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Club Tour of Japan 2025

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 23:19:03 GMT

Sensei Tony & Sensei Matthew's 2nd Dan Grading

I’m very pleased to announce that Tony Sensei & Matthew Sensei successfully graded to Nidan in Okinawa in front of James Pankiewicz Kancho, Arakaki Sensei Judan and Tomaki Sensei Judan.

I’m so proud of them both, they abosultely gave a great representation of themselves and Martial Arts in the Uk, their spirit and etiquette were perfection.

Sempai Gabriel & Sempai Ben's Shodan-Ho Grading

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 23:06:50 GMT

Shodan Ho Grading 17th May 2025

The long awaited and much anticipated Shodan-Ho grading for Ben and Gabriel.

This grading is not for the feint hearted, starting with a 6 mile run and fitness testing in the park swiftly followed by a hearty breakfast.

Then its off to the dojo for a full day on the mat starting with basic mat fitness and warm up throws, then specialist Shodan-Ho syllabus including group asaults, weapons skills, tactics and retention.

This is followed by intensive scrutiny of their knowledge of club syllabus from 8th kyu Red belt to 1st kyu Brown belt testing under duress with non compliant Uke’s.

Now the pressure really starts with an onslaught of attacks followed by relentless grappling and just for good measure of their mettle a couple of rounds of milling.

We finish the day testing their spirit with one last round of fitness.

At the end of all this they are awarded the title of Sempai…they have indeed led by example, well done Ben & Gabriel wear you belts with extreme pride.

Matsubayashi Ryu Seminar Bristol

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:45:22 GMT

James Pankiewicz Sensei UK Tour Sept 2023

Monday Sept 11th 2023, myself and Sensei Tony were very kindly accepted to attend Joel Castasus Sensei Bristol Dojo at Matsubayashi Ryu Seminar hosted by James Pankiewicz Sensei. James Sensei is in the Uk as part of a European tour and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see our good friend from Okinawa, James Sensei played a wonderful host to us when we toured Japan & Okinawa in 2017 and it was wonderful to see him again.

Joel Sensei was a very gracious host allowing us to attend and participate in his seminar and I for one was reminded how powerful the bond in all martial arts is forging new acquaintances and friendships. I was also reminded how an open mind in martial arts is essential and not to get wrapped up in an insular bubble. As always with any seminar there is lots to be learnt, some fascinating new approaching to ethos and training and it is wonderful to train with like minded people. James Sensei approach to conditioning reminded me of some way we may be deficient in our training and it’s always a good thing to be re-grounded. James Sensei direct line of defence and counter attack was refreshing and put a practical application to some of the Katas I’m aware of. Overall it was a very informative and fun evening’s training and my self and Tony Sensei have the bruises to show for it.

A very big thank you to James Sensei for visiting the UK and giving us your time and experience, thank you Joel Sensei for being a gracious host and letting us participate in you Seminar….lets not be strangers and stay in touch, your in Budo Mark Thomas.

Three New Shodan, Three more Sensei

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 19:07:15 GMT

Black Belt Grading Sunday 26th June 2022

At Fudoshin we believe every student has their own path to follow, there is a saying “a black belt is a white belt that didn’t quit” this really is so true and I believe every practitioner has two paths to travel on their quest for a black belt…the physical and mental journeys (this is represented within our club badge as the two gold circles that encompass the temple dojo) and everyone’s paths may vary in time, distance and direction but eventually the destination is the same…Shodan, Black belt, and here within lies the story of our three candidates…

Matthew’s Story (The Broken)…

I’m going to start with Matthew as his journey has been the longest and probably more deserving than anyone I know. Matthew has been teaching alongside me since 2003/2004 when we were teaching for another club at Potters Bar. I was a Shodan-Ho (provisional black belt) and Matthew was a yellow belt and together we would teach the kids classes there and afterwards head off to Borehamwood for our senior training. I left that club and started Fudoshin in the autumn of 2008 and Matthew faithfully put his trust in me and joined me and we continued to teach kids classes together in Hemel Hempstead. Matthew was the first senior enlisted at our newly opened Hemel dojo, he continued to train at Hemel and our DL dojos with new training partners and also at our Queens dojo, as he progressed through the syllabus and through the belts up to 1st Kyu brown belt it was evident that there were physical issues with his hips and legs with chronic pain inducing cramps and seizures, regardless he continued his training and supporting his fellow students, quite often watching others surpass his 1st Kyu as they continued onto Shodan-ho and even black belts. Not once have I ever seen Matthew discouraged in his quest. Matthew would and did support all of his fellow students as they moved on past, not once have I ever heard Matthew “wish” for a black belt or contemplate any other path than that of “I will be grading for my black belt” his patience has been relentless and we continued to teach together and he continued to train with his partners helping them along their way.

