News
Grading Results
We have three new Nidans! C0ngratulations!
See the Gradings Page for more details.
Day Course and Gradings - 21st May 2023
It will shortly be that time of year when the organisation holds the senior gradings (1st kyu and above). This year due the smaller number of candidates, there will also be a morning training session open to all grades.
The schedule is as follows :-
10:00 to 10:30 Registration
10:30 to 12:45 Morning session
12:45 to 13:30 Lunch
13:30 to 15:30 Gradings
Venue:- Meadowcroft Community Centre
Address:- Bowlers Field, 147 Meadowcroft, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 9HH
As usual will need a good supply of Uke’s for the gradings and we encourage those of you 2nd kyu and above (especially those who are considering grading in the future) to attend and participate if possible.
The remaining course dates for your calendars are:-
23rd July Stuart Jeffs, Steve Lindsey
17th September guest Instructor - Nick Regnier
19th November Martyn Tyas, Jason Turvey
For the courses run by the training panel instructors, if there are any subjects/techniques that you would like us to cover, please feedback your suggestions, either via email or in person.
Regards
Steve/Stu/Martyn & Jason
Training Panel
New Courses Instructor
Hi all
I was rather surprised and happy to receive the invitation to replace Brian on the training panel who has stepped down from the role due to personal circumstances.
One of the objectives of the training panel is to encourage more of us to turn up to our courses. In this respect I think I can help because I have a wide range of Aikido experience under several different organisations and teachers, so I’m sure I can bring some of the interesting things that I have experienced over the years to our courses. That is one of the reasons why I accepted the role on the training panel my other reasons are:- the challenge of doing something new and having the opportunity to improve my teaching skills.
A little bit about me, I started my Aikido journey in 1993 under Fred Mills Sensei at the Reading club and was promoted to 3rd in 2016. Presently I’m training around 3 to 4 times per week at 3 different dojo’s in the Reading Area, (the KSK club under Craig Hargreaves, Reading Zenshin under John Garmston (Iwama) and Wokingham Aikido under Ivor Cinderby (Aikikai)). Then when I visit my partner, who lives abroad, I also tag along with her at the two dojos where she trains. I also try to go to as many external organisation seminars as I can fit in during the year (some of my favourites are Jan Nevelius/Miranda Saarentus/Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros & Yoshi Shibata). In general I’m heading toward the internal and softer side of Aikido and am aiming for the precision of the iwama style, the flow of aikikai style and softness of Endo’s style. Currently in my personal development I’m looking at improving my Taisabaki footwork and experimenting with Kokyo breath work.
In a semi official capacity for the organisation I also manage the Kai Shin Kai Archive YouTube channel. The channel is primarily aimed at preserving old footage and for sharing gradings. If anybody has any old video’s of club training sessions/seminars or are happy for me to share their gradings on the channel, just get in contact.
Hope to see you on the mat.
Cheers
Jason
2023 Day Courses
Dates for the 2023 Day Courses are now posted. Instructors will be added as details become available.
Gradings
I have listed the clubs who attended and provided ukes and took part on grading panels – my thanks to all who helped make it a successful day on the gradings.
Aylesbury, Bicester, Chippenham, North Cotswolds, Pinner, Towcester, Newport Gwent, Newport, YuJo Aikido Iitaly.
Attending members – there were 28 attending members.
A full list of successful candidates will be posted shortly.
My congratulations to all candidates in achieving their grades.
Bill
Chief Instructor
Gradings Update
A list of the candidates grading and the members of the grading panels have now been posted in the Senior Gradings page.
November Gradings
A reminder that your grading applications must be with the Chief Instructor no later than October 20th 2022
Membership renewals by card
The MemberMojo application has been upgraded to use Stripes and can now accept card payments.
November Gradings
A reminder that your grading applications must be with the Chief Instructor no later than October 20th 2022
July 24th Day Course
On the 24th July course, we will also be having a BBQ after the event. It will be basic; sausages,burgers etc, but you can cook what you bring if you like! See you there Brian
June's Day Course Review
I would like to thank everyone (especially the kyu grades) who attended the course and the hog roast afterwards.
