- 4 months ago
Join Etholle Reynolds with a roundup of Kent's sporting action.
On today's episode, we meet Jim Harris, a local sensei from the Kent Michi Karate Association, who completed a 195 km walk to raise money for the club
On today's episode, we meet Jim Harris, a local sensei from the Kent Michi Karate Association, who completed a 195 km walk to raise money for the club
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Invicta Sports, the only show on your TV dedicated to Kent's sporting
00:16action. I'm Italy Reynolds and today we're switching things up and trying a different
00:21format to the show you know and love. Today we're bringing you an interview with Sensei Jim from
00:27the Kent Michi Karate Association. They run clubs across the county for a variety of students.
00:34In this part we'll be chatting to Jim about his karate journey from age six all the way to 2022
00:39when he started training again. We hope you enjoy. So thank you for joining us here today. So I just
00:46want to get started by talking a bit about karate itself. So lots of people have heard of karate,
00:51it's quite a famous martial art, but for any of those who may not be familiar, how would you kind
00:56of describe it to people? So for me, I've been doing karate since I was six years old. So it's kind of
01:07been a kind of sticking point with me for a long time. But for me, it's a good way of kind of
01:14expressing yourself. It's good for fitness, mental health. You know, there's a good social aspect to
01:24it as well. We've almost got kind of like a, what we call a karate family between us. So yeah, I mean,
01:33it's, there's so many benefits to it. It's kind of a difficult way to start, to be honest.
01:40Lovely. And as you said there, you started your journey at age six with karate, but can you go into a bit
01:47more detail about from age six to starting up back again in 2022?
01:52Yeah, yeah, sure. So yeah, I mean, I started at a local club when I was six years old, under a different
02:01association to what I train with now. And yeah, I mean, it kind of, I took to it really well, started
02:11training kind of once a week, up that to twice a week. And then as I was training for my first black
02:18belt, when I was about turning 11, I was training up to four nights a week. And since then, carried on
02:30until the age of 16, had a, had quite a, quite an extensive break where I would say kind of life
02:38events got in a way, university and things, moved away and, and whatever else. So I actually got back
02:47into it when I met my wife, who I co-run one of our current clubs with. So she also had a similar
02:55journey to me started at six years old. Um, and yeah, we, we kind of, uh, reignited the flame for it,
03:04I suppose, when we both met, it was a common, common interest that we both had. Um, both started
03:10training again. Um, and then it's kind of grown into, uh, we, we now belong to part of an association,
03:19um, which has five clubs. Um, and we, we co-run one of those on a Thursday night, uh, and a Monday
03:28night now as well. Um, so yeah, it's, it's kind of grown into, um, kind of picking the hobby up from,
03:35from six years old and, and learning the martial art to now, um, I'm at a point where, you know,
03:42I, I want to give that back to, to the next generation. Um, I've got my, my daughter, um,
03:51trains with us. She has recently just got her first black belt as well, um, at the age of 11
03:57as well. So, um, yeah, I mean, she's, um, she's doing really well. And I think that's what it's
04:03about for us now is, is passing it on to the next generation of, of kids that want to get involved
04:09with it really. Like you said, it, it seems like quite a family event. And what was it like
04:14kind of seeing your daughter get this black belt at such a young age? Oh, for me, it was, yeah,
04:19it was really incredible. Um, she, she trained really, really hard for it to be fair. Um, so yeah,
04:26I was, uh, being, you know, one of our, one of our students, but also, um, you know, being your
04:34daughter as well, it's, uh, yeah, it's kind of a double, double win really. Um, it was, uh, yeah,
04:40quite an emotional, quite an emotional day. Um, lots of tears all around, I think. So, um, yeah,
04:46no, it was, it was really, really good to see her do that. Excellent. And I want to kind of circle
04:51back, uh, back to, to your journey with karate. So, uh, I saw that you are an advocate for men's
04:57mental health and you mentioned that you think, uh, karate can help with this. What sort of things
05:03can karate do to kind of help with mental health, uh, not just for men, but for maybe young people
05:08in general? Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, the, the, um, the men's mental health side
05:13of things came in, um, a few years ago and I was going to, to, you know, um, local groups to, to try
05:22and, you know, work on a few issues that I was, I was having at the time. Um, but karate was, was a big
05:28part of that journey. Um, I've got, you know, quite a lot of, um, quite a lot of close relationships
05:36out of karate with, with other people that are doing it. People that I teach with people that I
05:42teach. Um, and for me, it's, uh, you know, stepping into the dojo on a Monday or Thursday night is, is
05:51that time where I can just put everything to one side. Um, and it really does just help clear the
05:58mind. Um, so, you know, if you're having a bad day at work or you've got other things going on at
06:04home, it's, it's a really good chance to just turn up, be yourself, not have to worry about any of them
06:12kind of life events. Um, and there's, like I said earlier, it's, um, you know, we're, we're what we
06:19call a karate family and we're all so supportive of each other, not just that karate events, but,
06:25you know, if anything happened at home, I know that I can pick up the phone to,
06:30to some of the people that I train with and just have a chat. Um, you know, one of, one of my students,
06:36um, we go out for, you know, we go out for a walk most Saturday mornings and just talk and put the
06:43world to rights really. But we met through, through one of the karate clubs. So, um, yeah, it's just that
06:49chance to meet new people, be yourself and, and kind of forget about everything that's going on outside
06:55of, outside of that lesson. Lovely. And it sounds like that there's a lot that you can take from the
07:02dojo outside of the dojo. And something I found quite interesting was kind of the discipline
07:07and the etiquette surrounding karate. Could you tell me a bit more about kind of this etiquette
07:13and how it extends outside the sessions? Yeah, sure. So, I mean, I mean, we, we kind of enforce it
07:19during the session. So, um, yeah, when I say enforce, it's lightly enforced. Um, but the,
07:25the, the students, juniors and adults all come to our classes with, with quite a high level of respect.
