The new Leaders Program Uniforms will be ordered once the Students have been confirmed and accepted to level one. Uniforms will cost €30 the same as a normal suit.
Those currently accepted on the leadership program, will be given access to the training video on our App and should watch them ASAP. More videos for level one will be added from next week.
Uniforms and equipment
Unforms are now back in stock, they can be bought through the website for click & collect at the dojo.
Sparring gloves and boots are now available. I will have x-small boots in stock hopefully by the end of the month.
New beginner’s class
I will be starting a new beginner’s class on Tuesday & Thursdays from 5-6pm this month. If any current beginner would find that time better suited then the class they are currently in, please let me know and we can transfer you to this time.
Direct Debits
If you would like to set up a direct debit for your membership either weekly, 3 months or yearly, and pay that way please message me and I can set it up.
Moving Dojo
To those asking, I am still looking for suitable premises to move too in Clondalkin. I have not yet been successful. Ideally, I would like to move during the summer, if we can find a premises.
As always thank you for your continued support of Elite Karate Academy
Sensei Gareth
EELITE KARATE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2020
Welcome to our New Year Newsletter for what will be a special year for our Academy which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
This email newsletter will hopefully keep you up to date with all you need to know about what’s going on in Elite Karate Academy over the coming months of 2020. Please feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends, I hope you find it informative. Feel free to comment on our Facebook page with comments and be sure to like our page while you’re there. Or follow us in Instagram here.
News – Updates – Events At A Glance
- Elite Karate Academy Expo on Sunday April 5th, 2-6pm, Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley. All students including beginners will be taking part on the day, with either/both gradings and demonstrations. See below for more details.
- Sparring Competition in March more details next month
- St Patricks Day Parade. Come walk with us. Find out more below.
- Raffle & Cake Bake Sale. Can you donate a prize? Bake something?
- Academy 10th Birthday Party in September
Elite Karate Academy Expo
Our 10th Elite Karate Academy Expo will take place on Sunday 5th of April between 2pm-6pm, in the Clayton Hotel. Liffey Valley. Doors open at 1.30pm. All students will be taking part, those not grading will be involved in demonstrations. All students must wear their karate uniform. The aim of the Expo, as always, is to allowing students demonstrate their skills and abilities to their family and friends, whilst educating parents about the aims and ethos of Elite Karate Academy, in a relaxed fun environment. This event is open to anyone, so extended family and friends are welcome, this year’s Expo will include;
- Grading (students will be informed closer to the date)
- Club Sparring Competition (semi-finals and finals only)
- Demonstrations (Instructor & Students)
- Award Ceremony (Grading, Competition, and Special Awards, including Student of the Year)
- Unveiling of Elite Karate Academy’s 1st Junior Black Belt?
- Bake & Cake Sale. Why not bake something to bring on the day?
- Raffle (asking parents to donate a price if they can, donations can be brought to the dojo)
Grading
For those few students who were unwell and missed their Christmas Grading or those that are eligible to Grade. The next grading will take place within class the week of 27th January 2020.
Finn Murphy, Amelia O’Reilly, Sean Power, Courtey Gorman, Niko Popardowski, Gloria & Adonai Vey, Marco Li, Eva Kelly, Aleksander Samatyja, Fares Okasha, Douglas & Zack Martin, Amberleigh Dowman, Oscar McNeive, Alberto Cimpoesu, Ronan Beech, Markas \Koskus. If your child’s name is not and the list and you think they are eligible, please contact Sensei.
Sparring Competition
The early rounds of this non-contact 3 points-wins tournament will take places within your child’s normal classes and is completely voluntary. With the semi-finals and finals taking place at this year’s Expo. All students must have their own sparring gloves & boots, which can be bought in the dojo, this is for your child’s safety. Only students who have graded Yellow belt or higher, may take part in this tournament. All details will be given out in February
St Patrick’s Day Parade
Once again this year the Academy will be walking in this year’s Clondalkin Parade. Students, families, and their friends are all invited to join us on the day. So put it in your
Character Education Program
Once again, we are running our Word of the Week program in class. Our specially designed word of the week program teaches 14 core values to your child in a 5 minute ‘mat chat’ within their normal class. Your child will grow as people not just stronger and fitter. No other club offers this type of program.
Our 14 words are: Courtesy, Growth, Honesty, Obedience, Courage, Sincerity, Humility, Perseverance, Honour, Loyalty, Self-Control, Knowledge, Respect, Integrity.
Each week these lessons will be posted on our Facebook page or the full course can be viewed here in our blog section of our website. I strongly urge parents to get involved with their child’s learning by reading these posts or discussing after each class what they learnt.
Website
Check out our blogs on our website. Click the link to read about them
Dojo Kun Programme – Most club’s dojo rules consist of no shouting, no chewing gum etc. Our Dojo Kun program teaches your child 25 rules of life. These rules teach your child how to follow and make their dreams come true, through hard work, passion, and dedication.
Elite Mental Training – This program teaches students the mental strategy of fighting, topics introduced can be used in all areas of life, reducing stress, and increasing mental wellbeing. Read some lessons covered in our blog section below.
Anti-Bullying Programme – We teach your child how to deal with bullying in a non-aggressive way without having to resort to violence. A great program for boosting confidence and self-belief.
Online Self-Defence Course – Information on realistic self-defence, mentally, tactically, psychologically.
Newer material will be shared weekly on our Facebook page, much will be of interest even to those who don’t train.
Coming later in the Year
Other events coming up this year after the Expo, will be our 10th anniversary Summer Birthday Party in September.
Testimonials Request
That so many of you praise our Academy is huge source of pride to me. Please write a review/testimonial here. They will then be added to our website. Student / parents or both may write a review and you may write a new one if you wrote one before.
Zen Tip
Thoughts Are Not Facts
You are walking down the road. When you see your friend on the other side. Unable to cross the road, you wave and call their name. Your friend continues to walk on. How do you react? Many people have different reactions when told this story. Some accept that their friend simple did not see them and thus continue their day. And if they remember they may mention to their friend that they saw them, the next time they speak. Other people feel slighted and ignored. Wondering what they did to their friend to deserve being ignored.
Convinced their friend is not talking to them. They race off upset, determined to phone their friend and find out what they did. Thoughts are not facts. That you think something does not make it true or real. Put emotions, feeling, rationale, and assigning motivations to people without the full facts, makes you react to situations that are not happening. Recognize that thoughts are not facts and learn to respond rather than react for a calmer heathier life
