Grading News

The first official club grading has moved two weeks from Monday 6th April to Monday 20th April.

Due to eligibility issues of the majority of students wishing to take part in the club grading we have decided to postpone the grading for two weeks to enable everybody to meet the criteria as set out in previous news letter.

To be eligible to grade you must:

• Be a current member.
• Attended the minimum amount of time and attended the minimum amouunt of classes required before attempting that grade.
• Attend at least 4 classes in row leading to the grading day.
• Have a signed grading authorisation from your instructor to attempt that grade.

Don`t forget to:

• Bring your membership I.D card to the grading day.
• Bring your grading manual with the relevant parts signed off by your instructor.

Under I.K.F regulations, new students can train for two months or 8 classes (whichever comes first) on a satellite membership.

After this time has elaposed, a membership will become compulsory for insurance purposes and to comply with the I.K.F regulations.

Parents Guide To Bullying

Having been bullied at school myself, I know exactly how children feel and react so please read this letter carefully, as this is a true parents guide to spotting and dealing with bullying.

Nobody wishes his or her child to be bullied.

You shouldn’t have to put up with it nor should your child.

Sometimes it’s difficult to spot because your son or daughter keeps it hidden from you but their distress is total. Bullying can be Physical, Verbal, Emotional, Racist or Sexual. It happens at any age from kindergarten to high school. You must stop it early. Bullying can result in depression, low self-esteem, shyness, poor academic achievement, isolation, even threatened or
attempted suicide. Your child’s and quality of life cannot be subject to the whim or brutality of another.

1. Forget the myths about bullying.

“I was bullied at school, it’s character building” - yeah? What sort of character do you want your child to become? Low self esteem?  Depressed?  “He’ll just have to learn to stand up for himself” - children who tell you they have been bullied have reached the end of their tether they are desperate for help.  “Tell Him to hit back - harder”. Bullies are usually bigger or tougher than their victims. Your child could get seriously hurt.  “Calling names can’t hurt” - Bruises from blows heal, name-calling can leave scars for life. “It’s just kids teasing” - Once teasing hurts it’s no longer ‘just fun’ and must stop.

2. Look for the possible signs of bullying.

Children may be frightened of walking to or from school change the usual route not want to go on the school bus beg you to drive them to school,  be unwilling to go out, feel ill in the mornings, begin truanting,  begin doing poorly in their school work, come home regularly with clothes or books destroyed, come home hungry (bully has stolen money for food) become withdrawn, start stammering, lack confidence, become distressed and anxious, attempt or threaten suicide, cry themselves to sleep, have their possessions ‘go missing’, ask for money or start stealing money ( to pay bully) continually lose their
‘pocket money’ or allowance, have unexplained scratches, bruises, cuts begin to bully other children themselves! become aggressive and unreasonable give improbable excuses to explain any of the above.

3. How You Can Help Your Child

If you are worried ask him or her directly. Bullied children are often frightened to tell what is happening so be prepared for your child to deny at first there is anything wrong. Encourage your child by saying you are concerned and want to support him or her. Take what the child says seriously. Don’t promise to keep the bullying secret but reassure your child that you will help
them sort out the problem.

If your child is a perpetual victim and are bullied wherever they go - perhaps they don’t know how to talk or play with children. Help them develop social skills by role-playing. (Pretend you are another child and help your child work out acceptable approaches). If you discover that your child is being bullied because of obnoxious habit (picking their nose for example) help them change this behaviour.

Bullying damages self-confidence so rebuild it Keep telling your child you love them very much and you are 100% on their side. Reassure them that the bullying is not their fault. Explain that reacting to bullies by crying or getting upsetonly encourages them. Victims should try not to react to the bully’s taunts. If bullies cannot goad their victims into a response they soon get bored. Practice assertiveness techniques Practise saying ‘NO’ very firmly and walking away from a bully. It’s hard for a bully to bully, if the victim doesn’t get upset and just walks away. Help your child think up replies to taunts. It helps to have a reply prepared help your child with this.

Try and minimise the opportunities for bullying i.e. don’t carry valuable possessions, don’t be the last person in the changing rooms, stay with a group even if they are not your friends.  If the bully threatens your child to get money or possessions tell them to give up what the bully wants. Keeping safe is more important than keeping things.

Make time to encourage your child to say how they feel.  Praise them frequently. Make opportunities for your child to do well i.e. let them help with house/garden/car and praise them. Give them responsibilities - it helps them feel valued. Sometimes victims become withdrawn so invite other children round.  At first just one at a time and arrange outings.

Encourage your child to join groups where there is strong adult supervision.  Encourage them to develop a hobby or sport. Encourage them to do things they are good at - this will help confidence.

4. How to Approach the School.

When you learn that your child is being bullied, keep a diary of incidents and make notes of all injuries with photographs and details of doctor/hospital visits. Additionally keep a note of everyone you speak to about the bullying and
keep copies of letters you write. When talking to staff & try not to be aggressive, lose your temper, or shout & swear.

