SSK Latest News

2021 Re-opening!

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 21:42:14 GMT

2021 Re-opening!

In line with government announcements of lockdown rules being lifted, our karate clubs will be re-opening their doors from April 12th for children's classes. With the governments proposed roadmap out of lockdown, adult classes should resume from the 17th May.

Lessons are currently restricted to 15 people indoors as per government guidelines, so please get in touch with your instructor to confirm your attendance at class. For any new enquiries, please email sskarateassociation@gmail.com or use our Contact page to register your interest.

Please see our Locations page to access your local clubs Facebook page or website for specific information on their re-opening.

We'd again like to thank all our members for staying active, attending zoom classes and supporting our clubs through each lockdown - we can't wait to see everyones faces back at club this year!

Tier 4 - Closing Clubs and Restarting Zoom!

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:17:16 GMT

Firstly, Thank you!

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, as all parts of our daily lives have been affected by Covid-19 in some way or another. Throughout this time we have found unprecedented support for our instructors and their clubs from you, the members.

We would like to again that this opportunity to thank you all for this continued support, dedication and commitment. It’s great to see everyone working hard and adapting to all the new guidelines in these ever changing times. We hope we will be able to return once more to full karate training as soon as it’s possible as it will be great to see you throwing each other around on the mats, strangling each other and just enjoying proper karate training.

Tier 4

As you will have already seen, a lot of the UK has been placed into Tier 4 as of 31st Dec.

This unfortunately means that the Great Sankey, Urmston, Chorley and Marple karate clubs are forced to close until we are moved back down the tier system.

However, Derbyshire Shukokai Karate's Runcorn and Widnes clubs remain in Tier 3 and will operate as normal for U18's only whilst this is the case.

Welcome back to Zoom!

Zoom classes are back!! Get moving in the New Year and keep up with your karate from your own living room!

Same as back in Lockdown 2.0 we will be offering 6 classes a week.

Wednesday

6pm (with Chris)

Thursday

6pm (with Ste)

Friday

6pm (with Chris) 7pm (with Ste)

Saturday

9am (with Chris)

Sunday

1pm (with Ste)

Sunday 2pm Squad Training with Ste

For the zoom meeting ID and password, please email sskarateassociation@gmail.com (if you are emailing on behalf of your child please include the child's name and club they attend in the email so we can identify who we are sending these details out to).

Happy New Year!

2020 has certainly been a rollercoaster that we did not expect! We enter 2021 with the hope that things start to get a little brighter for everyone.

Lockdown 2...Re-Opening Info

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 20:56:40 GMT

Lockdown 2...Re-opening Information

With the end of National Lockdown 2.0, our clubs can now re-open!

Clubs in tier 2 can re-open fully with the previous covid-19 safety measures in places (queued entry and exit, social distancing at all times, hand sanitiser stations). Clubs in tier 3 can open for U18's only. We expect these Tiers to change over the coming weeks and months, so please keep an eye out on your clubs social media for any changes!

Great Sankey Karate Club - Tier 2

Re-opening Thursday 3rd December with full timetable in place.

Thursdays

6pm - Children White - Blue

7pm - Children Blue +

8pm - Adults (open)

9pm - Adults (open)

Sundays

8:45 - Children Advanced

9:40 - Adults (open)

10:35 - Adults (open)

11:30 - Children White - Blue

Mondays

6pm - Family Class (children can train with their designated adult)

7pm - Family Class (children can train with their designated adult)

Urmston Karate Club - Tier 3

Re-opening Friday 4th December for U18's only.

Due to tier 3 restrictions, students over 18yrs old are NOT permitted to train as we are not yet allowed to provide indoor exercise classes in this tier. As soon as Manchester moves to Tier 2 adults (+18) will be able to resume training (we will still run the adult class on our timetable as we have a number of teens who currently use it).

