January 2026 Newsletter

Welcome!

Please join us in welcoming the below students who have joined Berkshire Martial Arts in the past month!

Nelly Jalkhi

Lilia Jalkhi

Weicheng Tong

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First Class of the year!

We hope everyone has had a great break over the festive season and that you are ready to get back to training. Don't forget that the first classes of 2026 will be Wednesday 7th January at Garth Hill College and Saturday 10th January at Buckler's Park. See you there!

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Mission to Rwanda

On February 12th, Keosunim Caiden Taylor will be heading to Rwanda for 10 days with the "Reaching Rwanda" charity. Poverty, family breakdown, and the long-term socio-psychological effects of the 1994 genocide mean that there is an estimated 7,000 street orphans and another 300,00 children living in households run by a minor, this is a huge issue in Rwanda especially due to the government's ban on orphanages meaning many children are left to fend for themselves.

During Caiden's time in Rwanda he will be working closely with orphans; bringing toys and clothes, building and decorating homes as well as teaching classes in schools.

If you have anything from the list below that you are able to donate it will be greatly appreciated by both Caiden and the Rwandan children who will receive it. Please give any donations to Caiden, Sabumnim Taylor or one of the other instructors to pass it on before Wednesday 4th February. Any of the below will be greatly appreciated:

• Clothes for teenagers and children of all sizes (nothing skimpy)

• Children's Shoes, flip flops, crocs,

• New Underwear

• Toiletries - soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, towels, flannels etc

• "Non-melty" sweets

• Toys and games (non-electronic is best)

• Arts and crafts activities

• Cuddly toys

If you would like to make a financial donation then please do so via the link below, any money donated will be used by the charity to directly provide for the orphans:

• £50 will buy a goat

• £140 will buy a laptop for a school

• £150 will pay for a child's education

• £300 will buy a set of swings

• £600 will buy a cow!

Please make any financial donations by January 20th, we will then be able to donate it all as one large amount via GiveMatch which will double the donation!

Thank you in advance for any and all donations!

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Membership Review

As we kick off the new year we will be carrying out another of our regular membership reviews to make sure everyone is on the most appropriate membership options. If you've aged up in to the senior membership prices (age 13+) or if we don't think you're getting the most out of your current membership we'll be in touch in the coming days to discuss alternative membership options.

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Combatives Class

The next combatives class is:

- 9am, Sunday 25th January, Brakenhale School, Bracknell. Currently 20 places remaining. Click here to book! 

These classes are open to everyone regardless of whether or not they are a Berkshire Martial Arts student, however there is a minimum age of 16 and no spectators are permitted.

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What's on?

If you have any upcoming events or activities you'd like to make Berkshire Martial Arts students aware of please email the details over to jason@berkshiremartialarts.co.uk and we will add it to the next newsletter.

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New Belt Ranks!

Congratulations to all the below students who successfully passed their latest grading and received their new belt ranks

New Colour Belts/Tags

Robert Hull - Red Senior

Georgia Coyne - Red

Tekare McKenna-Stevens - Purple Senior

Alexander Harris - Blue Senior

Rachel Hinde-Harris - Orange Senior

Gabriel Jones - Orange

Laura Summers-Bates - Orange

Lucy Rose Ward - Orange

Aria Bates- Gold Senior

Erica Rodrigues - Yellow Senior

Naryan Singh Dhillon - Yellow

Simrit Kaur Dhillon - Yellow

Daniel Suvajac - White Senior

Gabriel Suvajac - White Senior

Gloria Suvajac - White Senior

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Top Attendance!

Well done to the below students with the highest attendance last month.

Juniors - Under 13 years old

Riley Shinners - 14 classes

Chloe Darby - 11 classes

Yasmin Broadley - 7 classes

Seniors - Over 13 years old

Kieran Darby - 13 classes

Ben Bates & Caiden Taylor - 8 classes

Rob Grossmith - 7 classes

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This Month's Grading

This month's colour belt grading will be held on Sunday 25th January in the movement studio at Brakenhale School, Rectory Lane, Bracknell, RG12 7BA . Further details will be provided to eligible students the week before the grading. The day will likely run to the approximate schedule below:

9am - Combatives Class

10am - Black Belt Academy Class

11am - Grading Group 1

12pm - Grading Group 2

Exact grading groups and times will be confirmed the weekend before, once we know how many people are grading

All names below are eligible to grade this month and should have received an email confirming their eligibility. Please check your spam/junk folders if you have not received your email. To secure your place in the grading we must receive a completed colour belt grading registration form and payment by Friday 16th January.

Eligible Students

Colour Tags

Caiden Taylor

Callum Bartaby

Chloe Darby

Jakub Kowalczyk

Kieran Darby

Marcel Kowalczyk

Nicole Kowalczyk

Raymond O'Brien

Riley Shinners

Colour Belts

Bella Sanders

Ben Bates

Bodhi Bates

Elaina Sanders

Eli Nomeika

Geoff Parry

Henry James

Ivan Baziuk

Lola Foord

Martin Stefanov

Michael Swan

Raphael Ford

Rory Caird

Sapphire Hill

Sebastian Lamberth