Welcome to the Virtual Dojo!
My name is Linda Marchant and I’m the head instructor. I’m a 7th dan in IOGKF Goju Ryu and my dojo is affiliated to EGKA. I’ve been training in martial arts for 46 years.
I have a traditional dojo in Wimbledon, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, I’m only offering virtual training at the moment – but I’m still following the traditional format, with opening and closing formalities.
To get started, download Google Hangouts Meet from your app store and email me at gojulinda@live.co.uk. I’ll send you a meeting invite you can use to join a training session. If you’ve never done karate before, please let me know about your training history and general fitness level. Is there anything that I need to know about, like injuries, so I can adapt things for you?
Please take care when you train. If you’re new to training, take it slowly and feel free to take a break if it gets a bit much! You can ask questions during the session, or email afterwards. Make sure you never train with a fever.
Make sure you join the class five minutes before the start time.
| Monday | Adult Beginners | 18:30-19:30 |
| Tuesday | Peewees | 17:00-17:30 |
| Juniors aged 6+ – all grades | 18:00-18:30 | |
| Adults/cadets – all grades | 10:00-11:00 | |
| 19:00-20:00 | ||
| Wednesday | Junior Beginners (aged 6+) | 18:30-19:30 |
| Adults/cadets – all grades | 19:00-20:00 | |
| Thursday | Peewees | 17:00-17:30 |
| Juniors aged 6+ – all grades | 18:00-18:30 | |
| Adults/cadets – all grades | 10:00-11:00 | |
| 19:00-20:00 | ||
| Saturday | Junior brown and blackbelts09:00-09:45 | |
| Juniors aged 6+ | 10:00-10:45 | |
| Adults and cadet brown and blackbelts | 11:00-12:30 | |
| Sunday | Blackbelts (invitation only) | 10:00-11:00 |
If you already pay me by standing order you’ve already paid for unlimited sessions.
If you pay for each training session at the moment, you’ll pay:
If you have friends or family who are right age for the session you’re joining, they’re welcome to take part in the same room (at no extra cost) – but remember social distancing principles and don’t invite people round specifically for training.
You don’t need a licence for the first three training session, but after that you’ll need to get a licence by becoming a member of EGKA.
A karate gi (if you have one) or gym kit. If you’d like to buy a gi, you can get one from Blitz or Bytomic.
About two square metres.
Make sure you let me know, so I can help you adjust. Please take advice from your doctor/physio about what you’re allowed to do and how you should take care of the injury during training – for example, avoiding certain moves or stances. Never train if you have a fever.
You might need to wait until there’s a suitable pause in the training for the instructor to let you join.
Yes – they’re covered by your fee – but they must be members of your household, in line with the government guidelines on social distancing, and the right age/grade. Anyone who joins will need to get an EGKA licence after three training sessions.
Unfortunately it isn’t possible to do a fair assessment online at the moment, and rules on social distancing mean we can’t cover enough of the syllabus. But training virtually means you can still work towards a grading once social distancing is over!
Yes, as long has your instructor has agreed to it and contacted me to confirm.
Yes – you’ll need an introduction from a member of EGKA/IOGKF, your instructor’s permission and
confirmation from your instructor.