Fridays

6pm - Children White - Blue

7pm - Children Advanced

8pm - Adult & Teens (the class will run for 18yrs and under)

Sunday

3pm - Children White - Blue

4pm - Children Advanced

5pm - Teens & Adults (the class will run for 18yrs and under)

Chorley Shukokai Karate Club - Tier 3

Re-opening Friday 4th December for U18's only.

Friday

6-7pm - All grades

Saturday

9-10am - All grades

Derbyshires Shukokai Karate - Tier 2

Re-opening Thursday 3rd December

Castlefields Community Centre

Thursdays

5:00pm-6:00pm.

St John Fisher RC Church Hall

Tuesday

5:30-6:30pm

Saturdays

11-12pm

Marple Shukokai Karate - Tier 3

Re-opening Friday 4th December for U18's only.

Monday

6:30-7:30pm - All grades

Friday

6-7pm - All grades

Lockdown 2 - Closing Down...Again!

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 21:26:56 GMT

National Lockdown 2.0

We regret to inform our members that the latest government announcement of a 2nd national lockdown will see all leisure activities, and therefore our karate clubs, once again close for a short while from Thursday 5th November.

It has been lovely to see our members training again and enjoying themselves. It’s a real shame to be put in lockdown for a second time after adopting all social distance and safety guidelines (and not being able to do any proper karate!). We felt like our clubs were some of the safest places to be.

Back to online training we go!

The association Facebook group (SSK: Online Training) has a stock of short syllabus based training videos which we will be adding to as lockdown goes on. Please click on the SSK online training badge below for a direct link to the page.

We have also put together a timetable of zoom classes as shown below. These are open to any members of any association clubs! Please email Steve or Chris for for the zoom meeting information.

As an association, we'd like to say a massive thank you to our members for their support during these difficult times! Your kind messages, offers of help and unwavering support mean the world to our team of instructors.

We’ll be back as soon as we are allowed but in the mean time, stay safe.

Steve Nelson Promoted to 7th Dan

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 18:17:05 GMT

Congratulations to Chief Instructor Steve Nelson on his promotion to 7th dan!

Earlier this week, Sensei Chris Robinson travelled to the Great Sankey Karate Club to present Steve Nelson with a well-deserved 7th dan on behalf of the SSK committee. This unfortunately had to be a small, socially distanced event due to the current covid-19 pandemic, but it was more than enough spotlight to make Steve feel awkward!

Anyone who knows Steve, knows that he doesn’t like the spotlight and would much rather his students were highlighted instead! So to make up for all the embarrassment he missed out on with his belt not being present at a busy SSK association course, we’ve put together a background of Steve’s karate journey…including nostalgic pictures!

Starting karate at age 6 back in 1985, Ste went along to Culcheth Karate Club purely because his friends did! He did his 1 ^st Dan black belt in 1990 at age 10 and by the age of 13 was helping to teach classes, which eventually ended up with him teaching the classes alone when his instructor went on holiday for 2 weeks at a time!

Clearly having a flair for teaching karate, Steve opened up Tyldesley Karate Club in 1999 with 37 kids in his first class! The Great Sankey Club was opened shortly after, followed by Urmston Karate Club in 2000. He produced his first black belts in 2003 and later in 2009 formed SSK. With SSK affiliated to WUKF, Steve has produced numerous WUKF World and European Champions over the past 7 years!

Ste also had success on the competition circuit as a youngster. He competed at the EKF Europeans in 1998 in the Senior Male Kata Team, the team did qualify for the 1994 WKF World Championships but Ste being only 15 at the time was not old enough to compete.

Domestically, he placed in the top 3 at EKGB Nationals 12 times and at British Championships 8 times, across different age groups, in both kata and kumite! A highlight was definitely winning the English Junior (U21) Heavyweight kumite title and being named the U21 team captain for the 1996 Welsh Grand Slam.

