About us at Aldershot, Farnham and Haslemere Karate Clubs
Our current family of clubs at Aldershot, Farnham and Haslemere have been in existence collectively for over 45 years.
All of our Black Belts have official grades registered in Wado Ryu headquarters in Japan and have physically taken them before a panel headed by either Shiomitsu Sensei or Grandmaster Ohtsuka. The two instructors, Graham Hopkins and Corin Pegden, have over 60 years of training and experience between them and their objective at the clubs is to teach you traditional and authentic Wado karate to the best of their ability. The clubs other objective is to ensure you get regular access to some of the world's finest karate instructors on a regular basis under the guidance of our chief instructor, Sensei Shiomitsu 9th Dan.
The clubs are non profit organisations and all monies that are made are reinvested into equipment, guest instructors, tournaments or other such benefits for the students.
We run our classes with traditional Japanese methods, yet try and retain a friendly, hard-working atmosphere for all students to enjoy. The clubs currently run classes four times a week and with the additional courses on offer through the Wado Academy, it is possible for our students to have the chance to be training most days of the week. As a member of the clubs, we hope you will become part of our 'family' and we are always happy to welcome new and committed students. The emphasis in the classes is very much on the quality and character of student, rather than quantity of students.
To learn correct Wado ryu/Wado kai karate requires patience, dedication and robust training over a period of many years, under the guidance of a first class instructor. It also requires a degree of intelligence to take on board the technical aspects that are explained and therefore it is a very challenging style on more than just a physical level. It is a style that is also extremely rewarding if you stick at it and continue to improve over time. If you are purely looking to get an easy black belt within a couple of years, then the style and our clubs may not be suited to you, as you would honestly be far better off going to a shop and just buying one. The training at the classes is an on-going process, just as any karate training should be and therefore it is only through continuous study, hard work and effort that you will start to reap the physical and personal benefits that Wado karate can give you.
The founder of Wado karate, Hironori Ohtsuka wrote: "Learning Wado Ryu is difficult. In a period of a few years, one cannot learn true Wado-Ryu karate perfectly; it takes many years of training. It is like becoming a doctor. In order to get 'Hakase-go' (a doctor degree) in Japan, you have to complete six years of elementary school, finish four years of university and then four years of graduate school. After you get the degree you still have to pass the national exam and then practice at the hospital for several years to become a professional doctor or professor. To become a proficient Wado Ryu practitioner, it takes the same amount of effort!
Here is a list of just some of the opportunities that you will benefit from, by training with us at our clubs:
- Training sessions with Wado karate master Masafumi Shiomitsu 9th Dan Hanshi, several times every year at the Aldershot, Farnham and Haslemere clubs.
- Bi-annual training at our Winter Course in Guildford, Surrey, with the Grandmaster of Wado karate, Hironori Ohtsuka 10th Dan.
- Regular training with the Wado Academy senior instructors, such as Sensei's Shiomitsu, 9th Dan, Kazutaka Ohtsuka and Arthur Meek 7th Dan.
- Annual courses at the clubs, with 9 times world champion and Britain's most successful karate competitor and England coach, Wayne Otto O.B.E.
- National squad training sessions with top competitors and instructors, run every couple of months,
- Access to a number of tournaments every year, for those that wish to develop these skills and enter competitions. Students and instructors from the clubs have travelled and competed in Japan and across Europe.
- Other seminars from occasional guests such as Tomiyama Sensei 8th Dan Shito Ryu, Peter Edwards 6th Dan Wado Ryu, Tyrone Pardue 5th Dan USA and local Jujitsu instructors.
- Student of the month award which is always put on the website.
If any of the above is of interest to you, or you would like to find out more, then please contact us via email at info@surreykarate.co.uk, or call 07876 577675.
