Latest news
Keep abreast of the latest news and updates about MK SKA here, or alternatively visit our Facebook and Instagram pages. More photos of most events can also be seen in our photo gallery.
Adam selected for EKF kumite squad
Following an invitation to attend three trial sessions with the existing England Karate Federation (EKF) kumite squad, Adam has proved himself good enough to be selected to join the squad.
Congratulations! This is a fantastic achievement resulting from many years of hard work and dedication.
MK SKA’s most successful JKS National Championships to date
MK SKA’s results at the JKS Nationals continue to make an impression, with the medal count challenging pole position - this year the medal haul was just one gold behind the winning team from Harrogate. For the first time, MK SKA entered the Team Kata events and bought home two gold and one silver medal - quite a debut! These impressive results reflect the hard work and dedication put in by the tournament team members, their parents and the coaching team - thanks to Igo, Jamie and Umito for helping out with coaching on the day.
Gold
Emma - Kata
Elizabeth - Kata
Ghassan - Kata
Lauren - Kata
Umito - Kata
MJ - kumite
Gleb - kumite
Yaroslav - kumite
George D - kumite
Kamil - kumite
Taisa - kumite
Fernando - kumite
George, Charlie, Taisa - team kata
Adam, Anastasia,Karim - team kata
Charlie, Gleb, George - team kata
Fernando, Alex, Tomasz - team kumite
Silver
Kevin - kata
Taisa - kata
Xander - kata
Anastasia - junro kata
George - kumite
Ghassan - kumite
Tomasz - kumite
Yasuki - kumite
Kennedy - kumite
Fernando, Vladimir, Victor - team kata
Emma, Kevin, MJ - team kumite
Ghassan, Bernard, Oscar - team kumite
Kennedy, Oliver, Umito - team kumite
Bronze
Robert - kata
Vladimir - kata
Julia - kata
Igo - kata
Fernando - junro kata
Taisa - junro kata
Emma - kumite
Oscar - kumite
Alex - kumite
Lauren - kumite
Bernard - kumite
Adam - kumite
Yasuki, Adam, Luke - team kumite
Second Dan for Anastasia
Congratulations to Anastasia on passing her second Dan grading. Anastasia always works really hard, and is generally in the dojo six days a week. Her dedication to training, alongside her positive attitude and willingness to learn are just some of the reasons that she passed her grading at the end of October. This achievement is not to be under estimated, especially for such a young student. A real example of getting out what you put in - an inspiration to all.
Great performances at EKF International
After doing himself proud at the JKS World Championships, Kennedy’s development continues, resulting in a bronze medal in kumite at the English Karate Federation International Championships at Crystal Palace.
Anastasia’s performance is improving all the time, reaching repechage in kata and her kumite is also on the right track. Adam also got to repachage in his kumite event at this premier competition. The hard work is resulting in good performances.
Gold medal at the BKF International Championships
Fernando continues to improve and impress, not just his club instructors but also the JKS England coaching team. A late decision for him to enter the British Karate Federation International Championships in Sheffield proved to be the right choice, as he came away with the gold medal for kumite. Congratulations on becoming the British champion!
Success at JKS World Championships
On Day One of the JKS World Championships in Tokyo, Kennedy competed in the senior individual male (-75kg) kumite category. He progressed to the second round where he came up again Watanabe Sensei, a former world champion and the eventual winner of the category. Unfortunately there was no repechage so that was the end of Kennedy’s participation.
On Day Two it was the team events. JKS England came up against teams from Italy, Russia and Switzerland, not losing a single fight along the way, which earned them a place in the finals against the team from Japan. Although Kennedy won his fight against his Japanese opponent it was not enough for the team to win gold. Over the course of the two day competition Kennedy was the only fighter to beat a member of the Japanese team, so quite an achievement! Always nice to come away with something, and this time it was Silver medals for the JKS England team.
Central England Open Championships
On Sunday 7th July we took our squad to the Central Open in Worcester - probably the biggest tournament in the UK with over 1,100 competitors with a very high standard of karate. Everyone gave their all, which is reflected in the 18 medals the team came away with (including those won by students who represented JKS England on the day).