07:34Um, and they understand that, you know, there's, uh, there's a time and a place for, for games at
07:40the end of a lesson or, um, you know, at the beginning of the lesson, it's, uh, kind of practice
07:46time before we do our warmups and, and get into the lesson. So, um, they quite quickly pick that up
07:52that actually we're all here to, to, you know, to train. Um, and I think that's, that's definitely
07:58helped. I've had a couple of parents that, you know, I've commented, um, we've got a couple of
08:04young students at the moment that are kind of climbing up through the ranks quite quickly.
08:08Um, and one of the parents has commented that, you know, her daughter is, is just constantly
08:14practicing her karate at home. Um, you know, so before she goes to school, she'll be
08:19practicing her techniques, her basics. And I think it's, um, yeah, when you, when you get feedback
08:25like that from the parents, it really kind of, uh, makes you realize that you're making a difference,
08:30I suppose. Um, so, yeah, you know, it's, um, from that point of view, uh, I think the discipline
08:39that we kind of, you know, bring up in the lessons, um, a good portion of our students go home and kind of,
08:46uh, you know, practice, practice that discipline, um, with their general day-to-day tasks. Um,
08:54so it's, it's quite nice in that respect. Um, I similarly, we've, we've had a couple of students
08:59that are a little bit older, um, recently doing their GCSEs or GCSEs are coming up this year.
09:06Um, and I think they're, they're kind of lessons, you know, that, that we teach at karate. Um,
09:12they're, you know, really, really striking that work-play balance really well. Um, so, you know,
09:20we've found students that are coming to karate to, you know, just decompress from a heavy day of exams
09:27or schoolwork or whatever else. It's, it's their opportunity to just come and, you know, get, uh,
09:33get good hours exercising, forget about everything that's going on and, um, and, and go from there.
09:39Excellent. And as I understand, uh, you're a third Dan. Could you just explain to me what this means
09:46and the difference between competitions and these grading events that you guys have?
09:50Yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I mean, the, the, the grading element is, um, more based on the
09:58traditional form that we see. Um, so you're graded through, uh, what we call Q grades. Uh, so that's
10:06anything from white belt up to a brown belt with two white stripes. Um, your first Q is your kind of
10:15stepping stone to your showdown grading, which is your first Dan. Um, so from there you, you kind of,
10:23uh, we always, we always tell our students that your, your black belt is, is really just the beginning
10:29of your karate. Um, the journey up to your black belt is, is kind of teaching you the, uh, teaching
10:35to the basics, the etiquette and everything in between. Um, but for those that, you know,
10:40get that black belt and really want to carry on with that journey. Um, that's where it really starts.
10:46Um, that we've got, you know, recent, recent black belts or showdowns that are now being used in our
10:53lessons to teach, you know, the newbies that are starting. Um, so it's, yeah, it's just a continuing,
11:01uh, continuing kind of growth. Um, I've had my third Dan for, you know, coming up for nearly four years.
11:08Um, so I'm hoping I'll be eligible to, um, to go for my fourth Dan next year. Um, and for me,
11:17it's less about kind of chasing the belts now. Um, but you kind of set that example to your students
11:24below you that, you know, it doesn't just stop at the black belt. Um, there is plenty more that
11:29kind of follows on. Um, so when I've got my third Dan, you know, I open the club, uh, open the club with
11:35my wife. Sounds like there's some great transferable skills that we can have there
11:40with karate. That's it for part one. Join us after the break, as we chat more with Jim about
11:45some charity work he's doing for the association and the importance of the local community for
11:50sports clubs. We'll see you after this short break.
