The children are on their half term break, and it ' s time to venture out of the concrete jungle of Southeast London for a trip to the Isle of Wight.
We assembled at the Dojo (training hall), where 17 children full of enthusiasm and excitement, all helped to load the equipment for the trip, into the 12 seater mini bus and 2 people carriers.

Thank god for the enthusiasm of some of the Dad's who accompanied us on the trip, without them the trip would have been impossible.
We arrived at Portsmouth to catch the ferry, it was such a lovely day, blue skies, a warm sun and the smell of the sea. What was nice is that some of the children have never been on a ferry before, so 45 minutes later with legs like jelly they were back on land.

On arriving on the Island it's like going back in time, it reminds me of being in the early 60 ' s which for me were the good old day's.
Not too much traffic with a slower pace of life and time to think, about who you are and what you doing.
The children are always inquisitive, when, what, why, but, so one must try to keep them occupied.

We made our way to the Dojo (training hall) at the Medina leisure centre, there we meet up with the children from Sensei Mark Elliott's club, there were about 40 children all together training not only in karate but also practical skills. After 2 hours training we made our way to the campsite where each group of 5 children learnt how to pitch their tent.

After they organised themselves they were allowed to familiarise with the surroundings.
Many thanks to one of the parents volunteered to be the " cook " for the duration of the trip, which helped to make life easier for us all.

" Lights out " are 2 words that children don't understand, so for most of the night there were different discussions about what tomorrow would bring, and yes tomorrow came at 6.am.
Once everyone was up, some looked like death warmed up, others with hairstyles that not even Vidal Sassoon could dream of creating.
Breakfast was the order of the day, then washing and teeth cleaning which needed a little persuasion.
After that a brisk run around the campsite about 3k, then off to the swimming pool for an hour. A light lunch, then to the Dojo for 2 hour's of karate and practical skills. During the time on the Island must say the weather was gorgeous, and the children were really enjoying themselves and so was I.

The end product is that these children will remember and revert back to some of the good times they spent together. On the face of it children are human beings and have feelings just as adults do.
Parents sometimes don t listen enough, so these adventure trips are very important to them It helps them to express their feelings and desires.
I will continue to try and make as many children happy as I can through karate-do and practical skills and look forward to the next camping trip in August on the Isle of Wight.

If you and your child would like to attend the next trip, keep watching the website for information. www.otgka.co.uk

Sensei George Andrews.

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