Sensei Denis Koltsov (4th Dan)
Denis Koltsov is a 4th dan in Shito-ryu Karate-do KOFUKAN. He holds numerous British Universities karate titles totalling 13 medals, five of which are gold. Sensei Koltsov is part of the Kofukan English squad and has represented England on numerous occasions with past two years bringing back gold in Kata (form).
Denis Koltsov started Karate in France under the instruction of Sensei Jean-Marc Ortega. Having moved to Cambridge in 1994, he trained and taught at Cambridge University Karate Club for 10 years and at Lancaster University Karate Club for 4 years. He specialised on Kumite (Sparing) and on introductory lessons for lower grades who want to start kumite. Practice of Kata (Form) makes the foundation of his training. Denis is training under the instruction of Sensei Keiji Tomiyama in Loughborough Club.
Sensei Denis has over 15 years of teaching and coaching experience with students reaching international champion standards. His particular interest in the introduction of free style fighting (kumite) to novices makes his teaching unique. He is also very interested in Fitness and nutrition and would be more than happy to talk to anyone wanting to lose weight, get fit or improve on their flexibility. Personal training is offered.
Accreditation
Sensei Koltsov is a fully qualified instructor. All qualifications are in line with the English Karate Federation (EKF) and Sports England. The EKF is recognised as the official governing body for England Denis Koltsov has a full CRB to work with children.
Teaching and Coaching
Teaching, Coaching and mentoring is Denis' passion. He is a professional educator at university level and had a hobby of helping a great number of karate student reach their potential. He coached Cambridge University and Lancaster University karate teams with outstanding performances from at times very small teams.
Fitness
Fitness is one of the key aspects of any sport discipline including karate. Basic body training and conditioning must be
done on a regular basis. Our training sessions aim at building the strength and fitness through
repetition of karate combinations, kata, sparring and direct physical exercises like situps, squats, etc. Some people
start training with us just to get fit and it works. So if you are looking to get toned or lose a bit of weight
then come along and talk to our instructor.
Flexibility and stretching
Just like the strength and body fitness are the key to correct practice of karate, the stretching and general body flexibility is of high importance. Most kicks require good hip flexibility and we work on stretching regularly. If you find this picture worrying, please don't. You will not be expected to do that. In fact every student is coached through stretching methodology individually and no previous experience or prerequisites are required.
Classes for Kids
We welcome kids from 6 years of age to train with us. We recognise that karate is meant to be fun as well as educative for younger students.
For that reason we incorporate martial art related games and contests. These games are so popular that we get asked to run Lancaster
City Council special holiday karate sessions.
Competitons
There are several major competition rule sets around the world. The most widely used are the World Karate Federation (WKF) rules. The competitions are conducted in Kata (form) and Kumite (sparring). Both contests are challenging in their own right. The WKF rules allow adults as well as kids to compete amongst their age group or weight category. Although it is impossible to remove all the risk while fighting it is possible to minimise it and WKF rules do just that. We wear WKF approved mits to our fighting training sessions so any blows (especially to the head) are as safe as possible. There are special rules for under 15 years old not allowing ANY contact to the head during the sparring match making it a very safe way of bringing younger generations into competition fighting. Lancaster clubs have performs very well on national and international competitions (see our twitter posts).
