Hi All,
I just wanted to give you a quick club update – how things are, and what we’ve been up to recently.
Adjusting to Covid
Things do seem to be settling down (although sometimes a little up-and-down) and we are in the routine of running the classes at Claremont again, with live Zoom broadcasts of the classes there, as well as the other sessions, which remain (for now) purely on Zoom.
We have been very lucky with the standard of advice and guidance issued to us by our governing body, WAKO GB, which has been outstanding in comparison to many other, similar organisations.
This has allowed us to categorise ourselves and operate as a “Covid Secure Business”. We have risk assessed the classes at Claremont, and our covid operating procedure allows us to continue running our socially distanced classes, which is fantastic!
Also a quick shout out to you guys – for continuing your training, and adjusting to the major challenges that are going on around us, you should all be very proud of yourselves!
There is a lot of uncertainty over what will happen in the coming weeks and months, but be assured that, come hell or high water, we will continue with the classes in one format or another. Just stay in touch as we go, to see how we are adapting to the changes around us.
The New 3-Tier System, and what it means for us
Several people have asked what London moving into Tier 2 will mean for the club, obviously worried that we will have to stop teaching our face-to-face sessions.
WAKO GB was very quick to publish updated guidance on Facebook after the government announcement and, in short, we are still fine to keep running the session at Claremont, as we are a “Covid Secure Business”.
Further, we will be able to continue these classes, even if London moves into Tier 3, unless local government dictates that gyms or indoor exercise classes must stop.
So, as we stand, things are still looking good for the classes at Claremont.
Of course, we’ll continue to update you, if anything changes.
Instructor Training and News
And, for us Instructors, it has been a time of learning new skills – how to run an effective class over Zoom, and then how to run the sessions in dual format, which is more challenging again!
With some of this, it’s very much been a case of throwing ourselves in at the deep end, but we love to rise to a challenge (otherwise what kind of martial artists would we be???)
We have also been able to run some instructor training over Zoom, and our new Assistant Instructors have been attending external courses, and are nearly all fully qualified to run classes now, which will take the pressure off the teaching instructors a little…!
I am also very pleased to mention that Daniel Shaw-Abulafia has been promoted up to Full Instructorship, and is now teaching his own classes. Well done to Daniel – you have worked very hard over many, many years to achieve the standard you have reached. I have had lots of good feedback regarding your classes!
Some Amazing Photos
Lastly, I had a photoshoot with award-winning photographer Jade Tinkler at the beginning of this month. Her photography had caught my eye, as she has taken some amazing photos of ballet dancers (you can find her website at https://www.jadetinklerphotography.co.uk/), and I hoped that we would be able to capture some of the awesomeness of Tiger Crane Kung Fu.
I’m incredibly pleased with the photos! I just wanted to share a few of the finished articles from the session with you. I’m sure you’ll agree that the results speak for themselves!
Thanks very much to Jade! I hope that this will be the beginning of a long-term collaborative relationship!