Gold medal winners
Emma - kata
Marius - kata
Lauren - kata
Alex - kumite
George D - kumite
Fernando - kumite (representing JKS England)
Kennedy - team kumite (representing JKS England)
Silver medal winners
Keith - kata
Robert - kumite
Marius - kumite
Bronze medal winners
George T - kata
Victor - kumite
Lauren - kumite
Alex, Ghassan, Oscar - team kumite
Taisa - kumite (representing JKS England)
Adam - kumite (representing JKS England)
Kennedy - kumite (representing JKS England)
Fernando, Jamie - team kumite (representing JKS England)
2024 JKS Development Tournament
Everyone attending the JKS Development Tournament in Harrogate on 23 June really shone and conducted themselves in the true spirit of karate. Once again we came away with an impressive haul of medals as follows:
Gold medal winners
Gleb - kata
Marius - kata
Taisa - kata
Julia - kata
Umito - kata
Charlie - kumite
Silver medal winners
Charlie - kata
Ghassan - kata
MJ - kumite
Gleb - kumite
George D - kumite
Marius - kumite
Ghassan - kumite
Umito - kumite
Bronze medal winners
Emma - kata
George T - kumite
Xander - kumite
Solid performances at EKF E1 Series
Great work by Kennedy at the EKF E1 Series in Manchester in May 2024, who won gold in the team event alongside his JKS teammates, Joe and Isaac, before going on to win silver in his individual event.
Adam, Anastasia and Yasuki also performed well for JKS England, and Vladimir entered for our dojo and as always did himself proud.
Well done to you all!
Tournament Team success at SEKO
The MK SKA tournament team came away from the 2024 Southern England Karate Open (SEKO) competition with 13 medals. Congratulations to everyone who competed, the whole squad represented the Academy in the true spirit of karate.
Gold medal winner
Kennedy - senior kumite (-75kg and +84kg categories)
Silver medal winners
Taisa - kata
Igo & Fernando - family kata
Fernando - kata
Tomasz - kumite
Bronze medal winners
Victor - kata
Vladimir - kata
Robert - kata
Jamie - kumite
Marius - kata and kumite
Tomasz, Anastasia and Yaroslav - team kumite
Medal winning performances at JKS Southern Zone
Another good day for the MK SKA squad at the JKS Southern Zone tournament in Abingdon, bringing home a good haul of medals.
Gold medal winners
Lauren - kata
Taisa - kata
MJ - kumite
George - kumite
Tomasz - kumite
Gabriel - kumite
Silver medal winners
Victor - kata and kumite
Gabriel - kata
Soloman - kumite
Robert - kumite
Yaroslav - kumite
Xander - kumite
Bronze medal winners
Vladimir - kata
Ghassan - kata
George - kata
Emma - kata
Karim - kata and kumite
Hermes - kumite
Alex - kumite
Oscar - kumite
Gleb - kumite
Ryan - kumite
Success for MK SKA students at KSE Murayama Cup
At the beginning of March, a small squad from MK SKA participated in the KSE Murayama Cup in Gloucester for the first time. All of the students represented the Academy well, and the team came away with six medals. Congratulations to all who took part.
Gold medal winner
Taisa - kumite
Silver medal winner
Robert - kumite
Bronze medal winners
Anastasia - kumite
Fernando - kumite
Kennedy - kumite
Robert - kata
MK SKA annual tournament continues to grow
With 15 categories attracting over 60 competitors, MK SKA’s third annual tournament was a great day enjoyed by all. New this year was the Family team kata event, which proved particularly popular. Full results can be seen here. The day was great fun for both students and spectators and rounded up with some awards being given as follows:
Senior student of the Year - Steve
Junior student of the Year - Taisa & Fernando
Most improved student - Borys
Congratulations to everyone who participated, and thanks to all the families who spent the day with us and who support the students throughout the year. Special thanks to Martin, Maria, Fred, Billy, Igo, Jaime, Xander and Jon for their help with the scoring and judging, Marian and Christina for the wonderful cakes and Jason for being our photographer on the day.