Tony’s Story (The Thespian) …

Tony also joined our previous Martial Arts group pretty much at the same time as his training partner (Eugene) and together they would start to forge a bond and would train at the Bushey dojo and attend seminars together and progress through the first few Kyu grades together and together, like Matthew and a few others who put their faith and trust in their Sensei, moved with me to Fudoshin in 2008. And like Matthew but for very different reasons Tony would watch his training partners progress and continue to grade to black belts (Eugene and Mark B) Tony is an aspiring actor who has appeared on tv in programmes like Coronation Street and The Bill and West End theatre in The Commitments unfortunately (or fortunately for Tony) acting parts would quite often drop in his lap and he would be off rehearsing and filming and would then reappear several months later and this carousel would continue for a few years on and off but at his last return to the Dojo the stars must have all aligned in his (and our) favour as we were able to commit to some dedicated training in preparation for his black belt and a date was set in stone.

Molly’s Story (The Graduate) …

Molly is a thoroughbred Fudoshin student as she enlisted aged just 9 years old as one of our first Junior students at the David Lloyd Dojo in Bushey. Molly was (and still is) a quiet softly spoken girl, she quickly made friends with the other children and worked well with anyone in the class. Molly soon outgrew the junior class and made the giant leap up into our intermediate class (for teenagers preparing for senior class) and just like Matthew and Tony she would see her partners come and go but this time it was Molly that was progressing through the syllabus and would eventually join the senior class aged 16 and would now be training with the group of adults all much older and all higher belts but undeterred she would progress all the way up to 1st Kyu Brown belt, this is where we first encountered a few “wobbles” those clouding doubts of “I can’t do this” and “I’m not ready for this” and the worse one “I’m just gonna tell Sensei I’m stopping” but with the support of her loving family and her ju-jitsu family we all managed to help her through the demons on her mental journey and preparations were made for the magical day of her epic “Shodan-ho” grading. Unfortunately (for fudoshin) like some students her age University beckons and it was off to Bath Uni she went with the passing words, I’ll come back for my black belt…Like I haven’t heard that one before. However, low and behold 5 years later at 23 years old Molly appears at the Dojo and says, I’m on a year out from Uni and I’m back for my black belt”

Now, I can see the future and I can see an opportunity for three very dedicated and very deserving students to be given the opportunity to grade to Shodan, so this brings me back to the phrase “A black belt is a white belt that didn’t quit.”

Here we have 3 students that haven’t just spent a year in preperation for a black belt grading, we have three dedicated students that have spent years in preparation for this grading.

Their Shodan grading started at 6am Sunday morning and consisted of a 12 mile run and basic fitness testing before stepping on the mat, before breakfast even. After our traditional breakfast at the Tudor Cafe, Peter now has everyone having a Spanish Omelette for breakfast. We opened the Dojo at 10am with opening ceremony welcoming all participants and visitors from London Ju-Jitsu Sensei Chris & Sensei Salur along with volunteer Uke’s Sensei Ian & Joe. I always have a plan and running order for gradings and its important for a grading of such gravitas to plan ahead with Uke’s as without them gradings like these just couldn’t take place, so I’m going to mention and say a very big thank you to Ian & Joe from LJJ and Sensei Mark & Sensei Mikey and Sempai Niral, a special thank you to Sempai Matthew and Jordan who both returned specifically just to support and take part in the grading.

After the warm up and break falls the candidates demonstrated all the basic throwing techniques from each belt of the syllabus. They were also tasked to demonstrate their skill set and craft knowledge to produce 30 techniques of their choice and also 10 counter combinations of their choice. They were also tested on their knowledge and understanding of each belt from our complete syllabus and their ability to handle attacks with various weapons and how to disarm assailants and retain weapons. Spirit testing is an important part of our Shodan grading with arduous Randori from multiple attackers, Ne-waza grappling whilst at their most vulnerable and peak of exhaustion and for good measure to finish a round of Kumite (free fighting) or milling as we call it.

After a physically tiring, mentally exhausting and truly emotional day we were able to successfully conclude the grading with three very deserving and exceptional Shodan, black belt students.

