Karate Frequently Asked Questions

Karate is a martial art and a combat sport so minor bumps, bruises and sore muscles are not uncommon, but accidents are extremely rare. We do our best to train as safely as possible. We have never had to report any serious injury to our insurers yet and we aim to keep it that way.

We accept children over 8 years of age as we have found that at that age they begin to possess the coordination and discipline required to successfully practice karate. They will also train for longer if they start after their 8th birthday.

No - you don't need a suit until your first grading. You can train in a tracksuit or shorts and tee-shirt until then.

Assuming you train consistently, it generally takes four to five years.

Yes, no problem.

Anyone! Many people have reached black belt level with the club, male/female, young/not so young.

No, as long as you have medical clearance, you can practice karate. Don't worry if you are not very fit, this will change quickly.

Not at all. Several of our club members are in their fifties or sixties. Some Japanese masters are still practicing martial arts in their eighties.

Certainly! By providing benefits such as confidence, discipline, respect, self-control, leadership, stress relief, and self-defense, karate helps both the children who are being bullied, and the children who are bullying others.

This is your choice. There are a lot of things that can be learnt from karate competitions, but we don't require anybody to compete if they prefer not to.

We'll ask you to get clearance from your doctor. You do need to let us know if you have specific medical conditions which may impact on your ability to train safely.

Our club typically has a waiting list for new members to join as we limit the size of our club appropriate to the facilities we have. Applications for membership are made through the sports app Spond, which can be downloaded to your phone for both Android and IOS phones.

Install the app on your phone and enter your details including your contact details (mobile phone, email) and your date of birth. Then use the club code LKPIT to connect to the SVJ Karate Club. It would be helpful to also send an email to instructors@svjkarate.net giving an indication of your level of experience (if any) and asking any questions you may have about the club.

For applicants under 18 years of age we require a parent or guardian to create an account in their own name on Spond, and then to add the details for their children as dependants on Spond. If you have any difficulty with doing this please feel free to email the club for help with setting up the account. Please be aware that we operate a strict child protection policy which prohibits direct electronic communications with persons under 18 years of age. The same club code (LKPIT) is used for both adult and child applications.

Where there is any change to your membership application status you will receive a notification through the Spond app. When your application is complete (a membership space becomes available) the app will alert you to attend each class from 24 hours in advance, and members should indicate whether or not they will attend. Where a member fails to attend sufficient classes their membership may be revoked.

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