At SSK, from 5th dan upwards, dan grades are awarded without a formal grading but with ratification from well respected Shukokai practitioners outside of the SSK. Grades of this level are only considered upon showing continuous learning, understanding and development of both their karate and teaching methods. Over the past years Ste has become a member of the Koryu-uchinadi research group, has achieved a blue belt in BJJ, become a qualified Pressure Point Instructor and trained with many respected karateka including Patrick McCarthy, Vince Morris, Russell Stutely, Iain Abernethy and Peter Consterdine to name a few.

Chris Robinson

"Regarding Sensei Nelson, I came across a quote that I think sums up his values and standards, which he demonstrates throughout his clubs and association. A more than deserved promotion to 7th Dan."

“Many Karate teachers teach a watered down style – no hip action and no depth of punching – so it is easy to say that these teachers have no depth to their knowledge. You are what your teacher is, and if he knows a lot, you should be able to demonstrate this knowledge.” – Yuchoku Higa (founder of Kyudokan Dojo, Okinawa)"

2020 Club Updates

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 15:35:05 GMT

Club Updates

Great Sankey Karate Club will be moving back into the Great Sankey & Penketh area!! From Thursday 3rd September the club will be located at Penketh Youth Club, Honiton Hall, Honiton Way, Penketh, WA5 2EY. Please note a slight time change for our Sunday classes. Classes will remain 50 minutes long, with 5-10 minutes cleaning time in between, until further notice.

Monday Classes

*NEW* Family class: 6:00-6:50pm

Thursday Classes

Children: White – Blue 6:00pm-6:50pm and Purple+ 7:00-7:50pm

Teens & Adults: All grades 8:00pm-8:50pm, All grades 9:00pm-9:50pm

Sunday Classes

Children: Blue+ 8:45am-9:35am, White – Green 11:30am-12:20pm

Teens & Adults: All grades 9:40am-10:30am, All grades 10:35am-11:25am

Constant contact is being maintained with Great Sankey Leisure Centre but it does look unlikely that they will be able to accommodate us in 2020. They are currently using the sports hall and studios to spread out their gym equipment.

Urmston Karate Club has settled in well to its new home of Hartford Community Centre and classes will remain the same times and with the same Covid-19 prevention methods in place.

Chorley Shukokai Karate Club will continue at Buckshaw Community Village Hall with 9-10am and 10-11am classes as it has done throughout August.

Classes will start back at Heskin Village Hall from Friday 4th September at 6-7pm and also Monday 7th September at 6-7pm and 7-8pm.

Please note the change of day from Wednesday to Monday nights whilst we wait for the usual Wednesday venue to become available.

JenDan Karate Club (Marple) will re-open on Monday 7th September at 6:30-7:30pm and Friday 11th September 6-7pm at the usual venue of Brabyns Recreation Centre.

Derbyshires Shukokai Karate Club

The Runcorn club will continue as normal at Castlefields Community Centre with the Thursday class at 5:00pm-6:00pm.

The Widnes club will continue at St John Fisher RC Church Hall with classes on Tuesday 5:30-6:30pm and Saturdays 11-12pm.

Thank You!

We'd like to say a massive thank you to our amazing members who have returned to club and fully taken on board all our Covid safe measures! From socially distanced queued entry/exits systems, hand sanitiser stations and training on designated spots/spaces. It's all still a bit weird but we hope to start progressing back towards normal as and when changes are announced by government.

Covid 19 - Our Response, Our Safety Measures, Our Re-Opening

Sat, 25 Jul 2020 22:33:17 GMT

As we approach the re-opening of the leisure industry in England, we also approach the re-opening of our karate clubs! We hope you are well and excited to get back to your karate club. Below you will find information on our clubs re-opening, our new safety measures and a little bit on our response during the UK wide lockdown.

Our Clubs Re-opening

Great Sankey Karate Club will re-open at the temporary venue of Priestley College from Sunday 2nd August.

