Bristol Karate Academy

Academy members and visitors alike were treated to an exceptional evening with 4-time WKF World Champion, Koji Arimoto Sensei on Friday 6th March.

The event was a sell-out, with one hundred karate-ka booked in to train with a karate-ka who is under the highest of demand for his teaching across the world this year. With Arimoto Sensei teaching in France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and many more countries, we were delighted to welcome him to Bristol, in conjunction with JKS England.

It was a whirlwind visit for sensei, but he still got the opportunity to try the food at Seven Lucky Gods (a must for Bristolians who love Japanese-style food) and to walk the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

When the evening's training began, those unfamiliar with Arimoto Sensei could instantly see that his karate is remarkable. His ability to both execute and explain technical details to such a high standard shows his mastery of body mechanics and understanding. This allowed seminar attendees to really get under the skin of some of the details in the katas we explored. And we certainly got through a lot.

Arimoto Sensei started with working on 'kihon' (fundamentals) before applying these to Heian katas. Those who completed the full seminar also got to explore Gojushiho Sho, Sochin, Jion, Kanku Dai and Enpi, amongst others.

Arimoto Sensei was truly generous with his time and everyone made the most of the opportunity to learn more about what makes him tick during the Q&A session, including finding out that he started at the age of three and what his "coolest move" is - thanks for the question, Christian!

Thank you to Arimoto Sensei for visiting the West Country. Thank you to JKS England for the opportunity to host such high-level instructors. Thank you to all of our visitors - it was wonderful to welcome you amongst the 10 different groups and dojos represented. And finally, thank you to our organising team and helpers for making sure the event ran smoothly.

We continue to aim to offer the very best opportunities to our members and friends to explore or improve their karate and have more events scheduled throughout the year, including another visitor from Japan. Keep an eye out for announcements soon!

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