Celebration Time! 🏆🏅

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Hi folks,

It’s that time when we post a little update about our recent graduation and the good news that with a few students moving on up to higher classes we do now also have a limited number of places available for new members..

Graduation is a fantastic event for the students to celebrate their success and to round odd the quarter with their new belts, certificates etc.

The image below shows some of the more senior students from both adults and junior classes, going through their paces in front of their family and friends

As you can see, we had a full house, with about 95% of our students in attendance, right from our ‘Little Ninjas’, up to the senior adult members.

At the Academy we have classes for all ages and different experience levels, split across 5 groups:

  • Little Ninjas (5/6 years)
  • Junior Beginners (7+)
  • Junior Experienced (from green belt/12 months)
  • Adult Beginners (from secondary school age up)
  • Adult Experienced.

So as you can see, we cater for all, and with specific classes just for beginners, nobody is thrown in at the deep end.

Isn’t it time you found out for yourself what it’s all about?

From this week we’ve now got availability for a couple more kids in Little Ninjas, and three or four in junior beginners, so if you’re interested in your child trying out a few classes, we’d love to hear from you!

Adults too!  We’ve got a small but dedicated adults group, who’d love to meet you!

As always, if there’s anything I can help with at any time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

Master Richard Olpin
Chief Instructor

 

 

Mastery in everything you do…
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Not a martial arts post this, but an interesting bit of news about our Chief Instructor, Master Richard Olpin.

Yesterday he was tested for the IAM Roadsmart ‘Masters’ level driving test. This is recognised as the highest level of civilian driving in the world and is compared to ‘a Police advanced driver, without a blue light..’

Master Olpin was tested by a Police examiner on very challenging roads for nearly two hours, and just to make things interesting he also had the examiner’s boss in the back seat – who is head of driving standards for the whole of the UK. No pressure then!

After the test, which not only included driving at the very highest level but also a comprehensive examination of theory, Roadcraft and legal knowledge he was informed he’d not just passed the test, but had been awarded the highest level distinction, which is held by only about 380 drivers in the UK.

For a bit of perspective, there are around 36 million qualified drivers in the UK, so that means it’s that only about one in every 100,000 drivers have achieved this standard.

That’s an example of Black Belt Excellence. Never accept anything less than your very best. Whatever you do, aim for greatness!

 

British Martial Arts Awards

Our Master Instructor Richard Olpin and assistant Instructor Robbie Hirst were both honoured to be among just a handful of recipients who were awarded special awards for ‘Continued Excellence in the Martial Arts‘.

The awards dinner was the biggest yet, with hundreds of the UK’s top martial artists in attendance, so it was an especially proud moment for the Academy to receive not one, but two awards.

 

Graduation – September 2016

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KEWAP Instructor Award for Mr Powell

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Here's Mr Powell receiving his KEWAP Level 1 Instructor Award from Steven Timperley.

Here’s Mr Powell receiving his KEWAP Level 1 Instructor Award from Steven Timperley.

Master Olpin and Mr Powell travelled up to Bletchley today for the Knives & Edged Weapons Awareness Programme (KEWAP) instructor course where Mr Powell was awarded his level one KEWAP instructor award.

KEWAP is a specialist program which aims to teach awareness of the dangers of dealing with knives and other weapons in a self protection environment. Master Olpin has been involved with this group since it was founded about five years ago and is a senior instructor in the organisation, he is also a master instructor within the parent organisation Self Defence UK.