Thursday Classes

Children: White – Blue 6:00pm-6:50pm and Purple+ 7:00-7:50pm

Adults: All grades 8:00pm-8:50pm

Sunday Classes

Children: Purple+ 10:00am-10:50am, White – Blue 12:00pm-12:50pm

Adults: All grades 11:00-11:50am

Constant contact is being maintained with Great Sankey Leisure Centre and we hope to move back in as soon as they have space available. They are currently using the sports hall to spread out their gym equipment.

Urmston Karate Club will re-open at the new home of Hartford Community Centre on Sunday 2nd August.

Friday Classes

Children: White – Blue 6:00-6:50pm and Purple+ 7:00-7:50pm

Adults: All grades 8:00-8:50

Sunday Classes

Children: White – Blue 3:00-3:50pm, Purple+ 4:00-4:50pm

Adults: All grades 5:00-6:00 pm

We are still in contact with Urmston leisure centre and will hope to get back to our Wednesday class there, once guidelines within the centre allow.

Chorley Shukokai Karate Club w ill re-open on Saturday 1st August at the usual venue of Buckshaw Community Village Hall with 9-10am and 10-11am classes. The club are still in discussions with Heskin Village Hall regarding a start date.

JenDan Karate Club (Marple) is hoping to re-open from September at the usual venue of Brabyns Recreation Centre with amended lesson time to begin with. Monday 6:30-7:30 and Friday 6:00-7:00. During lockdown, the club turned 5! Hopefully, government guidance will allow us to celebrate later in the year.

Derbyshires Shukokai Karate Club

The Runcorn club will re-open at Castlefields Community Centre from Thursday 6th August , 5:00pm-6:00pm.

The Widnes club is hoping to open as soon as the hall allows! We have constant contact with the hall and hope to have something agreed in the near future.

Our New Safety Measures

All instructors have completed the World Health Organisation “Infection Prevention and Control for Covid-19” course to ensure they are fully aware of how to open their clubs safely and responsibly. On return we will follow current government guidelines and ensure social distancing is observed at all times, no partner or pad work will be allowed.

We please ask that if you are unwell or are experiencing any potential Coronavirus symptoms that you do not come to karate.

Some new procedures will be in place at clubs to ensure everyones safety. Please contact your club instructor with any questions or worries you have.

Our Response

During lockdown we had Chris Robinson, our Chorley Karate Club Instructor, jump straight into teaching zoom sessions 3 times a week for the whole association! Allowing people to stay safe and stay home, whilst still keeping up with their karate training. As an association, we would like to say a massive thank you to Chris for selflessly offering to provide these sessions for everyone.

To support Chris’ zoom sessions, Chief Instructor Steve Nelson also created an “SSK Online Training” group on Facebook to give SSK members a catalogue of kihon, kata and partner work that could be done as and when students had time. This saw the start of "Ste's kitchen karate" and a fair few cameos of Steve's over-enthusiastic dogs, Buddy and Dave! On top of this, we also had weekly Squad Training zoom sessions to keep the competition squad ticking over during lockdown.

Pinan Application Course

Sun, 08 Mar 2020 11:23:26 GMT

At SSK our ethos is to constantly be looking to develop our understanding of the martial art of karate – both students and instructors. So on the 7th March we ran a Pinan Application Course for all members, where we revisited and picked apart the practical application of the Pinan Katas.

These katas are usually lower grade exercises due to their short and repetitive nature, however they contain a multitude of defensive principles and self-defence techniques that are often overlooked. The solo performance of kata is the memory aid to allow you to practice in the absence of a partner. On their own they’re not complete, but they do help develop muscle memory and refine technique while strengthening the body.

Over the 3 hour course, Head Instructor Steve Nelson, moved through the flowing partner drills of each kata that gave an explanation of each technique and how they can be interpreted to real life practical application. These drills are included in our adult syllabus, but are excellent tools for children who are mature enough to only use them responsibly.

