People from all nationalities are welcome. We currently have members from South Africa, Philippines, China, Thailand, Japan, England and New Zealand with ages ranging from 6 to 65.

All you have to do is turn up and be willing to do some physical exercise.

Normally we train in a "gi" (a special training outfit), but for your first lessons we would advise that you turn up wearing some comfortable loose fitting clothing, and be prepared to train in bare feet.

Certainly not! We have students in the club of all ages, and karate offers many challenges which appeal to mature students.

Normally we take junior students starting at age 6, but for the safety of all our students each child needs a degree of coordination (karate will help to improve this over time).

Yes! Parents are encouraged to train with their children.

We have four classes every week:

Milford Senior Citizen's Club Hall on Mondays - All grades 5pm

Silverdale Hall on Tuesday and Friday - Juniors 5pm; Seniors 6pm

Massey University Juniors 11.30am; Seniors 12.30pm

Karate will certainly help you get fit. It will improve your flexibility. As you get better at karate you will train harder and your fitness will improve too.

Karate contains many elements of self defence, and will improve your self-confidence. We do practice various drills aimed at defending yourself.

It is in some clubs, but we practice in controlled situations and only light contact is used. We want you to enjoy your training and come again, and that's certainly not likely if you go home covered in bruises every time you train.

You shouldn't get hurt, your Sensei will only put you in situations that you are comfortable with and in a controlled environment.

Initially once a week is sufficient, until you've passed a few gradings at which time it would be best to train twice a week.

In Karate there are many levels and these are divided into teacher (dan) and student (kyu) grades. The coloured belts are used for distinguishing between the kyu grades, whilst the dan grades all wear black belts.

Your first grading will be for 10th kyu (or yellow belt) and from there the kyu grades count down, so the highest kyu grade is 1st kyu, after which you will be ready to go for your black belt (or 1st dan).

The dan grades then increase so after 1st dan your next grade is 2nd dan, then 3rd dan and so on.