Essex Wado Ryu Karate (EWRK) Martial Arts Club

Hello and welcome to the official SNAP Sponsorship profile of EWRK.

We're delighted to announce that we’ve now partnered with SNAP Sponsorship and we’re looking for sponsors who are excited about affiliating themselves with a successful martial arts club in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex.

We strive to craft a partnership with our sponsors that meets their specific objectives, whether that be community gifting, social responsibility (CSR), direct sales or brand building.

Whatever your motivation, find out more below. Thank you for visiting our profile.

Why Sponsor Us?

Early brand adoption and increased brand awareness in our martial arts community

Sponsoring a martial arts club with a high proportion of junior students such as ours, will undoubtedly put your brand in a favourable light and help you to gain an edge over your competitors as championing young people in the local area can be an incredibly valuable investment in your business’s future as well as the young athletes.

When local businesses support young people in sports, they demonstrate a commitment to the wellbeing of their community. This investment not only fosters a sense of pride and unity among residents but also encourages increased community engagement and collaboration.

Not to mention the benefits of early brand adoption. The youngsters that benefit from a brand’s sponsorship will always remember that brand’s belief in them. By connecting with those athletes at a young age, the brand can build loyalty and credibility that will last a lifetime.

Similarly, the parents of those young students will undoubtedly come to favour the brand that helped make their youngsters feel championed, too. Sponsorship of a local sports club such as ours is one of the most direct ways to tap into your chosen market. You can build valuable relationships with existing customers and reach out to potential new ones at the same time and by establishing connections with other local businesses, community organisations and influential individuals, these relationships can lead to new business opportunities, collaborations and strategic partnerships.

Sponsorship will allow EWRK to provide high-quality sportswear, equipment, competition entry fees and facilities for our students. When people feel like they’re being taken seriously and are being invested in, their confidence blooms and their skill level grows.

Engage with our many members and capitalise on our strong social media following

EWRK is in the heart of the community with links to a sizeable audience base surrounding the club. In addition to our large membership and extensive supporter network, we’re also active on social media and use our website and Facebook (with over 2k followers) to promote our club, events, competitions and sponsors.

We’re an extremely social club who pride themselves on being warm, friendly and family-orientated.

EWRK has an array of sponsorship opportunities which can be tailored to meet your objectives. Through sponsorship, our club will promote your company in a wide variety of ways enriching the profile of your business in our community. 

Remove economic barriers making martial arts more affordable, accessible and inclusive for all

Sponsorship of a martial arts club such as ours delivers a much higher return on investment than traditional advertising. This is because sponsorship allows your business to become directly involved in activities that are highly valued by local consumers.

EWRK is proud of its strong bonds with the community and enjoys supporting and engaging with local initiatives. Consumers are known to form strong positive associations with sponsors who support the development of sports clubs and also contribute to the local area and by directly supporting us, you’re helping to remove economic barriers – making karate more affordable, accessible and inclusive for all in the community.

Contact us now to find out more and explore what EWRK can offer you!

The Club Today

Essex Wado Ryu Karate (E.W.R.K) is a traditional karate club that teaches the art of Wado Ryu Karate in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex; suitable for infants, juniors and adults. Our chief instructor is Sensei Alistair Thomson (6th Dan), a karate practitioner with more than 40 years of experience in Wado Ryu and other martial arts.

What is Wado Ryu Karate?

Wado Ryu Karate is distinguished from other Japanese karate styles by its unique yielding nature, a form of soft energy blended with sheer, hard force in its techniques. Besides primary punching and kicking techniques, Wado Ryu students learn how to use body shifting to neutralise or deflect an attack, thereby causing the attacker to lose balance and to become more vulnerable to a counterattack.

Wado Ryu Karate was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka Sensei in 1934. Ohtsuka Sensei developed Wado Ryu after studying the Samurai martial art of Jiu-jitsu, and Shotokan (another style of Karate). This combination, according to Ohstuka Sensei, is a softer, more natural means of self-protection.

The term Wado Ryu means "Way of Peace and Harmony". This indicates Ohtsuka Sensei's original intention to use training in Wado Ryu as a means of solving problems in a non-violent way. The word Karate means "Empty Hand".

Values of Karate

What exactly are "values"? And why does karate manage to do such an excellent job at bringing them out?

More than any other sport, Karate gives you the chance to explore your innate powers. You will marvel as you increase strength, flexibility, endurance, balance and harmony. Yet this is only the start.

Your physical skills act as a foundation for something much more important: the development of your value skills, mental and spiritual. Not cut off from your physical skills, but intimately connected, even bonded, to them.

There is a saying in the karate world – "the more you train, the more you gain". The benefits to be gained from martial arts training also continue throughout your life, which may explain why there are many active karate participants in their 50s, 60s and above who are still growing and learning!
 

Chief Instructor: Sensei Alistair Thomson 6th Dan

Alistair has been training in the martial arts for several decades. His first karate licence is dated 1977!

He has trained with many different instructors and practiced many forms of martial art, however the majority of his training has been in the style of Wado Ryu Karate. He has trained with Yoshi Shinorarah, Shingo Ohgami and Simon Kidd and has achieved much in his martial arts.

Alistair is the first to admit that he still has a long way to go in his personal karate career. "The martial arts are full of 'masters' who have spent a lifetime learning their skills. The sign of a true master is to acknowledge that no matter how much you know there is still a lot more to learn. I hope that I never stop learning, because when I do then there will be no point in continuing my karate.

"I enjoy most aspects of karate. I don't have any favourite techniques as such – I enjoy them all! I enjoy the weapons training aspect of karate, especially use of the Nunchuku."

Alistair intends to continue his lifetime pursuit of excellence in karate, and would welcome some company on the way.

Aspirations

We're looking to increase membership and the number of events and competitions that we attend. 

Naturally, we want to support our sponsors and build them in to our club on a strategic level — allowing all of our partners to benefit from our ever-improving facilities, expanding audience and our community involvement.