The drills covered lots of ideas such as:

Flinch response
Pressure points
Power generation
Angles of attack
Tools of impact
Escapes and counters
Takedowns and finishes
Close range striking
Continuous advantage
Limb clearance and trapping
Joint Locks
Pre-determined response

It was great to see different grades and ages take part in the course and really get stuck in to expanding their understanding of techniques that may have become second nature to them. The Pinan katas themselves are a fantastic base for karate technique and application, and we should be revisiting them as much as possible!

2019 WUKF European Cup

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:55:47 GMT

On the 11th of December, the selected SSK squad travelled to Cluj Napoca, Romania for the annual European Champions cup. As a team, this is usually our favourite international trip of the year and this year did not disappoint with the team bringing home 3 Gold and 2 Bronze medals.

Daisy McAndrew – European Cup Kata Champion

A first international Gold for Daisy, made even sweeter by beating the European Champion who pipped her to the title in Denmark a few months ago! A healthy rivalry is definitely starting to form.

Dan Trow – European Cup Kata Bronze Medallist

A sweet end to a successful year for Dan which saw him clinch European Silver and Bronze medals.

Joel Eccleston – European Cup Kata & Kumite Champion

Ending the year with the treble in kata: World, European and European Cup titles in his age group. Joel also picked up his first international double gold, winning the lightweight kumite title also.

Jennie Trow – European Cup Kumite Bronze Medallist & European Cup Team Kumite Champion

Brilliant end to a year of injury for Jennie, but a great sign of what is to come next year. Correcting some mistakes from individuals, Jen fought brilliantly to lead the team to Gold.

Conall Sheehy performed excellently in both kata and kumite, but couldn't quite get to the podiums on this occasion. Conall have an excellent mentality towards competition and I have no doubt he will be back next year to make his mark.

2019 WUKF European Championships

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:23:26 GMT

On the 22nd October, the selected SSK squad travelled to Odense, Denmark to compete in the 2019 WUKF European Championships. After a Wednesday full of registrations, coaching and referee meetings the competition got underway on Thursday with team kumite and cadets open kata!

We are immensely proud of our squad of 7 taking 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze medals.

WUKF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

Joanne Nelson - Senior Open Kata

Joanne Nelson - Senior Shitoryu Kata

Dominic Lewis - Junior Shitoryu Kata

Joel Eccleston - Mini Cadet Shitoryu Kata

WUKF EUROPEAN SILVER MEDALISTS

Daisy McAndrew - Youth Kata

Joel Eccleston - Mini Cadet Kumite

Daniel Trow - Youth Kumite

Dominic Lewis - Senior Shitoryu Kata

WUKF EUROPEAN BRONZE MEDALISTS

Joanne Nelson - Senior Ippon Kumite

Dominic Lewis - Junior Open Kata

Daniel Trow - Youth Kata

Conall Sheehy - Cadet Shitoryu kata

Conall Sheehy - Cadet Kumite

Max Naylor - Mini Cadet Kumite

We'd like to say a massive thank you to our SSK family of coaching staff, competitors, instructors, parents and logistics for all the support. It’s an absolute pleasure to see the months and years of hard work pay off on the mats.

2019 WUKF World Championships

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 10:23:26 GMT

On the 18th June, the selected SSK squad travelled to Bratislava, Slovakia to compete in the 2019 WUKF World Championships. After a Wednesday full of registrations, coaching and referee meetings the competition got underway on Thursday with team kumite and cadets open kata!

Day 1 - Thursday

A very long day! Max, Joel and Stevie took to the mats early on in team kumite. Winning their first fight against Slovakia convincingly, the boys showed great grit and determination. Unfortunately, in the next round the boys lost out to a talented Slovenian team who eventually made the final. Just missing out on the medal rounds.

Jennie Trow fought well in the EKA kumite teams, unlucky draws meant they had tough first rounds and unfortunately were beaten through to the next round.

