Kuro Mizu Karate KaiClasses will restart tonight at Honywood School 1830-2030. In line with current guidance please wear masks whilst in the corridors and toilets. Please ensure that you are familiar with the Covid guidelines posted here. Please stay away if you have any Covid symptoms.
Please complete the following information which applies specifically to Covid-19 risks to your club training in a specific venue
Once completed we recommend that you print these pages to carry to the Club and use to check effectiveness and changes.
Covid-19 Activity Risk Assessment
This document identifies the risks posed by Covid-19 to our club activities and identifies the Control Measures this club is putting in place to protect its Teachers, Members and Attendees from the Covid-19 hazard whilst attending our classes.
• The most common identified risks are listed in black and are only included to assist clubs as a base line starting point
• They may not be a complete set of risks
• The control measures listed in black are also suggested base lines that clubs should follow
• Add additional rows to identify additional risks & control measures unique to your location, people or club session operation that may pose a risk
| Identified Risks (Add more rows as needed) | Control Measures (Add more rows and detail as needed) | Check |
| Members unaware of new Virus controls | Pre-Class Communication of COVID-19 Guidance | |
| Too many people attending the session for adequate social distancing requirements | Booking system or invitation only session system put in place | |
| Members risk infection travelling to/from the Class | Suggest walking, Bike, Private car rather than Public Transport People should only travel in household groups and maintain social distancing with everyone else | |
| Members need Water | Members bring their own labelled Water Bottles | |
| Cash Payments could spread contamination | Use online or contactless payments or ensure cash payments are in sealed envelopes | |
| Members arrive with contaminated hands | All participants to be advised to wash hands at home prior to leaving and cleaned with Sanitiser on entry to Training Room. | |
| Changing Rooms increase infection risk | Members come ready dressed to train | |
| Use of Toilets increases risk of infection | Limit number of users at one time | |
| Venue size affects Social Distancing | Review Class capacity and/or training times | |
| Social Distancing measures | Maintain 2m in all directions when training as per guidance | |
| Members with higher risk and/ or with underlying health conditions | Members at higher risk should self disclose beforehand and work with teachers to see if there is an alternative or whether arrangements can be made | |
| Spectators bring additional risks to Members | Ensure that all spectators are seated separately and in family groups | |
| Spillages on floor | Spillages are to be cleaned | |
| Touching surfaces occurs | Have available Hand Sanitiser and/or schedule cleaning breaks when necessary | |
| Members leaving increases contact risks | Each Member cleans their hands with Sanitiser on leaving and takes all their possessions with them. Members leave immediately | |
| Member Pick Ups are late | Members wait in a quiet area with 2m social distancing if possible or 1m+ minimum | |
| Safeguarding risk for under 18’s if pick up late | Under 18’s to be supervised by Instructors until collected. | |
| Waste disposal | Separate bins provided for potentially infected material. Secure disposal at end of session. | |
| Instructor Test & Trace | Keep a list of Names and Tel Nos. in case of Instructor or Member infection | |
| Add rows as needed for new risks | Add rows as needed for new control measures | |
| Karate Specific Activity Identified Risks (Add more rows as needed) | Control Measures (Add more rows and detail as needed) | Check |
| Karate sessions to be taught in line with Shindo-Ryu Karate-Guidance | Guidance listed seperately | |
Due to the social distancing rules that are now in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our karate classes will need to adapt in order to be able to continue to provide our provision.
This guidance is developing constantly and will be amended based on changes in guidance, feedback or adapted best practice.
This guidance is for teachers and assistant instructors of Shindo-Ryu Karate-Do and takes into account three sets of guidance – guidance for sports and physical activity providers, guidance for schools and guidance for community halls.
In most instances, the guidance is the same – but ultimately, regardless of guidance dictated here, the venue and the operators of the venue may wish to provide their own guidance which will need to be reviewed in line with our guidance below.
Please note: liability for the rental of the venue will almost always fall on ‘the hirer’ than on the venue. You can NOT rely on the venue to put steps in place to keep students safe and secure. The responsibility will always be on the teachers of the classes.