5. Progressive Positive Steps To Take Over School Bullying.

Class Teacher - Contact the class teacher and request a meeting and ask for an investigation. Make a follow up appointment a week later to find out the result.

Head Teacher - If your child is still being bullied go see the Head Teacher. Make out a short list of points you want answered and ask to see a copy of the schools anti-bullying policy.

Board of Governors - If the bullying still continues contact the Board of Governors threatens Police involvement if there is no action.

Police - In cases of Assault/Theft your child has been attacked, or has had his property stolen, then report this to the POLICE even if the bully is under 10. Ask the police to make out a charge sheet. Getting the police involved frightens
the bully and makes the school react quickly.

Local Government - Wherever you live there will be a local authority who licenses schools - write to them. Your letter must begin : “ I am writing to make a formal complaint”.

Member of Parliament - If the matter is not dealt with to your satisfaction then contact you local representative. Remember that despite their self-importance these people are our paid servants.

Another School/ Home Education - As a last resort move your child to another school or teach them at home.

DO NOT BE PUT OFF -
Keep pushing until somebody deals with it.

DO NOT LET THEM FOB YOU OFF
- with lame excuses.

DO NOT LET THEM BLAME YOUR CHILD
- it is not the victims fault If your child’s education is suffering you have the right to say that you believe the school is failing in its ‘duty of care’.

KEEP taking action to get the justice you deserve for your child.

6. What Can the School Do ?

If the school has an anti-bullying policy they must deal with bullying accordingto that document. Even if they don’t have such a written policy all schools are expected to take the problem seriously, investigate the incident and interview bullies and victims SEPARATELY.

They then must interview witnesses then decide appropriate action along the lines of-

• Obtain apology from bully to victim.

• Impose sanction against bully.

• Inform bully’s parents.

• Insist on return of items taken.

• Insist bullies compensate victim.

• Hold discussions about bullying.

• Provide safe haven for victims during school hours.

• Provide support teacher for victim.

• Encourage bully to change his/her behaviour.

• Hold meetings with victim’s family to report progress.

• Inform all members of staff about incident.

• Keep a written record of incident and action taken.

7. Community Bullying

This is what we call bullying outside the school. Community bullying can be very hard to deal with especially if the bully (ies) parents won’t intervene. Here are some suggestions for dealing with this problem.

Keep a written record of all incidents and all of the people you talk to about the situation. Find out who is doing the bullying.

If it is children from another school contact that school and ask them what they intend to do about it.

Try having a quiet word with the bully’s parents. (Beware they will go on the defensive). If they are neighbours and don’t respond complain to Tenants / Residents / Association /Neighbourhood Watch or whatever it is in your area.

Work closely with your child on one of our IEP Parent coaching programmes for self-assertiveness, self-image, & Relationships.

Ensure your child maintains their self-defence/martial arts training - not to turn your child into an oriental Mike Tyson but to give them support, more confidence and make some friends. The first thing they will want to do is pack up their training believing they should have sorted it out themselves doing karate, not realising that Karate will help in many more ways than fighting.

Talk to youth leaders who may know the children involved. Involve your child in-groups that do not involve the bullies, play schemes, youth groups, sports clubs.

Seek advice from local religious leaders. Inform the Police, talk to your Community Officer and ask for help.

Talk to witnesses of the bullying - would they be prepared to back you up.

If possible video or photograph incidents.

Bullies often stop when they think their actions are being recorded.

ALL physical assaults should be reported to the Police. Insist the Police make a charge sheet as it makes the victim feel better and deters the attacker. Take pictures of all incidents and a keep a record of medical treatment. Assaults are
CRIMINAL offences you can prosecute.

Class formats and competitions

Junior class – 6 to 13 years

The children’s class is taught differently from the adult class, children arenot small adults. They need to be taught in a specialised manner for their safety. Their size, age, bone structure, physical ability, mental ability and
concentration span must be taken into account. Our main concern for the children is safety at all times.

The children learn pad work for punching skills and kicking techniques. The also learn basic sparring (no head contact) similar to the adults. By learning Kickboxing correctly, your child will have more confidence in activities they undertake outside of class, including school. Their coordination and concentration span will also improve greatly. We promote discipline & respect in all classes.

Senior class - 14 Years & Over

All lessons start with aerobic exercise e.g. stretching and bouncing on the balls of the feet in guard, as way of a warm up session.

After the warm up the class will progresses on to Freestyle Kickboxing training that will consist of many different areas e.g. basic drills using correct stance and guarding, position, self defence routines, pad work and pair work. You will also be taught how to use all the equipment in a safe & correct manner.

In all classes we encourage discipline & respect in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Parents as well as children need to learn self defence skills to protect themselves, their families and also their friends from violent attacks, which are happening more and more frequently.

Using Kickboxing’s common sense self defence techniques will give you a much better chance of getting through attacks unscathed.