MK SKA go from strength to strength at JKS Nationals 2023
After our tournament team’s debut last year at the JKS Nationals when their performance exceeded expectations, we were delighted that this year they did even better! With more competitors, representing the academy in more categories, the squad excelled across the board, coming away with more medals and more national champions. A tribute to everyone’s hard work!
Gold medal winners
Emma - kata
George - kata
Taisa - kata and kumite
Lauren - kata and kumite
Fernando - kumite
Umito - kata
Fred - kumite
Team kumite (Adam, Bogdan, Ellis)
Team kumite (Fred, Kennedy, Ollie)
Silver medal winners
Hermes - kumite
Charlie - kata
Jamie - kumite
Marius - kata and kumite
Team kumite (Emma, Hermes, MJ)
Team kumite (Fernando, Jamie, Robert)
Bronze medal winners
MJ - kumite
Elizabeth - kata
Ghassan - kumite
Karim - kata
Anastasia - kata
Bogdan - kumite
Hana - kumite
Julia - kata
Xander - kata and kumite
Kennedy - kumite
Team kumite (Alex, Ghassan, Millen)
MK SKA heading to Japan
Congratulations to Kennedy who, after a couple of years of competing successfully for JKS England in the senior categories at a national level, has recently been selected to represent JKS England in Tokyo, Japan at the 2024 JKS World Championships. Although many people have supported him along the way, Kennedy’s selection is ultimately a result of his hard work and determination to succeed.
Four new Shodans for MK SKA
On 8 October 2023, Anastasia, Karim , Luke and Martin attended a national JKS Black and Brown belt course led by Alan Campbell Sensei. Following the course, they all successfully passed their Shodan gradings, receiving some extremely positive feedback from the grading examiners. At MK SKA we pride ourselves on teaching a very high standard of karate, so it is reassuring to see our students receiving such high praise at a national level. Huge congratulations to them all, now onto the next phase of your karate journey!
English Karate Federation National Championships 2023
Congratulations to Kennedy and Adam who represented JKS England at the English Karate Federation National Championships at the end of July. Adam competed in both kata and kumite, just missing out on a medal for kumite, but fought well. Kennedy got a bronze medal in the U21 kumite category and just missed out on medalling in the senior category. He was also part of the five man JKS team, who after some exciting, well fought matches came away with silver medals. We are proud to see you both representing both JKS and MK SKA.
2023 Central England Championships medal success
A big well done to everyone who competed at the Central Open Championships in Worcester in July. As expected, the standard was high and everyone had to compete hard to get through the rounds, even from round one.
Students from the Academy found themselves competing with people who have been doing competitions for years, and holding their own. The massive improvement in performance compared to this time last year was clearly apparent. Winning medals is always great but self-improvement is the end goal.
Gold medal winners
Yasuki - kata
Silver medal winners
Umito - kata
Anastasia - team kumite (representing JKS England)
Bronze medal winners
Ghassan - kata
Oliver - kata (representing Nottingham University)
Xander - kata and kumite
Yasuki - kumite
George - kumite
Robert - kumite
Fernando - kumite
Marius - kumite
Kennedy - individual kumite and team kumite (representing JKS England)
MK SKA medal haul at the JKS England tournament in Harrogate
MK SKA’s tournament team’s extremely strong performance at the JKS England’s first Novice and Intermediate competition saw them bring home 24 medals, including seven golds. A fantastic achievement in the face of strong competition, with great performances all round.
Gold medal winners
Charlie - Kata
Taisa - Kata
Yasuki - Kata & Kumite
Millen - Kumite
Marius - Kumite
Bogdan - Kumite
Silver medal winners
Millen - Kata
Igo - Kata
Ellis - Kata
George - Kumite
Umito - Kumite
Bronze medal winners
Emma - Kata
Bernard - Kata & Kumite
Isla - Kata
Karim - Kata
Elizabeth - Kata
Marius - Kata
Umito - Kata
Julia - Kata
Freddie - Kumite
Robert - Kumite
Fernando - Kumite
MK SKA represented at Berlin Open 2023 International
In May, Kennedy travelled to Berlin to represent MK SKA at international level. He competed in both Under 21 and Senior Under 75kg kumite events facing very tough competition, coming away with a bronze medal (for the Under 21 competition) and with some valuable experience. Great achievemnt, well done Kennedy.
