25 May 2008

Tameshiwari at Ysgol Yr Hendre (Would you mess with these guys?)
See the Video Here

Tameshiwari is the Japanese art of breaking solid objects, it is only practiced by high graded martial artists and 'Masters' of  the art.

The Zanshin Karate Club is lucky enough to have three very high graded instructors who are of 3rd Dan or higher. Gareth Edwards is the highest graded Shukokai instructor in the country. He holds the rank of 5th Dan, which means (to the layman) that he has taken five levels of black belt.

Over the bank holiday weekend students of Ysgol Yr Hendre were treated to a demonstration of "Tameshiwari" and were aghast at the power shown by the two instructors. First of all Reuben Florence 3rd Dan showed the class a perfect "gyakuzuki" To break a one inch wooden board. Most of the children had never seen this done in real life and the video on this page shows their reaction.

Later on Gareth demonstrated how to break through a solid 4 inch building block with "Shuto" (Karate Chop). This was met with thunderous applause and Gareth explained that under no circumstances should this be tried at home. Parents of the children were also amazed with the demo and joined in the applause. The video below shows parts of the evening and also shows a fine example of the Kata "Sienchin" by Reuben.

If you would like to learn more about the club or if you want to join the group, then click on www.ZanshinKarate.co.uk or give them a call on 01286 676166. The club trains every Friday from 6pm -7.30pm. The instructors are all voluntary and none profit making. Therefore you will not be billed by direct debit and will not be charged high Direct Debit charges.

Free Man United Trip with Zanshin this summer!

During the school summer holidays all of the students have the chance of having their photo taken with both the Premiership trophy AND the European cub, as the club will arrange a free trip to Old Trafford. The trip will include a behind the secenes tour as well as the chance to sit in Sir Alex's seat in the dug-out.

All the instructors are policed checked and they shy away from any club which uses the Americanised "Academy" in its title.

Gareth told us "Karate have Instructors, not Teachers and to call itself an "Academy" suggests that the class is taught by a Teacher or highly qualified Professor. This indeed is NOT the case and in my opinion the public are conned into thinking that they are receiving a better standard of instruction when clearly they are not. They have, for a long time been called the McDojo's by serious martial artists A "Dojo" being a training place and a "Mc" - well enough said, local instructors believe they are harming the community with their expesive monthly fees and make parents think that Karate is expensive".

"We urge anyone who are part of an "Academy" or paying by direct debit and high monthly fees to have a look at what we are doing here at Zanshin. I have heard horror stories that some organisations charge around £50 to $60 per month or even more for children to learn karate and this is appalling! Karate should not be an expensive hobby, karate should be fun for everyone and EVERYONE should be able to afford it!

We are not the only club to run on a non profit Karate club in the area and if you don't want to come to us, then go and have a word with Pete Hughes or Gwyn Mowll, who also run their clubs for the good of the community."

Zanshin Karate (01286) 676166 First Lesson Free!

1 Click the video below