Freestyle Kickboxing is taught as a martial art for self-defence and not just a sport. It uses all the strikes used in the ring, plus many more including ones from other martial arts that are not allowed in the Kickboxing ring due to their devastating effectiveness.

Freestyle Kickboxing starts with long range combat using kicking skills then moving closer to the hand range enabling boxing skills, then moving even closer to use knee and elbow techniques and then finally when closest of all, hands-on
grappling.

Students will be taught how to defend your self on the street both verbally and physically. Students will be taught how to disengage themselves from unexpected and unprovoked grabs and strangles as well as how to defend your self from a front on assaults.

Students will also be taught basic formations of Knees, Elbows, Strikes and blocks. These will then be broken down and put into simple easily adaptable self defence block and counter combinations simulating a real life confrontation. These simple combinations will be practised and perfected on pads (to develop power) and on a partner (to develop precision).

Due to realistic scenario based verbal language that will be used in simulating real life confrontations as well as potentially dangerous techniques taught such as KO strikes, the class is only suitable for adults aged 14 years and over.

Students will also be taught personal dynamic risk assessments, signalling non-aggression and the components of communication.

Rob is a qualified conflict management instructor and delivers a qualification called the Award in Conflict Management within his day job. This qualification is accredited by C&G (city & guilds) and the BIIAB (British Institute of Inn-keeping Awarding body) and recognised by the SIA (Security Industry Authority). Students who wish to gain this qualification to add to their CV can take the exam for the qualification. They would not need to sit the course as the street defence class will be taught using the same principles and verbal methods taught in the accredited qualification. If you would like some more information, please ask Rob.

Competitions

Competing is not for everybody, however, for those who do wish to test their skills and win trophies there are different levels of competition that can be entered.

Amateur Competition (Inter-club Sparring)

These are held on a regular basis at various venues. This is where students from the Go-Sho-Kai Freestyle Kickboxing team free spar against students from another team/club, hence ‘Inter-club’. This helps the fighter gain valuable experience. There is controlled contact and every fighter receives a winner’s trophy with no winner, no loser. Protective equipment is worn and no one receives injuries. The protective equipment consists of head guard (optional), gum shield, body shield (optional), extra padded 14/16oz boxing gloves, groin guard and shin pads. These fights are video’d so each fighter can be analysed to see how well they perform and advice can be given on areas to improve on. To give valuable sparring experience to beginners we also have internal club sparring with our Go-Sho-Kai members to help build confidence with people you do know before you go up against fighters you don’t.

Professional Freestyle Kickboxing

This involves ‘full contact’ strikes and the aim is to knockout the opponent. Very few students ever progress onto this much higher level, but for those who do the rewards can be high, with opportunities to fight abroad and even for titles on a Regional, National and World class level.

Finally, if you know anyone that might be interested in training with us, get them to pop down to class or give us a call or email us at admin@goshokai.co.uk

Pay by direct debit discount scheme

The direct debit is set up for a period of 12 months. The discounted payments are calculated by multiplying the number of training sessions included in your programme over a 12 month period minus 2 weeks for the Xmas break. You are also given 8 week’s worth of sessions for free, plus extra an discount to encourage you to sign up to the direct debit  system. It is then divided into 12 equal payments that will come out of your account on either the 1st or 15th of each month.

Train on either a Monday or Wednesday Kickboxing or alternate between the two.

Twice a week: £24.00

Train on both Monday Kickboxing and Wednesday Boxing

In any 12 month period there is 52 weeks. There are 50 possible training days in total as the club closes for 2 weeks for the Xmas break. If you attended every possible training session, the pay as you train option would cost you £250.00 However, if you decided to pay the £17.00 per month by direct debit, you will make a saving of £46.00 (9 weeks worth of free sessions over the 12 month period).

Grading News

The first official club grading has moved two weeks from Monday 6th April to Monday 20th April.

Due to eligibility issues of the majority of students wishing to take part in the club grading we have decided to postpone the grading for two weeks to enable everybody to meet the criteria as set out in previous news letter.

To be eligible to grade you must:

• Be a current member.
• Attended the minimum amount of time and attended the minimum amouunt of classes required before attempting that grade.
• Attend at least 4 classes in row leading to the grading day.
• Have a signed grading authorisation from your instructor to attempt that grade.

Don`t forget to:

• Bring your membership I.D card to the grading day.
• Bring your grading manual with the relevant parts signed off by your instructor.

Bring a friend and train for FREE!!!

We need your help to increase the number of students attending. We have decided to offer an incentive scheme for members who introduce their friends to Go-Sho-Kai.

Each time you introduce a new student to Go-Sho-Kai you will not have to pay to train fot that class that night. (if you introduce two or more students on the same night, we will owe you free classes that can be used at your convenience).

If that student continues on to become a member of Go-Sho-Kai you will receive a £10.00 Voucher. This voucher can be used to purchase classes or Go-Sho-Kai Branded clothing or accessories.