Reviews of Bristol Shotokan KUGB

I attended this club for about 8 years (and go back now and again). It is a club where the teaching sets a high standard of excellence in shotokan karate and fosters a culture of discipline and respect. The sensei is great at motivating and inspiring the karateka/students. It is also a sociable club where I made some really special friends, and we always went for a drink afterwards (getting there just in time for last orders!) The elementary class is earlier in the evening while the more advanced session for mainly brown and black belts (3rd to 1st Kyu and 1st to 3rd Dan) is at about 8. 30. It is tiring, a really good workout. There's plenty of kata work as well as basics. Personally I would have benefited from more freestyle sparring, as that was what let me down when I tried for my 1st Dan, but we often did semi-free sparring and pad work which was enjoyable and useful. Highly recommended (and sorely missed now I've moved further away).

I've trained for many years but after moving to a new area discovered Bristol Shotokan KUGB was both close by my new home and operated late, so I could get the kids in bed when they were younger and go off to train. They have got older and I'm still there. Great training, sensible use of pads and a good understanding of Kihon, Kate and Kumite.