About Shotokan Karate JKA Academy

Learn the ultimate shotokan karate of the JKA original masters, with our qualified & experienced Black Belt instructor team supervised by sensei Sam Aktar 6th Dan who has over 45 years of knowledge & experience in martial arts acquired in China & Japan from the worlds' best masters.

BRIEF RESUME OF AKTAR SENSEI 6th DAN:

Sensei Aktar 6th Dan is our Chief Club coach. His martial arts journey began in the early 70's when he was a young boy and watched Bruce Lee on TV and vowed to become good in martial arts just like him. Subsequently he joined the then Bruce Lee Fan Club and received news and articles about Bruce Lee's training methods and courses and attended many courses run by Bruce Lee's assitant instructors in the UK, such as Sifu Danny Inosanto and others in the 70's. He also started practicing Shotokan Karate with Sensei Kanazawa 8th Dan with whom he was graded upto 4th Dan after many years of training. At the same time he continued with other martial arts such as Kick Boxing, Taekwon Do, Judo, Kung Fu & Tai Chi, and also achieved his first Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo in 1982 under Master Heel ILL Chos 8th Dan WTF. He attended many courses run by Sensei Benny the Jet Urquidez who was holding teaching seminars in the UK. Sensei Benny the Jet at that time was knocking out the world's best Muay Thai fighters in full contact karate matches.

Sensei Aktar's passion was in JKA Shotokan Karate since he was involved in competitions in his early years and wanted to devote his whole energy into one martial art that would help him best utilise that energy positively & effectively in terms of health building as well as for self-defence and competions, and for him it was Shotokan JKA Karate as a martial arts way of life. He dedicated his life to learning from the world's best original JKA masters, and took many trips to China and Japan in the early 2000s to research and synthesise his training. He spent almost 3 months training in Japan in 2005, training at the JKA HQ, SKI and Sensei Yahara's Karate dojo KWF. Over a period of 45 years,he has trained with the very best original famous masters of JKA Karate. These included Masters: Nishiyama, Kase, Asai, Shirai, Enoeda, Tanaka,Kawasoe, and many others. His Taichi masters have included: W.Cheung, L.Deyin, Yang Zhengduo, and of course Master H. Kanazawa. Many are sadly no longer with us anymore.He started to research their training methods and strategies and formed his own way of teaching based on the combined experiences of all of these great masters,together with his experience with other martial arts, which he tries to teach in his Shotokan JKA Academy Dojo's. His former students in the community have included people from all walks of life, Students ,Medical students, Councillors,Military & Security personnel, Religious leaders, & many others, many of whom have gone onto becoming leaders in their fields. He is currently a 6th Dan and vows to continue practising martial arts and perfecting his techniques and skills until his dying breath, and share his knowledge and skills to those genuinely interested in learning in order to develop a positive and strong community.

If you are a dedicated student wanting to learn & master the art of Shotokan Karate JKA, Aktar Sensei & his coaching Black Belt team will help tap into your hidden potential & inspire you to be the best in the art of Shotokan Karate of JKA in an easy step-by-step simplified way, whatever your current level of fitness or technical level, as an absolute beginner or an advanced Black Belt,our classes will help make you even better. We will also help you to achieve and enhance the best life-skills and positive character traits needed to be the number one in your life,through the philosophy of our martial arts over a course of time. These can be transferred into any walk of your life, whether at work, or school, at home or in your social life. Interested ? ..Remember the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step..are you going to take that important step...Call us now and set up your FREE trial qualifier session now.

Call : 07956 553417 or 07813 680603

Our Locations

We run classes at two locations; Watford Woodside Leisure Centre and Foxdell Junior School in Luton. Click on the link below to see our locations and sat nav addresses.

Watford Woodside Leisure Centre

Saturday

Mixed Class, beginners and intermediate: 17:00 - 17:45

Advanced class: 17:45 - 18:30

By Invitation only/personalised coaching 18:30 - 19:00

Sunday

Mixed Class, beginners and intermediate: 10:45 - 11:30

BBC Class: 11:30 - 12:15

Brown /Black Belt Class by invitation 12:15 - 1pm

Foxdell Junior School

Tuesday & Thursday

Mixed Class, beginners and intermediate: 18:00 - 18:45

BBC class: 18:45 - 19:15

Brown/Black Belts By invitation/personalised coaching: 19:15- 20:00

See our Locations

Our Philosophy

'Mind and Body working in Perfect Harmony'

Shotokan JKA style is based upon tradition of developing your body and mind, & achieving peace with yourself,your surroundings, and ultimately the universe. If you get it right, your possibilities are endless. There is no better feeling than being fit both physically and mentally; and that is what we will attempt to instil in you . That is our ultimate goal. In order to achieve that we train the physical body first, developing punches, strikes, blocks and kicks in a correct way. We focus on the correct form, & balance of each technique which requires effort and concentration,so that your body eventually learns to move effortlessly & naturally by continous practice, and repetition of technique many hundreds of times, which then form a muscle memory. Traditionally our Karate is a martial arts way of life as developed and refined by previous masters in practical situations, yet trains its practitioners to become peaceful through its training. However if conflict is unavoidable, the training then dictates finishing the opponent quickly with a single technique or finishing blow. Thus the end result of the karate self-development will be natural effortless action, self-confidence,humility,open minded, and peace with everything and everyone around.

All these qualities are embodied in the 3 lines of our STUDENT CREED and the 5 lines of our Shotokan training code or DOJO KUN below, which a student is required to learn & apply upon joining us:

STUDENT CREED:

I intend to develop myself in a positive manner and will avoid anything that will reduce my mental growth and physical health.

I intend to develop self-discipline in order to bring out the best in myself and others

I intend to use the skills I learn in class in a constructive and defensive way to help myself and others and to never be abusive or offensive

DOJO KUN:

Hitotsu ! Jinkaku Kansai ni stumoro koto

ONE ! To strive for the polishing/perfection of your character

Hitotsu ! Makoto no michi o mamoro koto

ONE ! Be faithful and sincere in your training and daily life

Hitotsu ! Doryoko no seishin o yashinau koto

ONE ! Endeavour - never give up just keep going

Hitotsu ! Reigi o omonzoro koto

ONE ! Respect others - who deserve the respect

Hitotsu ! Kekki no yu o imashimuru koto

ONE! Refrain from violent behaviour and false pride