Colchester Wado Ryu Karate Testimonials

my son trey has been with this karate club for a year now,in this year he has progressed so much,he is more focused and really enjoys his lessons,the club itself is a family run avent in which it works excellent towards his students and their abilities,sensei and his sons are a credit to their club and i hope their sucess will continue.I would recommend this club to any one who wants to learn karate,this is the best in colcheater,and i have had experience at another club in the area and that was no where near as good.thank you to the club for making trey a better person at karate.

Great friendly atmosphere with a good team of people who are keen to help with all aspects of training

When i was younger i always wanted to learn martial arts my mother then managed to get me in touch with the colchester wado ryu club. From the day i started i knew it was something i was realy going to enjoy the Reynolds family and all the other students made me feel very welcome. Joining the class made me more confident in my self. The club has an extremely well layed out dojo and a sensei who is not only very profeshional but helps his students out in what ever way possible. I have trained at other clubs before but none seem to match this one joing the club is certainly something i have not regret doing & I would highly recommend it to anyone & everyone!

We've been training with Sensei Darren Reynolds and Colchester Wado Ryu for over a year now. The atmosphere is friendly and fun yet disciplined. All students are encouraged and helped by Sensei and his sons to work to the best of their ability. The classes are well structured to provide enough repetitions to learn the moves but not so many that it becomes boring. There's also a really good balance of fitness, stretching and technique. The club offers a wide range of classes through the week at different levels of expertise. Sensei's wife, Sharon, provides admin support and is always on hand to provide a warm welcome and information.

We highly recommend Colchester Wado Ryu to anyone looking to improve their fitness. Its a fantastic martial arts club where anyone, even beginners, can get fit, learn defense skills and have fun whilst working hard.

My daughter has been going to classes for just coming up to a year now and she still loves it. Grasshoppers was a fantastic start for her, she was not only being taught karate in a very professional way but a fun way too. It is very rare that you can get a good balance when teaching children but sensei with the help of Brandon and Eathon has managed this. She has since progressed to the junior class where the age range is from 5-13 yet sensei manages to get everyone in the class learning and interacting with each other. My daughter used to be very shy and since she has been doing karate with Wado Ryu her confidence has improved tenfold and she has not missed a class since she has started because she is always excited about going. If anybody says anything to me about karate I would 100% always recommend this club. They are fantastic, professional, fun and a teaching manner that is second to none.

Colchester Wado Ryu is a family run Karate club, with an amazingly friendly atmosphere. Sensei Darren Reynolds is a credit not only to Karate but to the sporting world for his dedication to the improvement of all his students and the club.
From a personal point of view, Sensei has encouraged my two very shy children into not only taking part in his classes but flourishing in them and becoming outspoken not only in the classes but in general and they are actively promoting his classes to their friends as they get so much out of it. My son was having a particularly hard time at school through bullying, and until we could change his school, Darren was always there for him and gave him support and advice on the best way to handle the situation.
My 3 year old daughter has gone from being scared of her own shadow and not wanting to do anything that involved being away from me, to being extremely outgoing both in and out of classes.
Sensei listens to every student, clearly believes that every child matters and understands that each student is indeed an individual. We can contact him day or night to discuss not only karate but anything that is or has been upsetting any student or indeed parent. To Darren, it is not just about the sport but the development of the individual’s personality and through the sport encouraging friendships and teaching his students how to overcome both physical and psychological issues.
Each student seems proud to be a part of Colchester Wado Ryu and this is readily displayed in the number of students that attend displays etc. You can clearly see that the club is not about making profit as its main concern, but in the students themselves. This is also evident in the number of students who have joined through Word of Mouth rather than through external advertising.

We first took our young son to this club only because it was the closest one to us. Not only were we made to feel very welcome as non participants. But over the months, we enjoyed being there so much that my wife and I have both started karate ourselves.

Now Darren and his fantastic staff have moved further away from us to the new Dojo. We wish them the best of luck with the new venture and we will continue to support them.

I am lucky enough to have trained under Sensei Darren Reynolds at the Colchester Wado Ryu Karate club for the past four years. I came to the club after training in several local Dojo’s, and not quite finding what I was looking for. I immediately took a liking to the atmosphere, finding the training challenging but fun. The club is a family venture, with Darren’s two young sons now both teaching and training, and his lovely wife Sharon dealing with any enquiries. The junior lessons are fantastic, with lots of games and running around, but discipline and respect are always present. The senior lessons can be hard sometimes, but we all encourage each other and there is a great team spirit. Sometimes I have turned up and not really been in the mood for training, but the atmosphere just pulls you in and you’re always glad you made the effort. There’s always plenty of ‘friendly’ banter to make you push yourself just that little bit harder! No two lessons are the same, and I found myself learning and improving in every area. My overall fitness, flexibility and technique are all improved and more importantly, my confidence, awareness and manners have also grown. Under Darren’s guidance I have done things that I would never have had the courage to do before, and applied these lessons well in the Police force. I have gained the skills necessary to deal with any attacker, but more importantly, to have the courage to walk away if I can.