​The 12th of September was an exceptional occasion for us this year. Our club had the honour of a visit from 2 great karate-ka from Nagasaki.  Sensei Fumio Shiki and Sensei Hatsumi Kataoka, chairman and Chief referee of the Nagasaki Karate Association.   It was the first time the gentlemen had visited Aberdeen and Scotland. It was a great honour for us to have them visit our Karate club, travelling from Japan.

​The previous evening a special Samurai Dinner was held at the Trinity Hall where Lord Charles Bruce and Ronnie Watt presented the Japanese instructors with Samurai Awards.  The Consul General of Japan in Edinburgh Mr Takaoka also travelled up to join them at the dinner.  Mr Takaoka is a great supporter of our Karate. 

​Sunday, September 1st, 2019.  After a lovely summer, the club took off with the first pre-grading course and Dan Grading in preparation for the many events planned before the end of the year.     The session focused on multiple Kumite techniques using the legs. With tips on how to score quickly by enticing your opponent to move, so you can score a quick point using fast punching and kicking combinations.   Of course, this is important, so you don't waste energy fighting for a full match chasing an opponent.  The summer holidays meant some of us had missed some of the regular karate training sessions, because of holidays or other family commitments.  So the emphasis on exercising and stretching the legs muscles was significant.   You will likely be feeling your muscles and hips remind you not to miss any more training sessions.  Karate is very beneficial for your body and training regularly is essential to your development, suppleness and well-being.    A few weeks away without discipline, and you will start to feel these benefits slipping away.  If you do go away, remember to keep training.  Every little helps.  

​Congratulations to the students who passed their black belt Shodan gradings today.  Your hard work and improvement is an inspiration to the whole club and gives us all confidence that there is a future for real karate in Aberdeen.  Wear your belts with pride; you deserve them. Keep training and aiming higher.  You have the foundations to become great masters one day.  "Your body is a temple" Don't leave the foundations bare, build on them. One day you will look back and see how high you have built the walls of your temple and feel the true spirit that resides inside.  This is Karate.

​We have a visit from some special guest Japanese Karate masters who will be training our students along with Ronnie Watt (9th dan) on September 12th and a grading on October 6th.  

Our national championships are on November 3rd. 
 There will be a self-defence course held on November 17th. 
December 1st - will be a pre-grading course.
December 21st and 22nd we have karateka from Norway and Germany joining us for a special course and grading with  Ronnie Watt (9th Dan) and special  guest instructor Paul Kee (7th Dan) from Sweden. 

The bonds of friendship between Aberdeen and Japan have long been in the making.  With connections like Thomas Blake Glover ( the Scottish Samurai) being celebrated in Japan only now being recognised in Scotland after a century of history has passed.   Ronnie Watt OBE, ORS has been one of the most robust links with our city and the Japanese since the days of Glover. A link verified by the Japanese when they gave him the Order of the Rising Sun, an award previously bestowed on Glover, making Ronnie the 2nd Scottish Samurai.  
Ronnie is a 9th Dan Karate master who has taught Karate in Aberdeen and around Scotland and abroad for over 50 years.  Ronnie also founded and organised the prestigious "Scottish Samurai Awards" that has been recognising people of all walks of life for more than two decades. The self-funding awards are supported by his Karate, donations and the hard work of the awards committee. 
This weekend 15 Japanese school-children visited Aberdeen. They came from Nagasaki.  Ronnie organised home-stays for them in Aberdeen with many of his friends and karate-ka.  These children experienced a fantastic jam-packed weekend of Scottish culture and history.  The weekend began with the Lord Provost welcoming the children and their families with a Civic Reception in the Aberdeen Town House.   They visited the town centre, Dunottar Castle, Stonehaven, Drum Castle and Crathes.  On Saturday they spent the day at the Lonach Gathering. 
To experience a Lonach Gathering is something extraordinary. Especially if you are from Japan.
The children and families were accompanied by Ronnie and the Consul General of Japan and Lord Charles Bruce. They were welcomed into the arena by the master of ceremonies Robert Lovie and introduced to the Lonach audience with the pipes resounding in the background.   On Sunday night the tour ended with a private party hosted by Pauline Dreelan.   The party began with Ronnie's Aberdeen children giving a demonstration of Karate.    The Japanese then joined in a bit of ceilidh dancing with Charlie Abel from Iron Broo Ceilidh Band providing the music on his accordion.  The children loved the Scottish music and dancing and took to it like a duck to water.

​One parent of the families commented on how much she enjoyed the company of the Japanese children during the stay.   "They were so polite, and I will miss them.  I was in tears when they left.  It was very emotional.   One of them was so fascinated by everything here, and they even took photos of what was in my fridge!"
It is not our differences that define us.  It's our humanity that unites us.
On Monday morning the groups met up for a tearful goodbye at Aberdeen Airport.  
This is the second such visit that Ronnie has organised for the Japanese in Aberdeen.  The visits have become a pilgrimage recreating the historic trips of the Japanese students organised by Glover. The students who visited Scotland over a century ago on Glover's behalf, went on to modernise Japan and transformed it into one of the worlds most important economies.   Glover and his students are celebrated and credited in Japan as the fathers of the new age of industry. 

Who knows what might come of these modern-day trips, a century later. 

Another good year.

Welcome to our new website which has been on the cards for a while. It's 2019, and things are changing. This website is no different.  We have also moved to a new, easy to remember web address at Karate.scot.

This year our club has continued to build on its successes and made yet another impressive haul of medals at the end of April at the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.

After lots of hard training under the careful supervision of chief Instructor (Ronnie Watt 9th) and squad coaches (Jock Calder 6th Dan & Reeve Watt 5th Dan ) the NKI Scotland team took home 18 medals 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 8 Bronze

Not easy for a small self-funding club but a proud moment for Scottish Karate and Aberdeen.

The Championships began with a special training session specifically for the referees and judges on the specific techniques and criteria to be considered and assessed during the championships. 
Chris Davidson 4th Dan Manager of the Squad of 11 members also refereed at the championships. Chris is one of the senior executive club members and trains four times a week, and he is also a fully qualified referee. No easy feat!
It’s been a great year so for the squad having won so many medals at Belfast.

Preparations are now underway for the next festival the club are hosting in Aberdeen in September with a visit of four guests from Nagasaki and the Nationals in November.
NKF came joint 3rd in the number of medals won out of 14 squads.