Congratulations Sensei Matthew, Sensei Tony and Sensei Molly on a truly outstanding grading, we are all looking forward to seeing you on the mat in your Black Gi top and Kuro Obi. Wear them all with pride in the knowledge you rightly earned to do so.

Intermediate Grading May ‘22

Thu, 19 May 2022 22:02:34 GMT

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A very big well done to the Bushey Intermediates and Rhys from Hemel also as they were dropped well and truly in it tonight with a surprise grading.

They all showed true Fudoshin spirit and demonstrated all the required techniques whilst under duress.

I have a great respect for these youngsters who have all opted for an uneasy path which in due course will offer great rewards, whilst other teenagers are hanging around town or sat at home in front of the X-Box / play station these dedicated students are pushing their physical limits in their Ju-Jitsu.

I wish on this occasion we let parents watch gradings as I’m sure they would all have been extremely proud of them all, graded to 6th Kyu Yellow belt (in no particular order)…
Eric & Erin, Toby & Cailah, Ty & Peter, Kilian & Rhys and Ben & Rebecca.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week wearing your belts with pride.

6th Annual Weapons Seminar March '20

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 17:50:56 GMT

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Thank you to everyone that attended and participated in our 6th Annual Weapons Seminar, we cover all the weapons techniques from our syllabus including Kubaton from 6th Kyu Yellow belt, Straight Baton from 5th Kyu Orange belt, Side Handle Baton (Tonfa) from 4th Kyu Green belt, Knife defence from 3rd Kyu Blue & 2nd Kyu Purple belt and finally pistol disarming from 1st Kyu brown belt.

A very big thank you to all those from our friends at London Ju-Jitsu, you all made it a great day and I hope you enjoyed the training and managed to take something useful away from seminar.

A special mentions to Simon B who gave up his Sunday to happy snap his way through 1300 photos of which these are only a select few.

End of Year Grading

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:16:04 GMT

Senior & Intermediate Grading 2019

Well done everyone that participated in and successfully graded at the weekend, for the candidates who attempted 7th Kyu Red belt it was, as expected, a massive shock to the system as their fitness and mettle are properly tested for the first time. Emotions always run high as its the first insight into testing their syllabus under duress...congratulations to Tyler, Malika, Shayan, Ishaan and Janno on an outstanding first senior grading.

Congratulations also to James, Gracie, Bryony and Lina, who successfully made it through their second senior grading to 6th Kyu Yellow belt and as expected suffered the infamous "Yellow belt syndrome" having experienced their first grading a few months previous everyone seems to forget how vigorous the testing really is as fitness and aggression levels are pushed to their limits...but well done you got there and you know you rightly deserve those belts.

Lina not satisfied with earning her Yellow belt decided she was going to join Anika, Daniel and Sankit for the 5th Kyu Orange belt grading as well.

Again their syllabus and fighting spirit are tested and pushed to limits and they certainly delivered an awesome grading considering they graded with senior Uke's. We always say it not a grading until someone sheds a little blood and unusually it wants Sense Peter this time but Daniel as he gave it everything he had. Anika facing Max someone nearly twice her build didn't hold back either and Lina exhausted from her yellow belt grading just wasn't going to quit, great sprit indeed...you should all be very proud of your achievements.

Congratulations Rory & Chris on your 4th Kyu Green belt, there was no messing about with this grading they went straight into combat mode and delivered a textbook grading...great techniques, bags of spirit and aggression there was no room for non compliance from their Ukes today, great job well done.

A have to say a special well done to Max and Harry who spent the entire day on the mat stepping in as Ukes to assist where needed with all the other Kyu gradings throughout the day before giving us an awesome 3rd Kyu Blue belt grading, straight into action with non compliance syllabus testing, so not only were they already fairly well spent fitness and energy wise but as expected pushed to their limits for their grading as well concluding their grading with another fitness test resulting in two extremely fatigued and battered candidates...Well done you two.

Thank you also to Semapi Niral, Matthew and Jason for giving up their Sunday to help, assist and general support everyone thought the day...we could manage these days without the continued support of our senior grades.

Not satisfied sitting on the grading panel both Sensei Peter and Sensei Mikey couldn't help themselves and their itchy feet finally got the better of them as they also jumped on the mat to Uke for the last two gradings...Thank you both for your support and continued participation in everything we do.

