We would like to start by saying we are very proud of all our students with what they achieved last year! We would also like to welcome all the new members that have joined the Xen-Do team in 2018. Last year was brilliant for all 3 of our dojos. We enjoyed padding you and laughing with you throughout. All of our students were a pleasure to teach.

Let’s have a walk back down memory lane to see everything we have accomplished together in 2018.

We started the year with everyone from Little Champs to Seniors grading for the belt they left behind in 2017. The holidays hadn’t slowed us down and we were entering the New Year kicking! The door is always welcome at Xen-Do and we encourage everyone to come try a class. This was proven last year in February when Seymour hosted an Open Day welcoming anyone to just walking and join a class. This was a pleasure to see our students training with members of the public and showing the skills they’ve been working hard to gain.

Your senseis strive to be the best to be able to give you the best. Every day they train with Master Raf and give 100% to know they deserve their Sensei title. This was proven in April 2018 when Master Raf awarded Black Belt through to 5th Dan. Each instructor brings their unique twist to each of your lessons and they do this under the guidance and care of Master Raf. When it is time for the Sensei grading, they were ready. Lined in formation from attention stand to fighting stance. Put through their paces, rounds of sparring and not a combination or technique out of place. It is safe to say that each instructor truly deserved the new belt or stripe they were given by the end of the day.

June 2018 Master Raf took our instructors to Barcelona to compete in the Spanish Open Championships. We can proudly say that after the strict diets, fierce training and determined minds Xen-Do brought home gold across the board. You can check out more information about our champions on our website and even watch some of the instructors competing on our YouTube channel. They did us proud! With the majority competing light continuous in their weight category and 4 instructors choosing to compete full contact.

Not only did Xen-Do get to travel to Barcelona with the team to compete but we’ve had an amazing summer with you taking us around the world. We saw other parts of Spain following Master Raf to Madrid, before one of our students Dan took us close by to Mallorca. We had a great time in Crete led by Essia and Lina before jet setting to California with Joni and sneaking into Sensei Rijana and Sensei Lauren’s suitcase to Dubrovnik. We look forward to next summer to see who will take us where!

Another Xen-Do accomplishment of 2018 was the work the team did with charities. We pride ourselves on having a great sense of community, helping each other in and outside of the dojo. This was shown when one of our students Veronika volunteered to go to Gambia and provide oral education, training and health checks, with an amazing team of medical professionals. Also, Grace behind our Baker Street reception took part in a tough mudder to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease. We all gave them hand in putting towards their JustGiving pages and showing our support on their mission!

Throughout the year we have had a lot of fun watching our students grow and graduate into their next belts. Every belt is important! We enjoy watching each grading whether it is yellow/white or black belt. Xen-do is lucky enough to have students with such determination and bring brilliant energy to the dojo. Our students are the reason our motto is

“a black belt is just a white belt that never stopped training”.

We are planning big things for 2019!

Keep your eyes peeled for a dojo popping up in a new location this year. We want to share the Xen-Do experience so we will be branching out and if any of your friends and family would be interested then bring them along for a trial class his month.

And finally, let us say a big thank you to all our instructors. We couldn’t have done it without them. They pushed us to achieve our new belts, helped us with techniques and made our day a little better!

We hope everyone had a brilliant New Year and we wish you the best for 2019