Welcome to our friendly NUS Karate Sub-Club (NKSC). We certainly hope you came to join our happy group of karatekas and stay here because of the art and the people.

Our instructor, Sensei Ishikawa, has been in Singapore since 1968. He is the founder and the Chief Instructor of Ken Yu Kai Karate Association.

Although most of you may not have had any experience in any martial arts or in karate particularly, rest assured that we start from the beginning. We regularly practice our basic moves as we use good foundations as a springboard for more advanced and varied techniques taught. So in our classes, you would find that karatekas of all different belt levels train together including the newest student down to the most senior. So no worries there!

It is primarily believed that proper etiquette should be observed in the class. Here are some of the more important rituals and terms used in our regular training sessions.

 

etiquette

Entering the Dojo (grounds of training)

Bow before entering and leaving the Dojo.

The greeting is "Osu".

This is to show respect for the training grounds.

If you happen to be late for the lesson, respectfully enter the dojo, inform sensei, and bow before joining the rest of the class.

 

Starting and ending of class

Meditation

Before and after class proper, we arrange ourselves in rows and kneel.

When "Moku-zo" is uttered, we close our eyes and meditate. This is the time to put aside the things in our daily lives and to concentrate on training karate.

" Kai-Moku" indicates that we can open our eyes and the ending of the brief meditation period.

Showing respect for Sensei and other karatekas.

Before and after the lesson, we would bow after the meditation session.

1. We bow twice, first to Sensei ""Sensei Ni Rei"
2. And then to the other karatekas "Otaga Ni Rei"

Before the lesson, we say "O-ne-gai-shi-masu" (as we bow) which basically means ‘Please instruct’ in a respectful manner.

After the lesson we say "Arigatogozaimashta" meaning ‘Thank you’

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