October 2026 Newsletter
Welcome!
Please join us in welcoming the below students who have joined Berkshire Martial Arts in the past month!
Jody Carroll
Changes to How We Do Things
Over the next few weeks and months, we’ll be trying out a few new ways of handling some of our admin behind the scenes. Nothing too exciting, but the idea is to make our systems a bit more streamlined and make things easier for everyone.
Most of the changes should happen in the background, so in many cases you probably won’t notice anything at all. If we do make a change that affects students or parents directly, we’ll let you know.
As we test a few new things, there may be the occasional small hiccup. If you notice anything that doesn’t seem to be working properly, please give us a shout. It’s really helpful to know, and it means we can get things sorted as quickly as possible.
Assistant Instructor Positions
We've had several people apply for Assistant Instructor positions so get ready to see a few more faces wearing blue in the next few weeks!
Two Big Challenges, Two Great Causes
This October, two of our students are taking on some fantastic challenges to raise money for two very worthwhile causes — and we’d love the Berkshire Martial Arts community to get behind them!
Laura Summers-Bates – October Plank Challenge
Laura is raising money for Cancer Research UK by taking on a daily plank challenge throughout October. She’ll be starting with a 20-second plank and gradually increasing the time every day, with the goal of reaching an impressive 3-minute plank by the end of the month.
It’s going to take plenty of determination as the month goes on, so if you’d like to support Laura and help raise money for Cancer Research UK, you can sponsor her here:
Callum Bartaby – Prostate United
Callum is also putting his fitness to the test this October by taking part in Prostate Cancer UK’s Prostate United challenge.
His challenge is to run 5km every single day throughout October — that’s more than 150km over the course of the month — all while raising money to support the work of Prostate Cancer UK.
You can support Callum and make a donation here:
We’re really proud to see members of our community taking on challenges like these for such important causes. If you’re able to donate, no matter how much, we’re sure Laura and Callum would really appreciate your support — and a bit of extra encouragement will certainly help when the planks get longer and the legs start getting tired!
Good luck to you both — everyone at Berkshire Martial Arts is cheering you on!
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.
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
Aditya Puthran - Brown Senior
Alexander Harris - Red
Anita Puthran - Red
Dean Mason - Green
Gabriel Jones - Green
Raphael Ford - Orange
Yuvein Ranaweera Vitharana - Gold Senior
Ruben Ford - Gold
Karolina Guigaite - Yellow
Elizabeth Maria Moldovan - White Senior
Freddy Horne - White Senior
Nithya Anne Thomas - White Senior
Rafael Patel - White Senior
Rowan Hak-Sanders - White Senior
Tina Bashkatova - White Senior
Top Attendance!
Well done to the below students with the highest attendance last month.
Juniors - Under 13 years old
Riley Shinners - 19 classes
Aditya Puthran & Chloe Darby - 16 classes
Michael Swan - 10 classes
Seniors - Over 13 years old
Kieran Darby - 20 classes
Anita Puthran - 16 classes
Ben Bates -15 classes
This Month's Grading
This month's colour belt grading will be held on Sunday 25th October 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 - Dan Rank Grading
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 October.
Eligible Students
Aaron Biju
Alexandra Rosa-Francesch
Angelitta Biju
Ben Bates
Bertie Duguid Farrant
Chloe Darby
Chris Dean
Elaina Sanders
Eli Nomeika
Freya Mclean
Gabriel Vechiato
Gracie O'Brien
Hebe Tong
Ibrahim Farooq
Isabella Sanders
Ivan Baziuk
Jimie Parker
Kenon Bandara Ekanayake
Lilia Jalkhi
Logan Taylor
Madison Dean
Martin Stefanov
Michael Swan
Milena Sapiezynska
Nathan Hounsome
Nelly Jalkhi
Olivia Calfa
Olivia Dean
Ovin Bandara Ekanayake
Rachel Hinde-Harris
Reyon Ranaweera Vitharana
Riley Shinners
Rob Grossmith
Rufus Davis
Steve Davis
Tekare McKenna-Stevens
Yasmin Broadley
Yusuf Farooq
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