Strong debut at the Southern England Open
Although there was only a small squad representing MK SKA at the Southern England Open Karate Tournament in April, everyone did themselves proud. The tournament was well organised and the karate was a higher standard than expected. Nonetheless, MK SKA came away with a very respectable medal haul, congratulations to all who competed!
Gold medal winners
Robert - kata
Fernando - kumite
Yasuki - kumite
Umito - kata
Umito - kumite
Oliver - kumite
Silver medal winners
Marius - kata
Xander - kumite
Bronze medal winners
Robert - kumite
Yasuki - kata
Anastasia - kata
Marius - kumite
Xander - kata
Medal success for MK SKA at Shito Ryu Open Tournament
It was congratulations all round to the MK SKA students who took part in the Shito Ryu Open championship in Harlow in March. There were some outstanding performances on the day, which were not always recognised with medals.
Gold medal winners
Robert - kumite
Fernando - kumite
Silver medal winners
Fernando - kata
Julia - kata
Freddie - kumite
Anastasia - kumite
Hana - kumite
Mirel - kumite
7 year old boy’s team kumite(Freddie, Millen, Bernard)
10 - 11 year boy’s team kumite (Jamie, Ryan, Vladimir)
Bronze medal winners
Freddie - kata
Millen - kata
Adam - kata
Xander - kata
Marius - kata
Taisa - kumite
Bernard - kumite
Xander - kumite
Marius - kumite
Fred - kumite
12 - 13 year boy’s team kumite (Bogdan, Yasuki, Luke)
Kennedy selected for EKF kumite squad
Following Kennedy’s success at international tournaments during 2022, he was invited for trial sessions with the current England Karate Federation (EKF) kumite squad. After three gruelling, but inspiring, sessions with the existing team members, he proved himself good enough to be selected.
Congratulations! This is a fantastic achievement resulting from many years of hard work and dedication.
MK SKA students selected for JKS England squad
Huge congratulations to Adam (kata and kumite), Anastasia (kata and kumite), Hana (kumite) and Kennedy (kumite) for being selected for the JKS England tournament squad.
We wish you all of the best competing - great to see all of your hard work being rewarded.
Over 60 students test their karate skills at the 2022 MK SKA championships
MK SKA’s second annual tournament was a great success with over 60 students competing in the 14 different categories for medals in both kata and kumite - full results can be seen here. The day was great fun for both students and spectators and rounded up with some awards being given as follows:
Senior student of the Year - Daniel
Junior student of the Year - Taisa & Anastasia
Most improved student - Luke
Congratulations to everyone who participated, and thanks to all the families who spent the day with us. Special thanks to Rob, Julia and Jon for their help with the scoring and judging, and Jaime for making the flags and sashes.
MK SKA make their mark at JKS England National Championships 2022
MK SKA took an impressive second place in the medals table at their debut at the JKS England National Championships. The academy’s tournament team came away from the competition in Nottingham with 9 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 8 bronze medals having faced JKS competitors from across the country.
Keith said “Coming away with 23 medals from this national tournament is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students. It is a fantastic achievement, and regardless of the medal count all of our students demonstrated how much they have improved since the team was established earlier this year. I’m really proud of them all.”.
National Champions - Gold medal winners
Robert – kata
Freddie – kumite
Fernando – kata & kumite
Bogdan – kumite
Fred - kumite
Kennedy - kumite
Fernando, Taisa & Jamie – team kumite
Kennedy, Ollie & Fred – team kumite
Silver medal winners
Elizabeth – kata
Taisa – kumite
Hana - kumite
Umito - kumite
Robert, Bernard & Millen – team kumite
Yasuki, Bogdan & Adam – team kumite
Bronze medal winners
Bernard – kumite
Ghassan – kumite
Jamie - kumite
Bogdan – kata
Adam – kumite
Julia – kata
Kamil – kumite
Karim, Luke & Vladimir – team kumite
Tournament Team success at the 6th Elite International Open 2022
Dedication to training paid off for the MK SKA tournament team at the 6th Elite International Open tournament. The event held in Harlow attracted teams from across the country as well as some international competitors.
