How To Join
BSK Membership
There are two types of membership within the British Shotokan Kyogi: Full Membership and Associate Membership, there are no hidden costs.
Full Membership
Full membership is where a dojo or group join directly into the B.S.K.I family, taking full advantage of it history, its pedigree and its courses but most importantly, the credibility of its grades. There is a one off Dojo affiliation fee for every dojo. Membership of this category allows the instructor to grade internally at club level. In an attempt at fairness and to ensure as much of the monies paid by the students are kept within their own dojo's a system of in-house Kyu grading's is allowed. Not all clubs within the B.S.K.I personally wish to do any grading's at all as they believe in the old traditional system of having the credibility and quality assurance of having all Kyu grading's carried out through the auspices of either the Chief Instructor or one of his senior instructors. Therefore B.S.K.I instructors of the grade of 1st Dan (Shodan) may grade up to and including 4th Kyu, 2nd Dan (Nidan) and above may grade up to 1st Kyu. As the black belt is the most prized possession and main goal of most students, the B.S.K.I believes that for an individual to hold a 1st Dan (Shodan) or above in Traditional Shotokan Karate-do from the B.S.K.I, the association’s Chief Instructor must quality assure all who attain these grades. B.S.K.I Kyu grade certificates are available through the secretariat, B.S.K.I Dan grade certificates are issued through the B.S.K.I Honbu.
Associate Membership
Associate Membership Is open to groups of dojo's or associations with excess of 100 student members. Associate Membership members will pay an annual dojo fee per association per annum. All students and instructors from an associate membership must licence through the B.S.K.I. Associate members may carry out grading's up to and including the grade which is two grades below Appendix 2 their own senior instructor or if there is a panel of a minimum of two BSKI accredited individuals carrying the same grade within Shotokan, to one grade below their own. Therefore, 3rd Dans (Sandan) individually may grade up to and including 1st Dan (Shodan). Two BSKI accredited Shotokan 3rd Dans (Sandan) may grade up to 2nd Dan (Nidan). However these grades, may be registered with the Karate England, but will not be issued by the BSKI and therefore the Associate Member must issue their own Dan grade certificates. Kyu grade certificates are available through the secretariat.
Licence fees
These are paid annually by every individual instructor or student whether associate or full member. This will ensure that the student, instructor, dojo or association is not held liable in the case of any injury or litigation. Instructors will be given a supply of license applications by request from the secretariat. As part of the Instructors license fee, it has been agreed that indemnity insurance for the first 6 hours of instruction will be free (check with the secretariat for further information and terms of cover). The BSKI however does strongly recommend that instructors take out a further policy for up to 2 million pounds sterling for an annual fee per year.
Your own development:
If it is your ambition to improve your standards, credibility, your knowledge of Traditional Shotokan Karate-do, and improve your ability to successfully run your dojo through a highly respected association, you can rely on the BSKI for support. If you are looking for a strong association which will look after your needs through Karate England Instructor’s certificates and NVQ courses, training courses, grading's, tournaments, international events, Gasshuku's and much, much more, the BSKI is the association for you.
A word of caution
Whichever association you choose in your search, ensure that you become part of a prestigious organisation with both history and pedigree. This will ensure that your hard earned grades will have the national and international recognition they deserve within the Shotokan world. There are those who claim to teach ‘Traditional’ Shotokan Karate, when in fact their teaching developed away from the Shotokan style as dictated by Master Funakoshi and Shihan Nakayama. In your initial stages training in Shotokan, make sure that you establish instructor's/Chief Instructor’s qualifications. Karate is life long learning and within the BSKI we simply follow the traditions and philosophy of the original JKA and master Gichin Funakoshi represented through the teachings of Masatoshi Nakayama.
BSKI Secretariat
The BSKI has a professional Secretariat,
address below,
please do not hesitate to contact us with any query:
9 Kings Crescent,
Leyland,
Lancashire,
PR25 2SG.
Telephone / fax: +44(0) 772 621996
Email: leylandkarate@blueyonder.co.uk.
The BSKI Chief Instructor can be contacted:
18 Gordon Hill Way,
Heywood,
Lancashire,
OL10 3PP.
Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1706 621640
Email: cgidley@bski.fsnet.co.uk
“You must ignore the bad and adopt the good."