12:06Hello, and welcome back to Invicta Sport right here on KMTV. Today, we're speaking with Sensei Jim
12:12from the Kent Michi Karate Association. In this part, we'll be chatting about Jim's 195 kilometer walk
12:20to raise money for the association and some of the charity work the association does itself.
12:26Here's part two of our chat with him. Jim, I want to talk a bit about the association
12:31itself. So it was started in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic. What was the kind of decision
12:38to open it after the pandemic? Um, I mean, there was, um, there was a few, a few people that decided,
12:48uh, you know, the, the karate was really important for them and they, they carried on training.
12:54Um, although it was privately, mostly in fields. Um, it was, um, yeah, I mean, the, the decision was
13:02made to, to kind of set it up then and go from there. Um, it was, you know, it was co-founded, uh,
13:09between, uh, Sensei Robert and Sensei Tina. Um, so, you know, both, um, uh, Tina, Tina's actually my
13:17mother-in-law, um, and Robert's a close friend of mine. So they, they decided that they wanted to,
13:24to, you know, branch off from the old association that we're a part of, um, and start something new,
13:30something that we've been talking about for quite a while, um, and just go in our own way and, and,
13:35you know, really grow in what we were trying to, you know, promote and, um, what we felt that,
13:43you know, we, we could be quite strong at. And I think that's proved in, in recent events,
13:48competitions and whatever else. So, um, you know, kind of, kind of stemmed from there really.
13:54Lovely. And I, I heard that the various clubs, uh, run by instructors such as yourself, you all have
14:00full-time jobs and this is to kind of keep the sessions as, sorry, the sessions
14:05as affordable and accessible to as many people as possible. Why is it so important to keep local
14:10clubs affordable and accessible for people? Yeah. I mean, as a parent myself and with,
14:17with the cost of, uh, the cost of pretty much everything going up at the moment, um, you know,
14:23personally with, with our club, we, we try and, um, we try and, you know, pass, pass as many
14:30savings down the line as we can. Um, I think for, for all of the clubs, it's, uh, you know, we're,
14:37we're non-profit. It's, it's mainly, you know, as long as the hall costs are covered. Um, we invest
14:44a lot of money back into, back into the students, um, no equipment costs and whatever else. Um, and
14:52yeah, I mean, it's, it's really important for us that, you know, we, we want to promote the sport.
14:58We want, we want people doing it, um, for their own enjoyment. Um, and don't feel the need to,
15:07you know, rip people off or charge overly excessive amounts for, for memberships or anything else.
15:14So it's, uh, you know, we try and operate as close to that cost and it's, yeah, passing those savings
15:20on to the parents and, you know, we, we want people doing the sport. We're not here to, to make money
15:25off of it. So. And it sounds like we, we spoke earlier, how the association, you have your karate
15:33family and this great community spirit surrounding it. I was reading a bit about the Michi team that
15:39support the sensei such as yourself. What's that kind of role in the club and how important are
15:45they to the running of the club? They're fundamental to be honest. Um, I mean, we've got four kind of
15:52key instructors, um, and, and the rest of the team, you know, they're fundamental to supporting us.
16:00Uh, we have quite big numbers some nights. So you, you're talking, you know, up to 25, 30 students some
16:07weeks. Um, and you know, as, um, as capable as we are of, of running a session like that on our own,
16:15uh, with the different grade spreads, age spreads, everything like that, you've, you've got to kind
16:21of cater for everyone. Um, so what we try to avoid is, you know, having say white belts that have just
16:29started being mixed in with the higher grades that are, you know, way in advance of them. So we try and
16:35split everyone into their kind of own ability groups. Um, so without those additional instructors
16:41and, and people helping out, um, you know, it would really be kind of one, one big group.
16:49Um, so it definitely helps us to, to split them groups down. Um, and I think that's really important
16:56for people coming into the club is that they know that they've got people of their own ability
17:02working with them and they're not just kind of chucked in the deep end with, with everybody else.
17:08Um, so I think that's kind of, you know, a bit of our, um, unique selling point, I guess, is that,
17:15that we have got those additional instructors to do a little bit more of one-on-one and whatever else
17:20that we need to do. And I want to talk a bit more about the fundraiser that you've set up and now
17:27completed. Uh, so you walked 195 kilometres. Um, what was so significant about the number 195?
17:38Yeah. So that's, um, to be honest, when I set it up, I was, uh, trying to think of a target figure that,
17:44uh, and no number came to mind. So, um, I decided to pick my five favourite cutter,
17:51um, which is a, a sequence of moves. Um, and the five cutters totaled, uh, 195 moves. So for every
18:03move, I walked a kilometre. Um, so yeah, 195 kilometres, um, over the space of about eight weeks,
18:10I think. Um, so yeah, it was, uh, just to try and raise a bit of money for our, our squad. Um,
18:17doing quite a lot of competitions and things at the moment.
