UCD Karate club

The oldest and largest martial arts club in UCD, multiple UCD Club of the Year awards holder, currently holder of the title of All-Ireland Intervarsity Champion 2023 and Inter-collegiate Champion 2022.

We are training 3 times/week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

April Grading,  15th April

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Announcement: Freshers Trip to be held 11 - 13 Oct 2024.

Club news

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About UCD Karate

UCD Karate Club was formed in 1977 and has since enjoyed success as one of the college’s largest and most popular clubs. The club has won the UCD Club of the Year award a number of times and is currently the reigning Intervarsity Champion. The club’s primary aim is to provide an enjoyable and safe environment to equip all of its members with the skills necessary to progress in Shotokan Karate. UCD Karate Club has close ties with many national and international organisations and members get the opportunity to train with not only the club’s own team of highly qualified instructors, but also some of the foremost karate masters in the world. 

Weekly training schedule

We train regularly 3 times a week throughout the year. Find out more about our training here.

Mon
Wed
Fri
6:00pm 8:00pm 6:00pm
Hall A Hall B Hall A

Promoting our Karate community since 1977

Celebrating over four illustrious decades of promoting Karate in Ireland, we have consistently been one of the most influential college martial arts club in the country. Through the years UCD Karate Club have obtained numerous medals, awards, accolades and produced world-class karatekas. Enjoy the support of seasoned members, including our brilliant instructors who have all started off by being a junior member of this very club.

Our club is our family

College can be tough and we are here to make the experience better. Our club members frequently find life-long friendship. On and off the mats, there are always some activity going on, whether it’s a few drinks in the Clubhouse, a karaoke night, a hike, bowling and pool night, BBQ session or a trip overseas. And through the club, some have found more than friendship and found a family.

UCD Karate Intercollegiate Squad 2018

Our members consist of

Complete beginners

Majority of our members joining our club for the first time are beginners. We split the class dedicated for new members so nobody will be left behind.

Intermediate members

For members who have had previous karate or martial arts training, we conduct regular grading sessions 3 times/year and train you to impress.

Non-Shotokan

We train by Shotokan syllabus but you don’t have to change style. Our instructors are knowledgeable in various styles and will be able to guide you.

Seasoned black belts

Notable for our competitive successes, we develop exciting training programs and teams for Dan-grades, including overseas travel to European competitions.

UCD Alumni and Staff

If you have graduated previously from UCD, or currently working in UCD, you can join our trainings! The fee for the year is €100 and you can join in any sessions, as many times as you want.

UCD Students

Our training is available to all UCD students for free. We collect €20 annual registration fee which avails members with UCD Sports insurance plan as well as JKA Shotokan Ireland membership.

JKA Members

If you are not a student, alumni or UCD staff, we have multiple sister dojos under JKA throughout the city in YMCA at Aungier Street, Castleknock, DCU and Maynooth University.

Proudly associated with

We are the Shotokan Karate Club of University College Dublin
 We are affiliated with Japan Karate Association Shotokan Ireland
Training under guidance of Sensei Masao Kawasoe's Afro-Eurasia JKA WF
Bank of Ireland - Title Sponsor and official bank of UCD Karate
Red Bull - drinks sponsor of UCD Karate
Reads - official printing and stationery sponsor of UCD Karate
Netspeed - Official Web and hosting sponsor of UCD Karate
Avonmore - protein drink sponsor of UCD Karate
Fyffes - official fruits sponsor of UCD Karate
Shotokan Karate

Subscribe to UCD Karate updates

Our subscribers get first-hand updates about the next events, seminars, outings and freebies that we receive on a regular basis. Put down your email to stay in touch with our latest updates! We do not share your details with outside parties and will not send promotional emails outside of our own.

Want to Join?

Feel free to join any of our training for free to get started and make up your mind whether this is for you. On your first class, we can have someone experienced shadowing you, showing you the ropes. Don’t worry about falling behind, we’ve all been there before. As long as you’re not afraid to try out new things and take time getting there, you will succeed.

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