ABILITYTēnā koutou
Welcome to the Winter issue of the New Zealand Disability Karate Association newsletter.
I hope you are all safe and being kind to each other.
We are now at a lockdown level in Wellington that allows us to train together again, which is fantastic!
Some of our karate family have returned home to America. Where there are still restrictions in place.
Even though there are 14,692km between us we can still train together. Once a month we will set up a video zoom session you can join.
When would be a good time given that there is a 16-hour time difference? It turns out that Sunday morning between 10am and 1pm seems to be the best time slot. Which is Saturday evening in Boston between 6pm and 9pm.
Email sensei at sensei@karatedojo.nz or call/text him on 027 240 2717 to let him know what time would work for you.
Who has graded?
There has only been one grading since our last newsletter due to the lockdown. This has not stopped 5 students achieving the rank of yellow belt (9th kyu).
Since we have returned to the dojo we have had two people join our karate family.
I have discovered a new Japanese word, "deshi", which translates as "family member". I like that, because you are more than someone who turns up to training.
In our club there are now
- 7 white belts (10th kyu)
- 13 yellow belts (9th kyu)
- 4 orange belts (8th kyu)
Let's hope we have our first green belt (7th kyu) before the Spring Newsletter. We would have had some green belts by now if it had not been for lockdown.
Little Blue's Contact Tracing Tips
Please remember to register your details on the website. This includes parents and caregivers. You can use the same email as other people in your bubble.
By doing this we can help keep everyone we know safe. In the event that someone gets sick we can let everyone know if they need to self-isolate. Of course we would never share your details with anyone only that someone at the club is unwell.
Always cough or sneeze into your elbow or tissue, never your hand - Yuk!
Remember to wash your hands for 20 seconds. Sing "Happy Birthday" twice.
What is coming up?
Our plans for the next quarter
- We are so close to seeing our first 7th kyu student, which is green belt, before spring.
- We are working on our 2020 annual report for Charities Services.
- We are still working on our new information pack for schools and local businesses.
- Now we are out of lockdown we can focus on marketing and fund raising. We will be targeting businesses around Wellington.
- We will be doing a leaflet drop around the area now that we are out of lockdown.
- Now that we have a Braille printer we will be producing a copy of this newsletter in Braille.
- We are working on an Apple Watch app that will tell you how fast your strikes are.
- Remember you can invite your friends along to class.
Look out for the Spring issue and feel free to share this newsletter with your friends.
Membership is free and open to anyone who wishes to take part in the martial arts training offered by the club. All the details are on our website.
BE KIND