Nidan Grading!!

A huge congratulations to Sensei Earl who was informed last Saturday that he passed his 2nd dan black belt exam. Earl graded under his fifth dan Sensei in the Philippines when he was visiting friends and family there last December. As is often the case with more senior black belt gradings he had to wait some time to find out if he had passed or not, and it’s fantastic to see that all his hard training with us every week has paid off. On Friday Earl taught the seniors a really excellent class which focused primarily on the bunkai (applications) of the black belt kata Gankaku – lots of painful locks and joint attacks! He also taught in detail some of the throws found in the Heian series of katas and put us through our paces with some chaotic all-in fighting. Brilliant stuff and a very tough class! We now have three 2nd dans (two graded in the last year!) in the club which is a really excellent achievement and a huge asset for our dojo, which continues to go from strength to strength.

Congratulations to Earl from all Karateka in Tuam Karate Club and IJKA Ireland! OSU!

Sensei Earl glad to be getting a break at the IJKA Spring Seminar in Cork earlier this year.