About our syllabus

There are several key features of our syllabus:

Modern and traditional kata

The study of traditional kata is a big cornerstone of karate, that has a rich and interesting history. Hidden in its abstract movements are many secrets and subtleties that may otherwise be overlooked if it wasn’t for the study into this art form.  However, the biggest benefits of learning kata is that it teaches principles of movement and self-mastery.

That being said it is essentially an abstract art form, the practical application of many of the techniques is either performed wildly differently in kata to how it is practiced in self-defence, or the techniques in the kata have been superseded by other more realistic or reliable techniques that you would choose to use in a real-life self-defence situation.

The abstract nature of traditional kata means that the value of it is often lost on lower grade students and worse most clubs will spend countless hours teaching it to lower grades (especially children) in spite of it having exceptionally little practical value for them, while other practical skills are being neglected. This causes great frustration in both the student and teacher.

So why do they teach lower grades and children kata? The hope is that practicing kata early will set a foundation and appreciation for kata study in advanced levels.

Rather than teaching abstract traditional kata we introduce students to kata by teaching them modern forms that are based on practical skills that they are learning for the self-defence portion of their grading. So the techniques they learn in the modern forms are the formalisation of practical techniques they are learning in self-defence, so the study of both of them support each other. More importantly, this teaches students that kata is not abstract but rather a different way of practicing practical skills. This is what kata was originally designed to do in the first place. So these modern forms these modern forms are closer to the intent of kata training than their more abstract traditional cousins.

We still teach traditional kata but we only introduce it at intermediate grades once students have developed the understanding to appreciate it. Of course student’s will have already learned several modern forms at this point so they will be familiar with the concept of kata, and more importantly, because they learnt practical and modern forms first they are more interested in the application of the traditional kata, rather superficially being focused on the performance of the pattern.

The first of these modern forms or modern kata, is very simple with only 10 moves that also includes a lot of repetition. There are no difficult turns to remember so it is easy to learn.

Three levels of sparring

Sparring in martial arts is limited by two major factors – safety and sporting rules. Having rules for safety makes perfect sense, most martial artists need to go to work or school the next day without having to carry injuries and be black and blue. However the more rules there are for sporting reasons the more stylised and frequently impractical a martial art becomes. If you are purely treating your martial art as a sport this is perfectly fine, but when the sporting rules make the way you spar so stylised that it becomes unrealistic for self-defence then you are probably conditioning yourself to have bad habits that will fail you if you ever need to rely on your art to defend yourself.

While Gakusei Karate does run tournaments our sparring rules are not designed for competition they are, first and foremost, designed to maintain a safe sparring environment while developing realistic skills.  We have 3 levels of sparring that gradually increases the levels of confidence of participants while simultaneously building on competency in increasing broader ranges of skills, while also gradually increasing realism.

These levels are:

Non-contact points – Essentially this is an introductory level of sparring for developing control and familiarity with basic attack and defence.

Continuous – A significant step up from points sparring, continuous broadens the range of legal techniques significantly. But most importantly the continuous action prepares students for the reality of self-defence and fighting.

Free fighting – Free Fighting is the final level which is designed to simulate self-defence. This is only performed by experienced, advanced students.

Elective Black Belt syllabus.

For our style achieving your black belt does not signify that you are now a master, far from it, it signifies that your apprenticeship is over and that you have learned all the most fundamental skills and now you can really get into advanced training.

One of the exciting things about our style is that the form this advanced training takes is up to the student. Rather than continuing to only assess a student’s journey through a generic grading, black belts also complete elective modules which they can choose from a variety of subjects that will push them to learn and grow.  These modules take various forms: some are physical challenges, other test understanding and other again challenge students to take on new skill sets.

This elective syllabus allows students to specialise and tailor their karate journey so the students who love sparring can focus mainly on this area, while those who are interested in traditional training and kata can indulge their passion in the art form.

This creates a rich, and most importantly meaningful and purposeful post black belt experience.