Tokushinkai Karate Club

A month on, it is with great sadness that I convey the news of the sudden passing of my dear friend and most dedicated student Mr Matthew (Matt) Eagles.

Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him, both socially and in the dojo will I am sure hold his memory as dearly as I do.

A wonderful, caring and polite person. The most dedicated and vigilant student I have ever known.

His presence will always be felt in my dojo. Rest In Peace my friend and dojo brother, you will be greatly missed.

At every training you will still be there in spirit just as seen here, as we sit in seiza.

Mr. Matthew Eagles
27/04/1978 - 20/04/2023

- Sensei Chris Gillies

There's no better way to start the new year.

Honbu dojo's remote training via Patreon this month! Oss!

It's confirmed that Sensei Shinji Tanaka, 7th Dan GHQ Instructor will be touring the UK 15th~22nd November 2021.

Sensei's schedule is still be finalised, but it's a joy and privilege to see Honbu instructors returning to the UK after the past year of disruption. More details to follow.

: found when sorting through old dojo paperwork. A memory of Sensei Gillies' first training course in 1990 (as a Shodan) with Kanazawa Soke. The beginning of a wonderful journey.

A thought for the week ahead - do you know how to breathe?

"The most important points of my teaching are breathing, movement and timing. But breathing is first…. the first thing we do in this world is to breathe and, you know, even today, 90% of people do not know how to breathe correctly. If the breathing is wrong, your body will go wrong – your mind will be wrong also – there is a very strong connection. You control your spirit with your breathing and we should always be thinking and trying to learn more about this most vital aspect – it is the very core of life."

- Soke Kanazawa

Update:

Unfortunately the Open University has assessed the risks still too high for indoor sports to resume on 17th May. Training will therefore remain suspended until further notice.

Please continue training at home as best you can and we'll reopen the dojo as soon as possible. Oss!

A thought for the day ahead:

“The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.”

Master Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan and modern day karate.

is a Japanese term for silent meditation. The first kanji reads as “Moku” and means silence or stop. The second is “So” and means to think or focus.

Long before was the buzzword it is today, mokuso was and is a traditional and key teaching of . It is both one of the first and last things we do in the dojo, as a way to warm up and cool down the mind much as we would our bodies.

Without mindfulness and an awareness of the moment, there is no .

Mindfulness in karate training Over the past few years ‘mindfulness’ has become a bit of a buzzword. It is often misconceived as being synonymous with sitting meditation, but there is more to it than that. This article explores how mindfulness practice is ingrained in karate training, both as a practice and as an approach. I ...

Another and it's Sensei Gillies at the world championships in Tokyo, 2012!

Lasting memories. Sensei Gillies training with Soke Kanazawa at Honbu dojo in Japan.

Virtual training with Kancho Kanazawa was a tremendous success! Further online training sessions exclusive to SKKIF are being arranged for Sunday 26th July and Sunday 9th August.

For further details please contact Sensei Gillies.