All clubs MUST complete their own risk assessment to run classes during this time. I will provide a templated risk assessment form in due course. (I am currently reviewing several templates from governing bodies to find one that is the easiest for us to complete).
*IF A STUDENT OR A FAMILYMEMBER HAS COVID-19 SYMPTOMS, WE ASK THAT THEY STAY AWAY FROM CLASSES UNTIL THEY ARE WELL*
Operationaly Mandated Processes
It will now be mandatory to book in for classes, or at the very least, keep a detailed register of who attends. This should not be a problem for most of our classes. The key part here is that we are obligated to keep data for individuals who attend for track and trace purposes.
Although it is rarer these days, it is best practice not to allow people to enter the class if they have not registered. This includes new prospects as well as family members who have not registered. As a result, anyone entering the venue as a result of your class will need to be recorded as visiting. This is easiest to complete with a weekly register, but will also now need to include spectators for track and trace purposes.
Payment methods do NOT need to change due to COVID-19. Cash will still be able to be taken. Guidance suggests that the risk of handling cash is extremely low. Many larger businesses are restricting cash payments due to the onward chain of banking etc. However, it will be best practice to ensure you have a method of taking payments that is not cash, for those who may not be comfortable doing this. If you need assistance setting this up, we can point you in the right direction.
In the event that a class, or another activity is taking part in the venue before you arrive, you must wait outside as practically as possible. It is the teachers responsibility to ensure that social distancing commences at all times near the venue.
Prior to entry at the class, it is important that ALL attendees use hand sanitiser at the point of entry. Social distancing will need to take place in areas where they may be queueing. My experience with all of our venues is that students walk in anyways and do not tend to congregate. This will need to be enforced.
Changing facilities CAN still be used, but again, social distancing needs to apply. It is heavily suggested that people change before arriving at class. This is of course one area where teachers cannot enforce the social distancing rules, but it is best practice to advise against using the areas where possible.
ALL attendees arriving will need to follow social distancing. This includes parents and guardians. Congregated seating areas are currently restricted in general guidance to only include two households, so large group seating will be heavily restricted. It will be best practice to have family groups sitting apart from each other.
Once the class ends, all attendees will be asked to leave immediately. There should be no congregating or hanging around in enclosed spaces. All current guidance shows that outside gatherings carry considerably lower risk.
Syllabus and Training Guidance
Based on guidance, no physical contact will be permitted between students. Whilst any of our classes have various family members training in them, it would be disadvantageous to some if partnered work were permitted between some and not all.
Teaching
Some of our previous teaching methods including ‘walking around and kicking legs’ This would not really be practical now due to the social distancing processes. It is now best practice to have an area for the teacher at the front of the dojo, followed up by assistants in designated areas.
Social Distancing
Social distancing is considered best practice within a class. Venues will likely have limits on the amount of people who can attend, but it will also be prudent as teachers to ensure that the class attendance is limited for safety purposes. Typically, classes are ran with students quite close to each other and dependent on the venue, it will be the responsibility of the teacher to ensure appropriate spacing.
Distancing will be applied for ALL activities within the class environment.
Basics- Kihon Waza
Social distancing and the venue size will determine whether kihon waza can be conducted as standard. In many instances, particular with juniors, the students will ‘zig zag’ or move across the dojo floor and wont stay in their ‘designated space’. It may be prudent to practice basics on the same spot, with punches and kicks taking place within a designated space. Stances and transitions can still be practised but these will be practised separately.
Blocks – Uke Waza, Yakusoku Keiko, Kihon Kumite
As a result of the physical contact ban, all forms of partnered Use Waza, Yakusoku Keiko and Kihon Kumite will be restricted. However, being mindful of an eventual return to normality, these techniques will still be taught in classes and practised individually. This will follow the pattern as if student did not have a partner. This means that the Uke Waza, Yakusoku Keiko and Kihon Kumite can still be demonstrated and scored in a grading environment and will not be lost due to the COVID-19 situation.