Keith said “The team came away with 17 medals, but the most pleasing aspect of the day was seeing the improvement our students have made, which is down to the hard work everyone puts in.”.
Julia - Silver Kata
Robert - Silver kata, Bronze kumite
Freddie - Bronze kata
Taisa - Gold kata, Bronze kumite
Anastasia - Silver kata, Bronze kumite
Karim - Bronze kata
Vladimir - Bronze kata
Fernando - Silver kumite
Yasuki - Bronze kumite
Ollie - Silver kumite (Senior -75kg)
Kennedy - Gold kumite (Senior -75kg), Silver kumite (U21 -67kg+67kg), Bronze kumite (U21 open)
Kennedy, Ollie, Kamil - Bronze kumite (senior team)
MK SKA represented at the Commonwealths
MK SKA had two students competing for the JKS England kumite squad at the Commonwealth Club Championships this week.
Hana got through the first three rounds in her individual event (Female 16 - 17), but came up a little short in the fourth round. In the team event, the JKS womens’ team did themselves proud in a tough group, but did not manage to move through to the next round.
Kennedy came away with a Bronze medal in the Under 21’s, before competing for the mens’ senior squad, where he got beaten by the eventual finalist in a hard fought fight. The JKS England senior team came up against the Australian national team - although the JKS gave them a good run for their money, they were unable to get over the line. It was a great experience coming up against some of the top international fighters in the world. As we say, if they didn’t win they learnt!
Another Sandan for MK SKA
Congratulations to Gus on successfully grading to his Sandan (third dan). The years of training and focus that he has put into his karate showed on the day. Gus performed admirably and did himself, the Academy, and the JKS proud.
Medal success for Kennedy at EKF Championships
Congratulations to Kennedy for winning a silver medal as part of the JKS Mens’ Team Kumite team at the recent EKF Championships. This is Kennedy’s first season in the senior male category and the progressive improvement he has made over the last year was clearly apparent. The hard work is starting to pay off - keep it up!
MK SKA smash it!
Students from MK Shotokan Karate Academy dominated proceedings at their first tournament in Harrogate on 22 May 2022. Between them, the 18 students representing MK SKA came away with 15 medals, including six gold!
The JKS Novice event held in Harrogate attracted competitors from all over the country and was the first tournament attended by the MK SKA tournament squad since they were established just two months ago. Keith Lambourne said “The standard of karate at the tournament was extremely high, so each and every medal was hard won. I was extremely proud of the spirit and skill shown by the MK SKA students. I was extremely proud of all of them, regardless of whether they won medals.”.
Anastasia State - Silver Kata, Bronze Kumite
Bogdan Balan - Bronze Kumite
Fernando Lapa - Bronze Kata
Fred Wong - Gold Kumite
Julia Horan - Silver Kata
Kamil Chlopecki - Silver Kumite
Karim Horan - Gold Kata, Gold Kumite
Robert Mitrache - Silver Kumite
Tasia Mitrache - Gold Kata, Bronze Kumite
Thomasz Chlopecka - Gold Kumite
Vladimir Caraivan - Bronze Kata
Yasuki Tanaka - Gold Kata
Keep on grading!
Congratulations to the ten MK SKA students who successfully graded at the beginning of April. After much hard work and focussed training, Keith Sensei was pleased to award the following kyu grades: 9th kyu for Lucas and Solomon; 8th kyu for Naresh, George, Bernard, Jamie and Elizabeth; 6th kyu for Samuel; and 2nd kyu for Karim. Well done everyone!
The next grading at the Academy is scheduled for Saturday 28 May 2022.
Kyu grades get the year off to a good start
Congratulations to all of the MK SKA students who successfully graded under the watchful eye of Keith Sensei. From novice to purple belt with a white stripe, all grades demonstrated good spirit, technical ability and tremendous effort.
Grading January 2022
MK SKA’s first kyu grading of 2022 will be held on Saturday 22 January.
