About the Docklands Karate Club

Docklands Kyokushin Karate Club was opened by (then 3rd dan) Sensei Nick da Costa in 1988.
Ray Sparks Gym in Poplar High Street was the reputable & innovative Weight training venue.
Training was above the Gym in the function room, which also played host to celebrity fashion & Body building shows, discos and for a time even ran its own magazine, all arranged by the owners Ray & Alex.

Not to be outdone the karate club also joined in by hosting a disco & sponsored push-up, to raise money for the Great Britain Knockdown team (of which Nick da Costa was a member) attending the inaugural 1988 Commonwealth Championships in Australia, raising £1400 in the process.
After a few successful years & discos the club had to relocate due to the premises closing.
It was then that we moved to it current location in St. Lukes Hall.

The club has had a long history of success in competitions but the last few years have pleasingly reaped success on all fronts with National Senior & Junior champions in Knockdown, Point-scoring (wuko & clicker) and Kata. Reflecting the ethos of the club, that a karate-ka (person studying karate) should aspire to excellence in all aspects of the art!

Our club is part of the British Karate Kyokushinkai (B.K.K) and the B.K.K is a member of the International Federation of Karate (I.F.K). The B.K.K is the second largest independent karate association in Britain and is managed by an elected Executive Committee of which Nick da Costa, Docklands main instructor, is a member. The B.K.K's reputation for quality is second to none, both nationally and internationally. The B.K.K is also a founder member of the English Traditional Karate Board (ETKB) formed in 1999 by the top karate associations in Great Britain.

Each new member of the club is encouraged to join the B.K.K as soon as possible. If you are not a member then you cannot participate in any sparring, gradings, association courses or competitions because of insurance reasons. The fees for this are £12.50 per year for juniors & £25.00 for seniors.

Club gradings are held every 3 months (December, March, June & September). The cost for gradings are £7.00 up to brown belt.
Unlike other karate clubs we do not have a club charge on that day!

Students are allowed to attempt gradings at the instructor's discretion and are normally informed one or two lessons before the grading date. New belts can be bought from the club for £3.00. Karate suits (Gi) can also be bought from the club and are currently priced at £15.00 up to 150cms in height and £21.00 for larger sizes. As much as possible students should wear protective equipment when sparring, for the mutual benefit to themselves and their opponents. Protective equipment can be bought from the club and cost £15.00 for a set of Shin & Instep pads and fist protectors. For seniors punch bag gloves are recommended.

Purchasing of the Licence, Gi (suit), Pads etc. are normally done gradually depending on the enthusiasm of the student and their financial position, so don't let finances scare you as we will not encourage you to buy anything that is not absolutely necessary!

Modern Karate originated from Japan, as a consequence of this the instructors use Japanese terminology. The reasoning behind this is that any instructor can teach in any karate club and any student can train under any instructor throughout the world reducing the language barrier. Students are encouraged to learn the terminology from the off but will not be tested on this until they attempt their third grading or blue belt.

To learn about the History of Karate and the founder of Kyokushin, click here.