ST PATS KARATE CLUB
NEWSFLASH - THERE ARE NO KARATE CLASSES RUNNING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE (AS OF 21ST JAN)
Temporary break due to personal circumstances
Thursdays 5.45-6.30pm (4-7yr olds)
and 6.30-7.30pm (8yrs+ and adults)
in the Main Hall
Sessions @ £3 each (family discount 50p pp available)
Sensei Rob Green 2nd Dan
Secretary Sue Green
www.stpatskarateclub.com
St Pats Karate club was set up in February 2007 with just one class 5/7pm every Friday, by instructor Sensei Rob Green. He was approached by a project called Grangetown and Butetown healthy living program and they supported the club financially for the first four weeks. The club was based at St Patrick’s Parish Hall Grangetown. That is where the name of our clubs came from.
Sensei Rob is a very experienced karateka, with over 25 years experience in Shotokan karate and having experience running 4 other clubs in Ely, Cathays, Splott and Trowbridge. He is a very active karateka competing in tournaments and attending training courses.
In February 2007 while with the WSKA under chief instructor Sensei Gabriel Operanta who was Sensei Rob's instructor since 1979, Sensei Rob opened his St Pats Club completely on his own, but did and still does have the great support from his wife Sue Green, who is the club secretary with a lot of experience running clubs.
With just one class at St Patricks Parish Hall, demand grew for more classes. Sensei Rob had a meeting with Mr Paul Catris head teacher of St Patrick’s School Grangetown at the meeting it was agreed that karate would run as an after school club on Mondays 4.45/5.45pm. This was and still is a great success with 25 to 30 students training every session.
By December 2007 the club had entered 10 tournaments picking up no less than 33 medals including three Welsh titles. With such success Sensei Rob decided it was time to move the club to another level leaving the WSKA and joining the VGKO (Vale of Glamorgan Karate Organisation) The Vale's Chief instructor is Sensei Robert Copeland and club secretary Cathy Copeland. The decision to leave WSKA was not made lightly. Sensei Rob had been with the WSKA for 25 years, but with the VGKO being the most successful organisation in Wales, he decided this was the best move for the club, as the Vale would show great support to the club in terms of high standard karateka for our students to train with, a great instructor for Sensei Rob and great administration guidance from Cathy for Sue.
In March 2008 Sensei Rob opened another after school club in St Cuthbert’s Cardiff Bay. Again this class was a success with 15 to 25 students at each session.
With the reputation of St Pats Karate Clubs growing Sensei Rob opened a class in St Paul’s Parish Hall Grangetown. With 20/25 students’ training in St Paul’s he was very pleased at how well the clubs were growing.
At all the clubs Sensei found that he had a growing number of students under 7 years old wanting to train so he opened a class at St Paul’s for students aged 4 to 7 years. This class is on Sundays at 11.45/12.30 and is called Little Samurai. This class is a fun way to introduce young children to Shotokan karate. We have a club mascot that comes in most Sundays to train with the children (they love him) his name is Phoenix the cat. Little Samurai also has its own grading system to help develop the students. Sensei Rob wanted this class to be great fun, with the students learning karate by using the kick bags and other items so the children would enjoy an introduction to Shotokan karate.
Sensei Rob then opened another class in a different part of Cardiff, The Holy Family School Pentrabane. This school has a Little Samurai class and an over 7s class and is also a growing success.
Sensei Rob was at the point of turning his hobby into a full time job and in September 2008 he opened 3 more classes in Woodlands Special Needs School, Howells College and The Star Sports Centre in splott. And further a field in St Athan he opened 4 more classes in the Gathering Place.
From just one class a week, St Pats Karate Clubs under Sensei Rob Green now has 14 classes a week at 8 different venues. We have attended 20 tournaments from February 2007 to September 2008 and picked up 70 medals. St Pats Karate Clubs are now well established and serious karate clubs with a full time instructor.
For those of you who are looking for a friendly welcoming club this is the club for you.
What is karate?
Karate is a Japanese based self defence system, it is said to have originated from Okinawa located in the Ryukyu island archipelago on the southern most part of Japan.
The definition of karate accepted from the Japanese characters (Kanji) depicting Karate is “Empty Hand”
Karate has enjoyed significant growth from its initial introduction to the west following the second world war and is found in most countries in the world.
The WKF (World Karate Federation) is the only world karate body recognised by the International Olympic Committee( IOC) and has 174 countries in membership.
There are various styles of karate but the WKF recognise Shotokan ,Wado Ryu, Gojo Ryu & Shito Ryu as the 4 main styles.
What are the Benefits of Karate Training?
Karate training provides access to an excellent cardio – vascular workout programme which maintains the general fitness of all those who participate.
Karate can be practiced by anyone of any age and of any ability, there are no limits or restrictions relating to gender, physical ability religious beliefs etc., except those imposed by the individual themselves.
Unlike a lot of sports continuity of training can be assured.
Other benefits of karate training include:
builds self confidence muscular and aerobic fitness
increased perceptual awareness balance and co-ordination
improved concentration self discipline
self-defence positive attitude
stress reduction socialising