12.00 - 13.30 Training for all grades, focusing on Kyu grades
13.45 Kyu Grading
Things to bring with you on the day: a drink of water; a clean gi; and a good attitude!
The kids karate class runs as normal from 10.30 - 11.30, so the children grading can still train at that class if they want to.
First annual tournament sets the standard
MK SKA’s first annual tournament was a great success. With a good number of entries over the five different age categories, students battled it out for medals in both kata and kumite. The day was great fun for both students and spectators and rounded up with some awards being given as follows:
Senior student of the Year - Martin
Junior student of the Year - Bogdan
Most improved student - Bartosz
Congratulations to everyone who participated, and thanks to all the parents for spending the day with us, Billy and his wife for the fantastic cake, and Paul and Gus for help with scoring and judging.
See you next year!
End of year tournament and prize giving
We will be holding our first academy championships on Saturday 4th December. The format of the day will be:
10.30 - 11.30 Training for all
12.00 - 13.30 Tournament
13.45 Awards ceremony
Categories for the competition will be:
Ages 5 - 6 Kata and Kumite
Ages 7 - 8 Kata and Kumite
Ages 9 - 10 Kata and Kumite
Ages 11 - 14 Kata and Kumite
Adults (16 +) Kata only
Closing date for entries is 26 November 2021.
Successful Dan grading for Julia and Rob
After years of hard work and perseverance, both Julia and Rob passed their Shodan grading with Alan Campbell Sensei at the end October. They should both hold their heads up high, having done themselves, and MK Shotokan Karate Academy, proud. The level of dedication, determination and discipline required to be awarded a black belt by the JKS should not be underestimated. Through the JKS your Dan gradings are recognised worldwide by the Shotokan karate family. Congratulations to you both!
MK SKA instructors grade successfully
On Sunday 10 October both Keith and Kennedy successfully graded to their 3rd Dan. The grading examiners were Alan Campbell Sensei, Head of JKS England and Matt Price Sensei, JKS England Head Coach.
With both MK SKA instructors achieving their 1st and 2nd Dan grades with the KUGB, there was a lot to learn to reach the standard required by the JKS. On being told that they had been successful, it was clear that all of the hard work was more than worth it. As Keith said “The dream only works if you do!”.
Congratulations to you both!
Grading October 2021
Congratulations to Millen, Alex, Zac, Karim, Bartosz, Ghassan, Anastasia, Vladimir, Fernando, Iris, Patrycza, Tomasz, Bogdan, Billy, Kamil and Emma who all graded under the watchful eye of Matt Price Sensei, the JKS England national squad coach. From novice to brown belt, all grades demonstrated good spirit, technical ability and tremendous effort.
Before the grading, the Kyu grades enjoyed a training session with Matt Sensei. Once the Kyu grading was completed the senior grades had their turn to learn invaluable techniques to improve their Shotokan Karate.
Training and Kyu grading with
Matt Price Sensei
MK SKA’s next kyu grading will be held on Saturday 2nd October 2021. Matt Price Sensei 6th Dan, who is the national squad coach for JKS England, will be teaching the whole club and grading those students who are ready.
13.00 - 14.00 Training for all grades, focusing on Kyu grades
14.15 - 15.00 Kyu Grading
15.15 - 16.30 Black and brown belt training, focusing on Sandan and Nidan syllabus (start/end times of this session may vary slightly depending on earlier sessions)
Members of other JKS affiliated clubs are welcome to attend, but please contact Keith in advance to confirm availability and costs.
We look forward to welcoming Matt Price to MK SKA.
Grading July 2021
Congratulations to Graham and Bogdan who both double graded over Zoom under the watchful eye of Ben Richardson Sensei of Can-Do Martial Arts. You both did yourselves and the Academy proud.
Grading June 2021
Congratulations to Ghassan, Tomasz, Patrycja, Samuel, Isaac and Jon who all graded under the watchful eye of Alan Campbell Sensei, the head of JKS England. You all did yourselves and the Academy proud.
Before the grading, the Kyu grades enjoyed a training session with Alan Sensei. Once the Kyu grading was completed the senior grades had their turn to learn invaluable technical aspects to improve their Shotokan Karate.
