Carmarthenshire Karate

Throughout our enforced time away from the dojo during this COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve always had an eye on how and when we’ll be able to get back to in-person training, and what we’ll need to do in preparation. Here’s what we’ve been doing on our #WayBackToTheDojo.

Online sessions…

Our ongoing online training sessions have been a great way to keep in touch, stay sharp and maintain some fitness, three times a week, for the last twelve weeks. We’ve even been able to complete a successful junior grading through the same platform, and it has allowed some our senior grades to stay on top of their work for future examinations. These online sessions will continue for a while yet, but now in combination with some in-person training options too.

Outdoor training…

The latest updates from Welsh Government and Public Health Wales mean that we can start holding in-person, socially-distanced training sessions outdoors. These will start with only a limited number of participants, by invitation only, so that we can test the feasibility of an outdoor dojo in these circumstances, while also trying out some suitable training exercise. Once we’re happy with their feasibility, we hope to open up these outdoor training sessions to all of our members, as soon as possible.

Safety first…

During the last few weeks, our instructors have also been getting themselves ready for the next phase of our #WayBackToTheDojo by completing courses on the best practices for COVID-safe training.

This includes:

• only allowing students to train if they do not have COVID-19 symptoms
• maintaining social-distancing at all times
• contact-free, distanced training and instruction
• no sharing of any equipment
• avoiding the use of cash wherever possible
• encouraging good hand hygiene

Alternative dojos…

Some of our dojos have been converted into field hospitals or are currently being used for other healthcare needs. We are therefore in contact with a number of alternative venues that may be possible for us to use temporarily, when indoor training is safe to resume.

Over the last six weeks, we’ve seen the new Carmarthenshire Karate Online Dojo quickly flourish, with more and more of our members joining us for some training while at home. Our instructors have been busy working out new ways to run drills and exercises that are beneficial to all aspects of our karate – basic techniques, kata and kumite, as well as general fitness and wellbeing.

In fact, we’re happy enough with the standard that we can achieve in these sessions, that attendance will now count towards the work needed for the next grading examinations and competitions etc. This means that as soon as we’re back in the real dojo, we’ll be able to make the most of those benefits from continuing to train regularly.

The three sessions per week run on Sundays (4pm), Tuesdays (6pm) and Thursdays (6pm), and can be accessed via our private Carmarthenshire Karate Facebook group, or by contacting your instructor directly for the log-in details. We continue to provide the sessions for free and only ask that members keep their licences up to date, if they are due for renewal.

In these testing times (COVID-19), we’re encouraging all of our members to stay in touch through our Carmarthenshire Karate Facebook Group, and by launching an online dojo for regular training sessions that everyone can join from home. Currently scheduled for three nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Sunday) while the stay at home advice remains in place with Public Health Wales.

Mission accomplished! Never shy of taking on a challenge, this one certainly called for both physical endurance and metal strength. So it’s a big pat on the back to everyone that took part in the 24-Hour Kata Challenge, especially those who were there for the whole night, and everyone that put in some extra long shifts.

Mair and Dan kicked off the international competition year by officiating at the Karate1 Premier League in the French capital. It was their first chance to make use of the recent WKF competition rule changes, in a year that will see athletes challenging for a place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where karate will be making its debut.