Kata
Kata can still be practised, but existing social distancing guidance will apply. Depending on the amount of assistants available it may be prudent to split groups and take them through kata that are suitable for their grade.
Kiai
Evidence suggests that COVID-19 transmits via droplets in the air. In accordance with government guidance which prevents singing and shouting in an enclosed area, the use of Kiai will be banned as classes return in the current environment.
When I began learning karate, I would have told you I know very little about karate. When I achieved Shodan (first black belt), I would have told you I know a lot about karate. Now as a Godan (fifth level black belt) I will once again tell you I know very little. Hopefully the article will explain why.
On February 12th 2002 U.S Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld said:
“as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
Whilst Rumsfeld was talking about political matters, I feel that this statement is very important to karateka, thusly I write this brief piece to explain why I think this statement is so important, and how it can be used to improve yourself as a karateka.
Learning is the key here as if no learning takes place that in turn mean no development takes place, no progress made and no self-improvement. I believe the very essence of karate do is self-improvement and if self-improvement can’t happen without learning, then every karateka should always strive to learn.
To expand on what Rumsfeld said your ‘known knowns’ are the sum of your knowledge, it comprises everything that you have learnt.
Your ‘known unknowns’ comprise of all of the information that with your current level of knowledge, you have been able to determine exists but have yet to learn the information. There are a couple of reasons as to why any given information might be in this category. The first is that you know the relevant knowledge to uncover the answer but have yet to do so. The second being that you don’t have the relevant knowledge to uncover the answer.
Your ‘unknown unknowns’ comprise of all of the information, that with your current level of knowledge, you are unable to or have yet to determine exists
So now, we combine the statement and learning together and talk about how this combination can help you improve as a karateka.
While it is possible for an external source to move a piece of information from the unknown unknowns category to the ‘known knowns’ category, the primary method of learning is moving ‘known unknowns’ into the ‘known knowns’ category.
What however is often missed, is that as the ‘known knowns’ category expands, an amount of information in the ‘unknown unknowns’ category can be moved into the ‘known unknowns’ category.
So, putting this into a karate context, I see often that as people improve their knowledge, they abandon the earlier material and never going back to it. For example, the keikogata series – how often do you re-examine those 3 kata? When was the last time you went through tanshiki kata nidan and asked ‘am I right about my understanding or have I missed something?’
The conclusion that I draw from all of this is that the more you learn, and the vaster the knowledge you possess, the more important it is to relook at everything to apply your new knowledge to old material. You should never think that you know all there is to know about something as there will always be some perspective you haven’t seen. To those at the beginning of your karate journey remember as you progress to look back once and awhile you might see something you missed. To those further through your journey, think back to where you came from and how much you know now compared to then, and try to imagine how much you still don’t know.
Copy of the text sent out on 23 March 2020
I am sorry to say that I have taken the decision to close the Friday class for the time being with immediate effect. I will be reopening it when it is safe to do so. Exercise is important so do feel free to practise your kata. if you have any questions or want to send videos of you doing kata for comment please feel free to do so. Hopefully we will be out of this Covid-19 situation shortly and we can resume normal life. Stay safe everyone, I will send out an update in a few weeks time or sooner if I know anything.
Dear Students/Parents,
Many of you have reached out to your class teachers to ask about the impact of the Corona Virus on our regular classes in Basildon, Dagenham and Braintree.
Whilst we do not want to overreact, we also want to be in a prepared position in case any guidance changes.
At present, Government guidance is to carry on as usual, whilst ensuring that we take extra care to a higher level of cleanliness than possible. It of course remains the responsibility of students and parents to ensure that you withdraw from classes in the event that you become ill and to advise your teacher accordingly.
That being said, we are also in constant discussions with our lettings partners across Essex. They will have their own guidance to adhere to and provide onwards to us and in the event of any meaningful updates, we will advise accordingly.
We now have a website! This is the news section of that website please check back to this page regularly to see any news regarding to the club.