Who can join us?

To join us, the most the most important requirements are a good attitude and training spirit.

Role & Status

Everyone is expected to observe and uphold the Dojo etiquette. These are a set of traditional Japanese rules and some more modern commonsense behavioural requirements intended to prevent conflict and preserve everyone's safety and enjoyment of the training. This respect must be extended to proper clothing/ uniforms and training equipment as prescribed on the Clothing & Kit page, or as otherwise notified in writing or verbally. Clothing is not just to look pretty but is part of the training safety kit.

Our training programme and grading syllabus has adapted to take account of these concerns and restrictions, in particular the various age groups according to modern pedagogical guidelines and practical needs.

Risk & Security

In our membership application form (MAF), you will find sections relating to your own personal security/safety, health-wise, and also to the Club Security which, is concerned with the conduct and intentions of our members. To this end, the club often takes videos of the training sessions for both security and video creation and promotional activities. All members must explicitly agree to this (by signing the MAF) in order to join the club.

Download MAF (EN)

Download MAF (SF)

Health & Fitness

Fitness or other Olympic abilities are not needed, though we do of course endeavour to improve our fitness levels and mobility through training.

Any health issues should be reported in your application form, without exception. For everyone's safety and peace of mind, you must inform us. This will not necessarily prevent you from training, but failure to disclose information certainly will. In such cases, membership is forfeit without refund.

Responsibility

We practice a practical art (i.e. includes dangerous techniques and skills) that requires us to train in a cooperative spirit through collaborative learning and competition in order to be both effective and safe. Competitive activities and exercises are limited to friendly competition for the purpose of mutual skill development rather than extrinsic awards or other personal ego inflation. Prima-Donnas, terrorists, criminals, fanatics, and other egomaniacs have no place in good martial arts or responsible schools and need not apply.

Consequently, the Liikan Jitsu Club and the Liikan style do maintain some restrictions on who can join us based on criminal conduct/intentions, health, and age. Traditional Martial Arts were designed for adults in a bygone age and, as such, are quite unsuitable for young children or other more irresponsible juveniles and adults even.

At any time, if we suspect previous or current criminal conduct, we may ask you to produce a criminal record statement at your own expense. Equally, cheats on memberships subscriptions, training fees and other defaulters are regarded in the same light as any other criminal and treated as such.

Adults

Requirements:

Ages 19 +
Reasonable Health
Good training spirit and Attitude towards the Club and its other members
A willingness to make a commitment to the training
Martial arts, as in any other sport or activity, requires regular and consistent effort. To avoid wasting your time, as well as everyone else's, applicants should be willing to commit to regular training for an extended period.

Excuses are the cornerstone of failure!

Youth

Requirements:

Ages 14 to 18 (Note 16 - 18 year olds are usually big enough to train with adults)
Reasonable Health
Good training spirit and Attitude towards the Club and its other members
A willingness to make a commitment to the training
Although juniors often train together with or alongside adult members, for pedagogical / child development phase (mental and physical) reasons Juniors follow an adapted syllabus according to the age groups notified.

Children

Requirements:

Ages 10 to 13
Reasonable Health
Good training spirit and Attitude towards the Club and its other members
A willingness to make a commitment to the training
The ability to listen, follow instructions and behave in a somewhat more responsible fashion, even when not under direct supervision is an important attribute for safe and effective training. We do not, therefore, accept children under the age of 9 years. Their training programme is adapted accordingly with an emphasis on mobility training such as Parkour.