Shigakukan Karate Dojo

🥋 PROGRESS ISN’T JUST ONE MORE STEP

Your first grading might represent one block of work. The next grade isn’t simply one more block placed on top—the amount of kihon, kata, kumite and spirit expected from you continues to grow.

Yet many students keep giving the same amount of effort—or sometimes less—and wonder why their progress has slowed.

We often see this around three important stages:

🟠 Orange belt — 7th Kyu
The excitement of being a beginner begins to wear off. The basics now need more accuracy, stronger technique and regular practice.

🟤 Brown belt — 3rd Kyu
Being able to remember the syllabus is no longer enough. Technique must become sharper, more powerful and more consistent. This is where the real preparation for black belt begins.

⚫ Shodan — 1st Dan
Perhaps the biggest trap of all. Shodan is not the finish line or the point where you can ease off. It means you have learned the foundations and are now ready to study karate properly.

As the grade rises, the standard rises—and your effort must rise with it.

Turning up is important, but progress also requires concentration, spirit and a willingness to keep improving the details.

Don’t expect higher-grade results from lower-grade effort.

志学館
Character over competition.

🥋 KARATE CLASSES IN BRIDGE OF DON 🥋

Shi-Gaku-Kan Karate Dojos offers authentic traditional Shotokan karate for children from age five, older students and adults at the Jesmond Centre.

Classes are led by Mark Donaghy, 7th Dan and full-time professional karate instructor, alongside Libby Donaghy, 5th Dan. With over 40 years in karate and direct training under the late Soke Hirokazu Kanazawa, our focus is on quality instruction, confidence, discipline and personal development.

Character over competition.

We are also proud to be a Level 2 ClubSport Aberdeen accredited club.

📍 Jesmond Centre, Bridge of Don
🥋 Mondays and Fridays
✅ Free taster class
⚠️ Limited spaces available

Full class times are shown on the poster.

Send us a message to arrange your free taster, or visit shigakukan.co.uk

Authentic Karate in Peterhead,
Taught by Husband and Wife team Mark Donaghy 7th Dan SKIF and Libby Donaghy 5th Dan SKIF

One of the greatest privileges Libby and I have as karate instructors is watching children walk into the dojo for the first time at five, six or seven years old—and then having the privilege of teaching them throughout their childhood until they leave for university.

Over those years, we see firsthand the benefits that traditional karate can have on a developing child. We watch their confidence grow, their discipline improve and their character develop. They learn resilience, respect and the importance of continuing even when things become difficult.

Recently, several of our black belts have left the dojo to begin the next chapter of their lives at university. It is always bittersweet. We are sad to see them go, but incredibly proud of the young adults they have become.

Hopefully, in time, they will look back and realise what those years in the dojo gave them. Hopefully, too, they will appreciate their parents, who brought them to class week after week, year after year—sometimes for well over a decade.

To have played even a small part in their journey, and to have watched them grow up right in front of us, is something Libby and I will always consider a privilege.

🥋 Traditional Karate in Peterhead and Bridge of Don, Aberdeen

Our first class is specially designed for younger children from age five.

It’s a fun, energetic class that keeps them moving and engaged—but underneath the fun is a carefully structured programme. Children develop coordination, concentration, confidence, discipline and respect while beginning to learn proper karate technique.

The general class that follows is for older children, teenagers and adults. This is traditional Japanese Shotokan karate taught in depth—kihon, kata, kumite, self-defence, fitness and character development.

It will improve your strength and fitness, but it is far more than an exercise class. Students learn a genuine martial art that continues to challenge and develop them for years.

Classes are taught by husband-and-wife team Mark Donaghy, 7th Dan SKIF, and Libby Donaghy, 5th Dan SKIF, with more than 40 years of karate experience.

📍 Peterhead
📍 Bridge of Don, Aberdeen
✅ Children from age five
✅ Teenagers and adults welcome
✅ Limited spaces available

Message Shi-Gaku-Kan Karate Dojos to arrange a free trial class.