29/07/2026
It’s been a busy few months for Tony and Rachel.
In May, Rachel opened her own Karate club, Sanchin Yin Karate Kai in Lenham, Maidstone, built on her own syllabus that blends both of her karate styles. Tony and her Uechi Sensei are supporting her by helping assess and grade her students, and she is proud to be Dragon Spirit’s little sister club.
June marked the beginning of a new era for Dragon Spirit Karate, as Tony handed over the weekly teaching and management of the club to Rachel, his number two. Rachel has been working with Tony since 2011, long before he founded Dragon Spirit in 2018. We have now been teaching together for 15 years. Tony will still be involved with assessments, gradings, and occasional detail classes, and he will continue to oversee the teaching progression of our two student instructors and me. He will continue to run and teach the weekly Tai Chi club.
In July we held our first grading of the year. Every student came to be assessed, and those attempting their grading passed with flying colours. We are incredibly proud of how hard they work on their techniques. We also assessed Rachel's new students, and Tony was pleased with their progress.
The heatwaves meant we had to cancel or shorten some lessons, and the students continued to work hard whenever training could go ahead.
Yesterday, in our last class for the Summer, we said good luck to Pasha, our longest-standing student who began training with us before Dragon Spirit even existed. We awarded him two tabs on his brown belt and a certificate recognising his dedication and spirit. Despite taking time out for exams, he always returned and trained hard. He has gone from being a very shy boy who fell over every time he kicked to a solid Karateka and well-liked young man. We all wished him well as he starts his next chapter at university.
Thank you to everyone who has trained and supported us during this transition. Here’s to continued growth and a bright future.
We will be back on the 8th September. If you would like to join us, just send us a DM.