Everyone enjoyed the course which was a different take on usual aikido through the use of Escrima. Hopefully everyone saw the relationship of the principles of movement and of "don't get hit" just as we do when we train in our aikido.
I would recommend as many of the kyu grades as possible to attend the next two courses, as well as those that are looking to grade in November.
We are both fortunate and lucky to have a wealth of experience within our organisation with our two senior instructors. Their knowledge really is invaluable, so make a note of the dates and keep them free: July 24th 2022 and September 18th 2022.
See you then!
Brian
June 19th Day Course
The next course will be on June 19th and our guest instructor will be Erick Cruz who is coming over from Las Vegas. The course will run from 10:30 - 1:30pm followed by a Hogroast!
Club Registration for Insurance
A reminder to all club instructors that under our new insurance policy arrangement, there are no longer any Club Registration fees!
November's Gradings have changed date
The date of the Gradings has been moved to 27th November. The Application Form for the gradings has been updated and can be found in the downloads section.
April's Day Course Review
I'd like to thank those who attended the April course, especially the lower grades. Also a big thank you to the various dan grades who taught on that course, especially the ones who didn't realise they were going to be picked on!
Everyone who attended put in 100% effort to train as it was being taught on the day, even when it wasn't something they were very familiar with from training at their own clubs.
Remember, on the various courses, everyone is evaluated on their attendance and training, to improve their performance when grading.
As we keep saying - the courses are free to attend!
So, can we get as many as possible of you to attend the June course please. It's going to be a bit different, but a lot of fun. Also, there is going to be a hog roast in the afternoon!!!!!
See on the mat.
Brian
Deputy Chief Instructor
Martyn Tyas has been promoted alongside Steve Lindsay to Deputy Chief Instructor. He replaces Nigel Vaughan.
Senior Gradings 2022
There will be an opportunity to take Ikkyu and Dan gradings later in the year. It's been put back to November to give candidates the chance to get some practice in after the upsets caused by the pandemic. Candidates will still be required to attend day courses in order to be eligible.
Insurance FAQ's
Details can be found by clicking on this link
Most Clubs are Open for Training
At the last count only one or two clubs remain unable to train. The majority of halls have re-opened their doors and it's business as usual. Check with your local clubs about joining or resuming training. Association Day courses are also being run.
Next Year's Day Courses
Dates for the courses in 2022 have now been added.
September Day Course
It was a very good course enjoyed by all. In addition to our friends from Barnstaple, the KSK was represented by members from a good range of clubs including; Aylesbury, Bicester, Carterton, Devizes, Milton Keynes, Northampton, North Cotswolds, Pinner, Portsmouth, Towcester & Wales.
The next Day Course is on November 14th at QMCA. The Instructors will be Martyn Tyas and Bob Salloway.
As usual, the courses are free to all KSK members!
The issue of whether to hold senior gradings next year is still being debated but clearly all those who are interested should attend as many courses as they are able to get as much training in as possible. Numbers attending courses will be a factor in this decision.
Day Course News
Chief Instructor Bill Harris has reviewed the courses team and Day courses will now be organised by the following senior instructors;
Deputy Chief Instructor Steve Lindsey, Stuart Jeffs, Martyn Tyas and Brian Horsler.
Extracted from the latest BAB Covid-19 advisory email
Supplement 33 to the Coronavirus Guidance – England
Steve Billett the BAB Covid-19 Officer attended an online meeting with Sport England at 12:30 pm today (13th July 2021) where they advised the latest information prior to the government guidance and Sport England FAQs being published later this week, hopefully before the 19th July 2021.
Information Received from Sport England.
- • Full Contact Aikido can resume for both Adults and Juniors as of 19th July 2021.
- • There is no limit on class size or who you can train with.
- • The use of face covering is at the choice of the club leader, but is NOT a legal requirement.
- • The use of the NHS Track and Trace QR code to register at your club is suggested, but is not a legal requirement.