JKS training from Honbu, Japan
The JKS usually hosts intensive training courses for members at their Honbu dojo in Japan twice a year. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, these courses have been held online for the past year. Nonetheless they have proved to be well attended and inspiring, as always.
New dedicated karate dojo opens
MK Shotokan Karate Academy (MK SKA), a well established karate school, has moved to the first dedicated karate dojo in the area.
Keith Lambourne established MK SKA back in 2015. For the last 6 years, the Academy’s training sessions have been held in local school halls in Bletchley and Tattenhoe. Now MK SKA has moved to their own building.
Located at Galley Lane Farm on the south side of Milton Keynes, the new dojo is easily accessible from all directions, being just 1 mile off the A5. The dojo has a fully matted floor as well as all the training aids a karate-ka will need to get the most out of their training, whether they are a beginner or a black belt.
Keith said “We are really looking forward to welcoming our existing and new students into our dojo after lockdown, and now we have our own venue we are able to offer more classes to suit the needs of all our students – from beginners to winners.”
He continued “For example the Academy has always been popular with families, but having our own dedicated venue has enabled us to start a class for 5 – 10 year olds every Saturday morning, and a senior grades class on a Thursday night. This is just for starters. We now have the flexibility to run classes to suit most people, from beginners to senior grades as well as training for those who want to enter competitions.”
MK SKA is affiliated to the JKS England and in turn, associated to the EKF and WKF so there are loads of opportunities to train with some of the best karate-ka in this country and from Japan where the JKS headquarters are located.
Keith concluded “We are all excited to get back to training in our new dojo, if you are interested in training with us, please contact me via the website or send me an email.”
Zoom Zoom Zoom for 1st Crown Hill Cub Scouts
It was a privilege to be invited to introduce the 1st Crown Hill cub scouts to Shotokan Karate on 10 March 2021. A big thanks to Graham and Emily for arranging such an enjoyable session. We are always happy to help spread the word about karate so if you run a similar club and are interested in a taster session please get in touch.
Training and Kyu grading with
Alan Campbell Sensei
Fourth time lucky!
MK SKA will be holding our first grading with the JKS in our own dojo on Saturday 12th June 2021. Alan Campbell Sensei 7th Dan Head of JKS England will be teaching the whole club and grading those students that are ready.
13.00 - 14.00 Training for all grades, focussing on Kyu grades
14.10 - 15.00 Kyu Grading
15.15 - 16.30 Black and brown belt training, focussing on Shodan and Nidan syllabus and katas
Members of other JKS affiliated clubs are welcome to attend, but please contact Keith in advance to confirm availability and costs.
We look forward to welcoming Alan Sensei to MK SKA.
Students grade via Zoom
Congratulations to Jon, Isaac and Samuel who are MK SKA’s first students to grade under the JKS. Having been forced to postpone their grading on a number of occasions due to Covid-19, the father and his two sons successfully graded over Zoom under the watchful eye of Ben Richardson of Can-Do Martial Arts in December 2020.
MK Shotokan joins JKS England!
MK Shotokan Karate Academy (MK SKA), based in Milton Keynes, has joined the JKS!
Sensei Keith Lambourne started his karate journey in South Africa with the JKA, where he gained provincial colours for kumite. Unfortunately, due to family reasons his journey in Karate there was cut short at that time.
When his oldest son, Kennedy, took up karate Keith joined him and started competing again. After a few years Sensei Bob Rhodes (then with the KUGB) opened a club locally and this is where the foundations of MK SKA began. When Sensei Rhodes moved away from the area, Keith continued his journey by establishing his own club in 2016 with the KUGB.
As Kennedy progressed, he went to Ben Richardson Sensei for extra training, before joining the JKS himself. Following JKS squad trials, he was accepted into the England team and his karate went from strength to strength, culminating in him winning the Kumite event for his category at the 2019 JKS International Cup in Dublin, Ireland.
Having gained an understanding of the philosophy of the JKS, and seen it successfully applied in Kennedy’s development. Keith believes that he and the students at his club will benefit from joining the JKS.