18:21And can you talk to me a bit, what was it like kind of walking this 195? Did you do it all in one
18:27go or did you spread it out over those few weeks? No, it was, it was broken down into mainly 10 to 15
18:34kilometre walks. Um, and to be fair, it was, uh, all the time the weather was nice,
18:39it was, it was all right. Um, and like I said, I was accompanied on those by one of our,
18:46one of our students who, who helps teach at my club sometimes. Um, and yeah, it was quite nice
18:52to just go out and chat, put the world to rights. Um, and yeah, it's, um, it's nice to just be out and
19:00kind of unwind, I guess.
19:03And you said a bit about raising money for the club. Was there anything in particular you were raising
19:08money for, or was it kind of to just inspire the students that attend the sessions?
19:13Oh, it's a bit of both really. Um, yeah, I mean, my, my kind of key role in karate now,
19:19like I said earlier, is, uh, is trying to pass this on to the next generation. So the best gen,
19:24the best example that I can be to my students, um, and obviously I'm all for that. Um, but yeah,
19:30no, the main, the main, the main goal, um, is to support our squad. Uh, like I said, there's about
19:3518 to 20 members of the squad who will compete up and down the country. We're going to Birmingham
19:41in a couple of weeks. Um, and they're in need of new equipment, new uniforms. So we want to try
19:49and kit them out with, um, you know, a proper, proper squad uniform, t-shirts, soft shield jackets,
19:56that sort of thing. Um, so that, you know, we can, we can go to these events and really kind of
20:02represent the same way that some of the other clubs do, I suppose. Um, but yeah, it's, you know,
20:08all the money will be going back to them. So. That's really nice. And whilst you've been out
20:14raising money for the club itself, the club, uh, the association raises money for a chosen charity,
20:20can you tell me a bit more about this chosen charity and why did the association decide to
20:26set up a chosen charity? Yeah. I mean, I must admit that was, um, that was probably more to do with,
20:33um, Sensei Tina, but, um, I know we support Cry. Um, it's, uh, yeah, it's, it's been a charity that
20:41we've supported pretty much from day one. Um, you know, it's, um, I personally, it's, uh,
20:49you know, I'm, I'm quite a big fan of, uh, quite a big fan of supporting children's charities. So,
20:54um, yeah, I mean, it's, it's got my vote. Um, but yeah, I mean, the actual kind of, uh, reasonings
21:00behind that, uh, Sensei Tina would be best, best place to ask, but, um, yeah, it's, uh, a charity that
21:07we all get behind every event, you know, um, competitions that we run internally, any,
21:15any kind of proceeds go to, go to that charity. And I keep coming back to this community spirit,
21:22because I think it's so fantastic to see how important is the local community and why is the
21:29local community so important to supporting clubs across the county? Yeah, I mean, we, we set our club
21:37up, uh, in one of the new housing estates in Maidstone. Um, and you know, it's, uh, luckily they
21:44had a community centre built. Um, and when I actually spoke to the managers there to, to get our place,
21:51um, they were quite keen to get a martial arts event in. Uh, I think one of them had had previous
21:56experience, you know, training when they were younger. Um, but yeah, most of our students all kind
22:01of a stone's throw away. Um, and it's really nice to see them all come together. It's, uh, you know,
22:07they all, they all kind of go to different schools. Some of them are at the same schools and, and know
22:12of each other, but it's really nice to see them all come together on a Monday and a Thursday. Um, and
22:17how they all gel, uh, and, and just kind of naturally, you know, our higher grades all, all come together to
22:26help out the young ones, the lower grades, the, it's just really nice kind of rewarding to, to see
22:33how people of that age. I mean, we're talking kind of kids between the age of 10 and 16 that are taking
22:39on, you know, some of the, some of the younger ones, six to eight or whatever. Um, and how they just
22:45kind of take them under their wing and, and really help them. Um, you know, I've been reading a lot
22:50recently about, you know, anti-social behavior and whatever else, but, um, just to, to give them a
22:56place to feel comfortable. You know, we, we have parents that bring students because they're struggling
23:03with bullying at school and then to hear that, you know, after training with us for a few months, you
23:08know, some of those problems have gone away because the kids are really finding their own confidence. Um,
23:14and for me, you know, that's, that's just as rewarding to hear, um, as watching someone great,
23:21you know, um, to find out that kids are developing outside of the club as well is, um, is fantastic
23:27for me to be honest. It is really lovely to see how just a local sports community can really help the
23:34children in the local community. Thank you so much, Jim, for joining us today and chatting us, to us all
23:41about karate and the association. That's it from us on today's episode of Invicta Sport. We hope you
23:47enjoyed and we'll see you next week for another episode.
Be the first to comment