Based upon this information the BAB expects that in England, clubs will be able to train with full contact aikido as of the week commencing 19th July.
Please ensure your KSK membership is current & valid as it includes your person to person and public liability insurance.
Important Announcement
The KSK ceased to be a member of The BAB on July 1st 2021, and have formed our own association together with Tenchi Ryu.
The reasons are, in general, due to dissatisfaction with the way the BAB is presently run and the fact that it appears to be a dying organisation that is going nowhere as a National Governing Body.
Kai Shin Kai has teamed up with Tenchi Ryu, run by Brian Stockwell and Sue Ward in Barnstable.
Sue Ward has many Sports-orientated qualifications and will be our lead Safeguarding Officer.
If you have any juniors in your Club you will therefore need to let her know.
For the purposes of those areas of joint interest – that is, insurance and child safeguarding – our two organisations will operate under the title of the ‘Aikido Alliance UK'.
In all other respects we will be autonomous for grading and membership operations, and have our own constitutions, saving that our respective constitutions will not contradict each other.
One of the benefits of this will be a saving in insurance and membership costs. This will be passed on to our membership giving you better value for your money.
As Clubs re-open from July 20th', leisure centres, etc may require some proof of civil liability cover. Insurance documentation can be found in the Downloads section.
Next Day Course
Hopefully while sending this out we would have started back to training. So with a sigh of relief we have a course on the 25th July.(government depending).
We will carry on with government covid guide lines.
As this will be our first course in a long time, we will be taking it easy! So as a recommendation, can we have all grades (especially kyu grades) to attend. As we keep reminding everyone the courses are FREE !
See you there Brian
Please read the Covid-19 notice at the top of the Day Courses page.
Day Course Update
Please note that the July 18th course has now been moved to July 25th with the hopes that all restrictions will have been lifted.
Corona Virus Update
Providing that the covid variants of interest don't cause another serious wave, the government should allow us to restart adult training from June 19th when the social distancing restrictions are expected to be lifted.
The government will lay out it's position on this on June 14th.
There will still be protocols to follow and these will be issued nearer the time.
Please ensure that the names of those anticipated to recommence training are sent in, so that blue insurance slips can be issued ahead of time.
Day courses are expected to be run at Meadowcroft from July.
Read the latest BAB Aikido Times newsletters
Aikido Times - December 2020
Aikido Times - March 2020
Corona Virus Update - BAB Suspends Insurance Cover
Read about the BAB Insurance Suspension
Promotion to Assistant Chief Instructor
Both Vince Sumpter and I have made a decision to make Steve Lindsey Assistant Chief Instructor together with Nigel Vaughan. Both of us felt it sensible and prudent to have two ACI’s as a result of current events to cover any future circumstances.
This effective from today.
Bill Harris
Chief Examiner
Corona Virus - Temporary Club Closures
The following clubs have notified me that they have closed for the time being, because of the Virus restrictions currently in place. Closures are currently expected to last for 6 weeks, so until the end of the first week of May.
- Aylesbury
- Bicester
- Chippenham
- Devizes
- Harrow
- Newport
- North Cotswolds
- Pinner
- Reading
- Towcester
- Witney Carterton
The gradings on April 26th have been cancelled
See the Senior Gradings page for more details.
Senior Gradings
Owing to the ongoing Corona virus situation, the Government or local councils may order halls to be closed and there is therefore the possibility that gradings will not be able to take place in April as planned. It was therefore decided, without notice, to run gradings at the day course on 15th March.
Those of you who applied to take a grading in April but couldn't take it at the March course will be able to take it at the next day course.
See the Grading results in the Senior Gradings section
2020 Senior Gradings
The grading panels for the senior gradings on April 26th have been posted in the Senior Gradings section.
Read the latest BAB Aikido Times newsletters
Aikido Times - March 2020KSK Courses Update
As part of Bill’s plans for the future of KSK, a panel of four Dan grades was set up in 2018 consisting of myself, Stuart, Nigel and Steve for the purpose of organising courses and trying to maintain standards within KSK. There have been teething problems which are in the process of being worked out.
