Dojo Van Rel

Dojo Van Rel Dojo Van Rel is a Shotokan Karate school in north London offering classes for kids and adults of every age & every level. Sign up for your FREE trial today

18/09/2026

One round kick. Four targets.

A lot of people get used to throwing their round kick to the same place every time. But sometimes improving your options is simply about recognising what’s available.

Here, we use the jab (kizami-zuki) to set up the attack, step off the line, then take the round kick to one of four targets:

head, body, thigh or calf.

Same technique. Different targets. More options.

17/09/2026

How to Counter a Round Kick With a Spinning Hook

Evade and catch their kick.

Return it to where it came from!

Use that momentum to counter with your own spinning hook kick.

The formula is simple:

Use their momentum. Add your rotation. Send it straight back.

24/08/2026

There are lots of moving parts in learning to kick, but two things make an enormous difference to your side kick.

First, get the knee up and into the right position.

Second, rotate the supporting foot. If the support foot doesn't turn, the hips can't open properly — and your posture and ability to get your bodyweight behind the kick suffer as a result.

This isn't about how high you can kick or how flexible you are.

Start with the fundamentals:
Knee up. Support foot around. Then kick.

14/07/2026

Most people think punching is about the arms.

It not.

Every good jab-cross requires your brain to coordinate your feet, hips, weight transfer, timing and both hands, all while your opponent is moving.

That's why beginners often feel overwhelmed. They're not learning one movement; they're learning to synchronise an entire chain of movements.

Power isn't just about strength.

It's about coordination.

10/07/2026

Round kick. Side kick. Hook kick.

They all begin with the same foundation.

Bring the heels together.

Point the toes out.

Open the hips.

Now every sideways kick becomes easier.

Better technique isn't always about working harder. Sometimes it's about standing better.

10/07/2026

Round kick. Side kick. Hook kick.

They all begin with the same foundation.

Bring the heels together.

Point the toes out.

Open the hips.

Now every sideways kick becomes easier.

Better technique isn't always about working harder. Sometimes it's about standing better.

18/05/2026

Another clip from the SENKA seminar we hosted with Richard Amos Sensei.

The class was doing well with the exercise, but most students were making one fundamental mistake:

They blocked the attack… and then stopped.

In reality, no one leaves their arm hanging there while you calmly counterattack.

The missing ingredient was control.

After the age-uke and counter, you must trap the attacking limb. A simple way is to slip your arm over theirs and lightly squeeze the armpit to create a moment of control. From there, several options begin to appear.

This is one of those simple ideas that completely changes how kata application feels.

Do you consciously trap in your bunkai training, or is this something you’ve had to learn the hard way?

17/05/2026

If you are interested in adding speed to your gyaku-zuki (reverse punch), then try this resistance band drill.

Years ago, when I used to train with Geoff Thompson in Coventry, he once told me a story about potato farmers who would throw additional soil on top of a potato as it was growing. He said that the purpose of this was to create **RESISTANCE**, which would help to generate a larger potato and therefore a greater yield.

I do not know if this is true or not, but it is a beautiful metaphor for today’s video, which is all about putting your gyaku-zuki (reverse punch) under pressure using a resistance band in order to help create more acceleration and, as a result, increase the force of the technique.

The one caveat to using resistance bands is to first make sure that you have proper mechanics and are able to do the technique at slow, medium, and then fast speed. If your mechanics are **NOT** sound, then the resistance band will actually do more harm than good by exaggerating your already bad technique.

However, if your mechanics are sound throughout the progression of slow, medium, and fast speeds, then I would add the resistance band to help increase the acceleration, timing, and leg drive of your gyaku-zuki (reverse punch).

Start with 10 seconds **ON**, followed by 10 seconds **OFF**, and see if you can do 4 rounds. It is a simple drill, but it is not easy. Have fun!

Osu

15/05/2026

Every black belt starts here.

In this clip, our Tiny Tigers and Karate Kids are practising oizuki, one of the very first techniques a student learns in karate.

Years from now, many of these children will still be practising this same movement.

Refining it.

Improving it.

Understanding it more deeply.

Because karate teaches something important:

Confidence, focus and resilience are not built through shortcuts.

They are built through fundamentals.

To most people, this might just look like children stepping forward and punching.

But they are learning patience, concentration, effort, and perhaps most importantly…

How to learn.

📍Dojo Van Rel Shotokan Karate
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13/05/2026

This clip comes from the Senka seminar we recently hosted alongside Richard Amos Sensei.

Richard taught the kata itself, the body mechanics, and the how of Senka.

Here, in a sense, I’m exploring the why.

This is one sequence from the first half of the kata:

Age uke → Mae geri → Downward uraken

Most people see age uke as “just a block.”

But what if it’s doing much more than that?

➡️ Age uke as simultaneous attack and defence
➡️ A half-step to create forward momentum and maximise impact
➡️ Positioning that naturally opens the door for mae geri (or hiza geri)
➡️ A final downward movement where the pathway of the kata starts to make sense

What I’m really teaching here is how to piece movements together.

How one action naturally creates the next.

Age uke creates the opportunity for mae geri.

Mae geri changes posture and creates the opening for uraken… or elbow.

Kata starts making more sense when we stop seeing techniques in isolation and begin linking movements together.

Sometimes the better question is not:

“What technique is this?”

…but:

“What does this movement make possible?”

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NW51BU

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