Autumn term starts with a blast

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 13:00:17 GMT

Sensei Jeff Pelter visits our Dojo

What better way to start the autumn term than with a visit from Sensei Jeff Pelter 6th dan and Sensei Mark Hill 2nd dan from Woodford Ju-Jitsu club. We love a guest instructor at Fudoshin and had a thoroughly great evening "stealing" (to quote Sensei Jeff) techniques to add and improve our syllabus. Lots of hard training and judging by Sensei peter face lots of pain as well but remember what they say..."No Gain - No Gain" :)

Looking around the mat and watching everyone working hard I could tell that everyone was enjoying the experience and for some this was the first time they had encountered an instructor other than myself, Sensei Peter or Sensei Mikey.

I'm truly privileged that Sensei Jeff had taken time to visit us and see what we are about and its such an honour to host such an established instructor. We are all looking forward to next seminar around March / April

Summer Madness

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 11:57:31 GMT

Bushey Grove undergoes summer refurbishment.

Our Dojo within Bushey Grove Leisure Centre is undergoing a refurbishment during the summer holidays, the makeover will include a new floor and interactive walls. Which means our Thursday classes are temporarily on hold for the duration of the works, however we do have alternative classes for those who want to join in with the Summer fun sessions at Hemel Dojo on Tuesday evenings, Queens Dojo on Wednesday evenings or South Oxhey Dojo on Saturday mornings, check our location pages for address and class times.

The summer holidays gives us an opportunity to move away from syllabus and concentrate on more of the fun stuff that we do such as "Tiger Tug or War", "Sumo & King of the ring" as well as some Spongee Chucks and boxing & pad work including "Running the Gauntlet"

All Bushey Dojo classes will resume as normal from 5th September, have a great summer everyone.

Simran & Jason's 1st Kyu Brown Belt Grading

Sun, 05 May 2019 19:32:29 GMT

Jason & Simran celebrate their 10 year training partnership

Congratulations to Simran and Jason who both successfully graded to 1st Kyu Brown Belt tonight. They both gave an excellent account of themselves throughout the grading demonstrating excellent techniques under duress with plenty of aggression and spirit. We are all so proud of you both, whilst there are thousands of kids sat at home in front of TV’s and their X-boxes you both take the hard option every week in training, you are both great role models for those that dare to follow. Wear those rightly deserved belts with pride.

Sensei Peter hits the Big 50

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:48:26 GMT

Sensei Mikey presents Sensei Peter with a Birthday Gift.

Sensei Peter turned 50 this year and to help him celebrate his birthday Sensei Mikey had organised a birthday treat for him, a rather special limited edition bottle of Japanese Whiskey...I'm sure you will join me in wishing Sensei Peter a very Happy Birthday and I'm sure he won't mind us joining him to help celebrate, now crack that bottle open old chap :)

Our 10th Anniversary

Mon, 15 Oct 2018 23:19:41 GMT

We've been teaching Martial arts in Hertfordshire since 2008

2018 marks an important milestone in our club history as this year we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary.

We opened our first Dojo 21st September 2008 at David Lloyd Health Club in Bushey closely followed by Hemel and Bushey Grove Dojos and soon after St Albans, South Oxhey and Hertford.

After our time expired at David Lloyd we enjoyed a brief spell in the Yudansha Centre in Bushey and we now train weekly at Queens School in Bushey.

I'm extremely grateful to all our children, parents and senior students for your continued support of our exceptional club.

We are looking forward to see what the next 10 years can bring us, so why don't you help us celebrate by arranging a FREE no obligation trial lesson.

New Training Times at Queens Dojo

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 23:24:45 GMT

Time to embrace change

The time has come to embrace some changes and with the intermediates now stepping up as they get older maybe its time to trial new training hours so they get the most from the lesson. From October we will start the Senior class from 7pm, this will now offer the intermediates more flexibility for their training with 3 options as follows, starting at 7pm and finishing at 8pm or starting at 8pm and finishing at 9pm or if they really want to get the most from their classes they can go hardcore all in for two hours 7pm-pm.

Happy training everyone

Dojos undergo refurbishment and makeovers

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 23:24:45 GMT

Both Hemel and South Oxhey Dojos receive refurbishment

With Everyone Active taking ownership of both Hemel and South Oxhey Dojos they are both receiving some much needed TLC by way of a makeover and some refurbishment.

Please be patient whilst these works are under way, I'm sure they'll be over soon enough and we can enjoy some new colour schemes, improved lighting and you never know there may be some new mats on the horizon.

Watch this space.