Zenshin Karate-Do is established in the West Midlands area of the United Kingdom, covering the Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall & Coventry areas. Classes run in over 25 locations, & cater for all ages from 5 years & upwards. Classes are available for beginners & advanced students, & we welcome students from other styles of martial arts.
The Chief Instructor of the club is Sensei David Winter, who began teaching classes in the Midlands in 1998. We have over 700 students training within our club each week.
Zenshin aims to give students the opportunity to improve their self defence skills, fitness, agility & flexibility, while also developing character attributes such as self esteem, confidence, respect for others, self discipline & concentration.

New students are welcome to come down for a trial lesson.

Call 079405 79403 (Dave) or email us at zenshin_karate1@hotmail.com or senseidave@zenshin.co.uk for more information.

• 5 minutes warm-up
• 10-15 minutes basics (kihon) : punches, blocks, kicks in line drills
• 10-15 minutes ippon/sanbon/gohon kumite : partner practice applying basic movements
• 3-5 minute break
• 10-15 minutes kata : prearranged individually patterns, excellent for the memory & concentration in kids
• 10 minutes jiyu kumite : supervised free sparring, performed as the children progress higher into their grades

Often we will conclude the class with a game for the kids, ranging from specific karate games to running around & tiring them out. If they are enjoying their karate they will stay involved long enough to get the real benefits from training!
Another important aspect of our instruction is giving children tools to cope with bullying, & how to deal with strangers. This involves learning avoidance & escape tactics, & physical & verbal responses to the most common types of attack. We always stress the importance to children of never using their karate skills in an incorrect way, such as bullying.

General Syllabus for Adults
At Zenshin we study a traditional karate system as our foundation, & incorporate this with modern training methods & principles. This includes working with boxing focus mitts, kick pads & bags, mat work (for grappling & wrestling) & other supplementary training. There is a big difference in self defence today to what it was 100 years ago, & as many students start karate for the purpose of self defence it is important to be aware of modern methods & study them in our regular training.
The traditional system involves firstly learning basic movements in a line drill fashion, then the application of those movements on a live opponent, traditional kata (patterns), bunkai (application of kata on a live opponent), & eventually unrehearsed free sparring with an opponent. This is initially non-contact, however as the student advances they have the option of semi contact sparring also. Safety equipment is necessary for this type of training & is available at the club.
Other than the obvious self defence benefits, adults can greatly benefit from training with increased confidence, agility & fitness, flexibility, stress relief & an overall sense of well being & ‘centeredness’.