Student’s Comments

Prior to joining Norfolk Practical Karate Club I had studied Shotokan Karate for over 15 years. During that time I became increasingly aware that the techniques I was practising wouldn’t work in a ‘real life’ situation or form an effective style of self-defence. Whilst I still loved the art I was desperate for more from it. Fortunately I discovered Norfolk Practical Karate Club. The club’s understanding and application of Karate has been nothing short of a revelation and totally reinvigorated my training. Gone are the hours spent practicing in isolation against thin air. Instead everything is trained within a clear context and utilising partners or pads to develop effective targeting, power and movement. The sterile rule driven ‘combat’ of point scoring sparing has been replaced by a more inclusive system that embraces the uncertainty of different environments, multiple opponents, grapples and anything else that may come up in a real life situation. Katas have taken on a whole new life. My previous training had focused on the aesthetics of performance with virtually no emphasis on finding a meaningful application. Norfolk Practical Karate Club takes a totally different approach. Each move is given a realistic, functional meaning which can be extracted and drilled in combinations. These are then applied to other areas of training and ultimately, form effective self-defence techniques. I can honestly say I have benefited more from katas in the last year than I had in the previous 15. Norfolk Practical Karate Club has fundamentally changed my approach to karate and addressed major gaps in my training (many that I was aware of – many more that I wasn’t). I can’t speak highly enough of the club or its instructors and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in training karate as a practical martial art rather than simply a sport or aesthetic hobby.