Every course listed on the KSK website is open to all grades, and we highly recommend everyone to attend as many courses as possible. As well as meeting the senior grades, it is also an opportunity to practice with someone from another club.
A member of the panel is in attendance at each course and can use their discretion to select any instructor to teach on the day, so lesson plans need to be at the ready!
Although we may not all agree with the systems/styles of an instructor, you need to train in the style asked of you on the day so that you can then assess the standard of your own aikido. This is what makes KSK a unique organisation: we allow aikido to be practised in its many forms - open mind, open heart.
Any club whose students are unable to attend a listed course can set up their own course with at least one panel member invited to attend as lead instructor.
Please ensure such additional courses do not clash with those already booked in the diary. It can then be counted as one of the mandatory courses you must attend as a pre-requirement of grading in April.
To arrange an additional course of your own please contact me, Stuart, Nigel or Steve.
Brian
Banbury Club is closing
Keith Denney is closing his club at the end of April. He has 50 mats which he will donate free of charge to any KSK club that needs them. Contact Keith directly by e-mail at:
kj dot denney at btinternet dot com
Read the latest 2019 BAB Aikido Times newsletter
2019 Senior Gradings
The grading panels for the senior gradings on April 14th have been posted in the Senior Gradings section.
January Day Course
Thank you to those who attended the first course of the year. It was a good turn out and it was nice to see some new faces on the mat. It was a good opportunity to run through a mixture of techniques with an emphasis on grading tips. Hopefully those who attended found it useful. Now that the courses are FREE to all KSK members, it would be good to see even more of you on the mat.
Any feed back would be much appreciated.
You can contact me through the Aylesbury aikido club web site or our Facebook page
Brian
2019 Day Course
Please note that the January and March Courses are not grade restricted this year and can be attended by all levels.
Attendance to the January course is compulsory for those wishing to take a grading in April. You must also have attended an absolute MINIMUM of 2 courses since last April.
More details.
November Day Courses
Just a reminder that all Day Courses are now free of charge for all current KSK members. There are 2 courses this month on November 10th and 11th.
More details.
Read the latest 2018 BAB Aikido Times newsletter
Aikido Times - October 2018
Aikido Times - June 2018
Important Notice – Kai Shin Kai Membership Fees
In discussion with senior members of the Kai Shin Kai we are in agreement that it is important to get more members attending the centralised courses at the Aylesbury QMCA centre. To this end – and to encourage attendance – I have made a decision that as from 1st September 2018 ALL courses at the Aylesbury QMCA will be free to Kai Shin Kai members.
The cost of putting on these courses is currently almost £3000 a year (made up of hall hire, van hire for mats, instructors’ travel expenses, refreshments, etc); with income from courses amounting to around £1500 (from student attendance fees of £10 each).
The KSK currently has one of the lowest annual membership fees (at £20 – & £25 for new members) and these fees have been the same for at least the past 10 years. Therefore – to cover the future costs of running these free courses – for memberships received by the KSK Registrar on or after 1st September 2018 membership fees will increase by £10 per member to:
£30 – for annual renewals, and
£35 – for first year new members
In effect this means that those students who normally attend 2 or 3 courses during the year will save money and even attendance at just one course pays for the increase in your membership fee. There will be NO increase in the “juniors” membership fee. However, Ikkyu and Dan grading fees will continue to be charged at their present rate.
Bill Harris
KSK Principal & Chief Instructor
25 April 2018
Coach Level 2 Courses
Anyone who has already attained Coach Level 1, can enhance their coaching skills by progressing to Level 2. There are 5 level 2 modules to be attended before taking the final assessment. The BAB is running two weekend courses both of which will cover all 5 of the modules. The first will be in the Solihull area on 9th-10th June and the other in the Reading area on 6th-7th Oct. Anyone who is interested interested should contact Bob Salloway at bob.babcao@gmail.com
Old News
See News items from previous years.