There is no stipulated time frame between gradings as many of our members have trained before, some members seem to fast track through the first 3 or 4 gradings.  Our offline Dojo has examinations every three months, but really its all down to the individual, as people progress at different speeds. 

Enso Karate Dojo is our training platform built around kata, flow, and long-term health and well-being, themed for karateka training later in life, though members of any age are welcome to train there too. It's included with your Shotokan Karate Online membership and accessed at ensokaratedojo.com. It works directly in your browser, and you can also install it to your phone or desktop for quick, app-like access, no app store search needed. It's also where your membership's community area lives, so you'll find discussion, updates, and connection with other members there.

The monthly fee for the Digital Dojo and Master Pass members will always stay as it was when you first become a member, but this may increase in the future for new members joining, but existing Dojo members fees will never go up.

For Digital Dojo members, rank testing tokens can be purchased as and when you are ready to test. They are $39. There is no grading/testing fee from 10th Kyu to 1st Kyu for our Master Pass members. For Karateka taking a Black belt test, there will be an extra fee as it is very time consuming.

We do ask our members to get their own karate uniform (gi) and belts, we are also looking at the cost of printed certificates. 

We have four live zoom classes each week at the moment. They are all included in the Master Pass membership.

The times below show UK time ~

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Class Times Below Are In UK Time Zone

Tuesday ~ 1700 hrs - 1800 hrs All ages and rank welcome. This class focuses on karate for people over 45. Lots of Kata, shotokan and non shotokan.

Wednesday ~ 1700 hrs - 1800 hrs All ages and rank welcome. This class focuses on karate for people over 45. Lots of Kata, shotokan and non shotokan.

Thursday ~ 1700 hrs - 1800 hrs All ages and rank welcome. This class focuses on Shotokan karate. 

Saturday or Sunday~ 1700 hrs - 1800 hrs (added to the facebook page on the Friday if not told the week before). All ages and rank welcome. This class focuses on Shotokan karate. 

Yes, Enso Karate Dojo works directly in your browser at ensokaratedojo.com, and you can install it to your phone or desktop for quick, app-like access. There's no separate app store to search, everything happens right from that one link.

Belt testing is done entirely from home, you film yourself performing the required techniques for your current grade/rank and submit the video for assessment by Sensei Huckle or Sensei Amos. There's no set time you have to wait between gradings; some members move through the first few kyu grades quite quickly, while others prefer to take their time and build a solid foundation first.

Testing is included in the Master Pass Dojo membership up to 1st Kyu, with no separate grading fee. Black belt testing carries its own fee, reflecting the extra depth and time involved in that assessment. Digital Dojo Pass members can purchase a belt testing token as and when they feel ready.

Each rank is represented by its own belt colour and animal symbol, from the Stag Beetle at 10th Kyu through to the Dragon at 7th Dan, which you'll see across both Shotokan Karate Online and Enso Karate Dojo, giving you a clear, consistent way to track your progress as you move through the syllabus.

All successful karateka recieve a beautiful downloadable certificate and our members can also order a printed certificate, which will be mailed direct. The printed certificates are purely optional.

We would prefer our karateka to wear Gi for testing, but this is optional and up to each member.

The EIKA patch can be ordered from inside the Dojo.

All fitness levels are suitable because you train at home and only do what you feel you can handle, you are in total control, the fitter you get, the more you can put into your karate practice.

You do not need much space at all, even with the kata, we have a technique where you can practice the whole kata in a five foot square space

We have members that have injuries and they work around those injuries, we have some members that do not kick and thats fine, they focus more on upper body work.

We do like our members to video their exams in a karate uniform (gi), but this is not compulsory. We have a Dojo patch (see question 10) Other equipment is purely optional, as in a punch bag, makiwara (striking board), recommended books, etc.

This is a very good question and one of the hardest things about training at home. One of the most important concepts of karate is Ikken Hissatsu or to finish with one blow. We try and instill this concept in our members by explaining that when blocking and attacking techniques are practiced at speed, they should be executed as if your life depends on it, when you hit the makiwara a full speed, you should not just try to hit it, but break it,destroy it! (obviously after you have executed hundreds of techniques lightly.

We are planning training camps so karateka who are unable to practice partner work and Karateka who want to test for the kumite sections can do so. These EIKA training camps will be enjoyable and fun.

It can accomplished quite quickly, but is entirely down to the individual and also the results can sometimes be very confusing and not make sense at all, let me explain.....If someone is practicing once per week and someone else is practicing three times per week, you would expect the person practicing three times per week to way more advanced after six months, but it depends completely on the attitude of the karateka whilst training, if someone is totally focused and applying the concept of Ikken Hissatsu with all their fast moves and train once per week, they will be way stronger and progress much faster than someone training three times per week, but simply going through the movements with no intent, so it's all down to the attitude of the karateka.

We use the Shodan-Ho system for our black belt testing. This means that successful karateka can test fully online to black belt, but it doesn't include partner work. Shodan-Ho is still black belt and some people just stay at that, others want to demonstrate kumite also.   

Here at EIKA we do not believe fighting is the be all and end all of karate, but kumite is an essential part of karatedo, because of this we have the option for successful black belt karateka to demonstrate their kumite to the examiners on one of our annual training camps to ratify their rank, if they wish. It's all down to the individual really, most are happy with their black belt and a few like to show us their partner work.

Yes, in fact, it's one of the things we've built this membership around. Traditional Shotokan karate rewards precision and control over speed and force, which makes it naturally well-suited to older bodies, and our Enso Karate Dojo training space focuses specifically on kata, flow, and long-term health and well-being for karateka training later in life (though members of any age are welcome there too).

A well-run senior-friendly session isn't just a slower version of a regular class,  it's built differently: warm-ups run longer, stances can be held higher to protect knees and hips, kicks are modified or lowered, and pacing includes proper rest and breathing breaks. This kind of training is associated with real benefits for older adults, including improved balance and fall prevention, better cognitive function through kata practice, and general markers of healthy ageing.

You don't need to be fit to start, and you don't need any prior martial arts experience, the curriculum adapts to you, not the other way around. If you'd like a taste of this before joining, check out our free video reward course, built specifically for people starting or returning to training later in life.