Categories
JKA Competitions

JKA England 2026 Shotokan Open Karate Championship

Well done to everybody from Shiranamikai who participated at this year’s open karate championship. There was a great atmosphere in the K2 arena with more than 500 individual competitors from the UK and overseas along with 70 officials helping to keep things on track.

Thanks go to parents and supporters for helping out and contributing towards the positive team spirit.

Results as follows…

Hikari: Silver in Kata, Silver in Kumite 🥈🥈
Evelyn: Silver in Kata, Bronze in Kumite 🥈🥉
Vivienne: Gold in Kata, Gold in Kumite 🥇🥇
Jessica: Bronze in Kumite 🥉
Paddy: 4th Place in Kata
Iwona: 4th Place in Kata, Bronze in Kumite 🥉

Congratulations!

Categories
Events Notices Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Christmas 2026 & New Year 2027 Training

Christmas & New Year Training Times

Classes continue over the festive period with some time and venue changes as noted.

Our karate friends are welcome. During December will be supporting Caritas Bakhita House.

We revert to our regular timetable from 2nd January 2027 for our first session of the new year and club dinner.

Saturday 12th December10.30am Belsize Park
4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 13th December10am Stanmore
Monday 14th December–
Tuesday 15th December6.30pm O2 Centre
Wednesday 16th December7pm Harrow
Thursday 17th December9.30am Primrose Hill
5pm Swiss Cottage
Friday 18th December–
Saturday 19th December4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 20th December10am Stanmore
Monday 21st December–
Tuesday 22nd December10.30am Primrose Hill
Wednesday 23rd December10.30am Stanmore
Thursday 24th December
Christmas Eve		–
Friday 25th December
Christmas Day		–
Saturday 26th December
Boxing Day		–
Sunday 27th December10am Stanmore
Monday 28th December–
Tuesday 29th December10.30am Stanmore
Wednesday 30th December10.30am Stanmore
Thursday 31st December
New Year’s Eve		–
Friday 1st January
New Year’s Day		–
Saturday 2nd January*4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 3rd January10am Stanmore

*Class must be pre-booked.

Categories
Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Special Training Session with Ohta Sensei, September 2026

After a warm-up and stretch we proceeded with upper body techniques before moving into kumite drills. We then developed the session’s concept further by using opposite rotation and additional partner combinations, later applying the same process to kicking. The session culminated in some enjoyable jiyu kumite for the senior grades, ensuring everyone got a great mental and physical workout.

Kata focus for the class was Tekki Shodan for colour belts and Tekki Nidan for brown and black belts.

Congratulations to those who graded.

Categories
Outside The Dojo

Karate Students See The Light… But Only Just

Shiranamikai managed to secure a batch of solar viewing glasses at the last minute. So, we bumped our regular Harrow on the Hill karate class by half an hour and convened on the other side of the hill to observe the spectacular partial (90%) solar eclipse on 12th August 2026.

We’ll have to wait until 2081 for the next, near total, eclipse in the UK.

Categories
Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Special Training Session with Ohta Sensei, June 2026

London was in the midst of a heatwave, with the temperature soaring to 36.4°C, breaking the all-time record high for June (again). There was no air conditioning, just lots of sweat and spirit as we were guided through two hours of challenging kihon, kata and kumite by the head of Japan Karate Association England, Ohta Sensei.

Well done to everyone who trained that day and to those who graded. It was a brilliant session.

Categories
JKA Competitions

JKA England 2026 National Karate Championship

Well done to everybody who represented the club at this year’s national karate championship. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the main hall of the K2, with around 450 competitors from across England and 50 officials keeping things on track.

Thanks to all our supporters, parents and those who assisted on the day and helped contribute towards the positive environment and cracking team spirit.

Results as follows…

Junior Team Kata: Gold 🥇🥇🥇🏆
Jessica: Silver in Kata, Gold in Kumite 🥈🥇
Sara: 4th Place in Kata, Silver in Kumite 🥈
Lucas: Bronze in Kumite 🥉
Evelyn: Bronze in Kumite 🥉
Vivienne: Gold in Kata, Gold in Kumite 🥇🥇
Zachary: 4th Place in Kata, Bronze in Kumite 🥉
Rahul: Gold in Kata 🥇

Well Done Team! 

Categories
Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Keiko Hajime, First Karate Session of 2026

Shiranamikai members are fortunate to be able to continue training throughout holiday periods and this festive period was no different. With the exception of a few days off for Christmas and New Year, club members were able to keep up the momentum and avoid discomfort associated with a lack of physical inactivity. Lovely to follow-up the session with a bite to eat together afterwards – everybody earned it.

Image Gallery 1-9

Categories
Events Notices Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Christmas 2025 & New Year 2026 Training

Christmas & New Year Training Times

Classes continue over the festive period with some time and venue changes as noted.

Our karate friends are welcome. During December we will be supporting Caritas Bakhita House.

We revert to our regular timetable from 3rd January 2026 for our first session of the new year and club dinner.

Saturday 13th December10.30am Belsize Library
4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 14th December10am Stanmore
Monday 15th December–
Tuesday 16th December6.30pm O2 Centre
Wednesday 17th December7pm Harrow
Thursday 18th December–
Friday 19th December–
Saturday 20th December4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 21st December10am Stanmore
Monday 22nd December–
Tuesday 23rd December10.30am Primrose Hill
Wednesday 24th December
Christmas Eve		–
Thursday 25th December
Christmas Day		–
Friday 26th December
Boxing Day		–
Saturday 27th December11am Stanmore
Sunday 28th December10am Stanmore
Monday 29th December–
Tuesday 30th December10am Stanmore
Wednesday 31st December
New Year’s Eve		–
Thursday 1st January
New Year’s Day		–
Friday 2nd January–
Saturday 3rd January4pm Swiss Cottage
Sunday 4th January10am Stanmore
Categories
Events Outside The Dojo

Japan Matsuri London 2025

Karate students from Shiranamikai were privileged to participate at Japan Matsuri 2025 in London’s Trafalgar Square for the Japan-UK cultural highlight of the year. The crowd was noticeably bigger than in previous years and we really appreciated all the support we received from everybody who was there.

Categories
Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

Special Training & Grading with Ohta Sensei, June 2025

Shiranamikai members enjoyed a sizzling training session with Ohta Sensei on what was the hottest day of the year so far, in the middle of a heatwave. But it couldn’t have been better timed than our half past midday finish.

Basics incorporated each of the Shotokan fundamental stances of front, side and back. Kumite was full-on, engaging, and featured body- and weight-shifting for senior grades.

We finished on katas Nijushiho and Bassai Dai.

Well done to those who graded.

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