Conall Sheehy was next up in the 14-15yrs Open kata. Always going to be a tough category packed with talented, experienced athletes. Con put on an excellent performance finished a very credible 20th. A looooong wait saw Con take to the mat at 10pm...after an 9am start. He fought brilliantly being slightly unlucky with a few decision possibly wrongly going against him.

Day 2 – Friday

Daisy - Growing in confidence every time she steps on the mat, Daisy performed like an absolute pro! Making the final and finishing 6th.

Dan T - Performed 2 excellent katas in a category packed with much larger/older looking boys! Just missed out on a place in the final.

Bhuvan - After being told he was on and then being made to wait a few more hours Bhuvan finished a very credible 7th in his first WUKF World Championships.

Sai - Not to be out done by his younger brother, Sai finished a credible 10th in his first WUKF World champs.

Max - After a wrong turn in his semi final kata, Max unfortunately didn’t progress to the final. Up until his mistake he was threatening the medal positions. Definitely the most improved competitor this week and 100% one to watch in future championships!

Grace - Making her second appearance at a WUKF World Championships, Grace performed amazingly but a slight bobble took her just outside of a place in the final.

Conall - Took to the mats in a very tough cadets shitoryu kata category. Being on the younger side of the 14-15yrs age bracket, Con will have another year to grow into this category! Watch this space!

Joel - Performing with his usual class, stepped up into his new 13yr old shitoryu kata category and after 3 solid rounds took the title for another year. WUKF World kata Champion 2019 - Joel Eccleston

E veryone’s back in action bright and early tomorrow for kumite.

Day 3 – Saturday

Joanne - Through to tomorrow’s kumite semi finals after two ippon wins in the prelims today.

Dan T - A few unfortunate refereeing decisions left Dan with a first round loss to Russia. A shame for such a talented fighter but definitely a fire lit for the next one.

Sai - Unfortunate draw for Sai who met a talented Romania fighter in the first round, excellent first showing for a Worlds debut though.

Max - Again a tough draw gave Max a talented Romanian in the first round, a very close fight with some excellent exchanges between the two fighters. Unfortunately, this time Max lost out.

Daisy - After a long long wait Daisy eventually took to the mats but suffered at the hands of a poor refereeing decision - a head kick brilliantly blocked by Daisy was deemed to have made a good connection and that unfortunately was the end of the road for her competition.

Grace - Gave an excellent account of herself in her first round fight and managed to score a cracking hook kick to come from behind to level the scores but unfortunately couldn’t quite close the fight off before the Romanian.

Conall - Fought brilliantly in a very tough category, again being the younger side of the 14-15yrs age bracket, Con will be coming back with vengeance next year!!

Joel - WUKF World Championships Bronze Medallist Fighting his way through a stacked category, Joel had some very tough fights on his way to the semi finals and took some big knocks that required the medics attention but returned to the mat to clinch the Bronze!

Bhuvan Vaddhireddy - WUKF World Championships Bronze Medallist The perfect fighter today! Cool, calm and collected! Bhuvan, in his first appearance at a World Championships, listened and perfectly executed coaches instructions to fire through 4 tough fights to take the Bronze!

Day 4 - Finals

The finals day left us with our Senior, Joanne, competing in the Shitoryu kata and ippon kumite finals. First in the Shitoryu kata section, after a tense tiebreaker with Italy, she clinched the Silver medal! WUKF World Championships Silver Medallist. Then on to the Ippon kumite finals. After two more impressive wins by ippon Joanne became: WUKF World kumite Champion 2019 .

On behalf of the association we would also like to say a huge thanks to our association referee, Paula Trow . As an association we have to supply a referee for WUKF Championships and Paula again took on the thankless task! It is a long week, 1 day of training/meetings and 4 days of competition often starting at 8am and finishing at well past 10pm! Not seeing the squad or watching her own kids compete. As a squad we really appreciate it. Also, congratulations on being promoted up the international refereeing ladder to “referee B” level.