FAQ's | SHMA Tang Soo Do

Frequently Asked Questions

Jewellery & Religious Threads

* If you have any jewellery (rings, watches, necklaces, earrings, bracelets etc... ) please remove them before training, or leave them at home.
* Only wedding rings are allowed to be worn during training. * Any jewellery which can not be removed, such as Religious Threads, should be covered by a tennis style wristbands.
* Jewellery can cause harm to both the wearer as well as the student's partner if it gets caught or makes contact during a contact training aspect (Hapkido for example).

Annual Membership & Insurance

*SHMA charges £3 per year to all students who are below black belt. *This £3 is membership which allows student access to our membership area and 3rd Party Martial Arts insurance. *This fee will increase to £5 per year from September 2024.

What Do I Wear

* All Primary & Secondary School new students may wear their School Pe kit during their first term of training. * Adult students are required to buy the SHMA uniform after a training period of one month. *All new students may purchase the SHMA uniform during their first term or the one month training. *Please note that only SHMA uniforms may be worn at our classes and we require the protective Headguard to be purchased at the same time as purchasing our SHMA uniform. * Leggings and football kit are not permitted to be worn at any sessions.

Catch Up / Make Up Classes

*A Catch Up class is a class that SHMA asks you to make up at any suitable class during a 12 week period from the date of the class cancellation. * A Make Up class is a class that SHMA allows students who have missed a regular lesson to attend providing a parent has informed SHMA in advance that the student will not attend the class (sick, dentist, sports fixture etc). * SHMA does not allow a make up class if advance notice of absence has not been given. * Advance notice can be as little as 5 minutes prior to the start of class. * Make up classes can only be caught up during the students booked training term and cannot be used at holiday camps, clinics etc or transferred to a new term. * To book a Make up or Catch up class you are requested to use the Contact Us form on our website and request the class you wish to attend and the date (you can only attend a class suitable for the students age and grade).

How to Pay

* SHMA Bank Account
*Account Name:
F. Carmichael
*Account Number: 10437061
*Account Sort Code:
60-04-24
*Please only use the students full name or the students membership number as the payment reference. *Payment's without a correct reference may cause a booking to be cancelled or for the student to miss out on the event.

Calendar & Class Changes

*Our website calendar is always up-to date, but may not match your schools calendar for dates and times - please only use ours for all SHMA classes and events. * Dates, classes and times in Orange show that we have adjusted a class time on this day. * Dates, classes and times in Red show that we have cancelled a class on this day. * We will add a Catch - Up next to a class cancelled by SHMA and ask that you review ther FAQ section marked Catch Up/Make Up Classes. Classes that are shown in Red and say No Scheduled Class indicate that this class was not scheduled and you have not been termly charged for this day; we show this (NSC) because other evening classes may running on this day but the earlier one (DAS) class may be an Inset Day, etc. * We ask you to always check the calendar before you attend an evening or weekend class in case you have missed an email announcing a class time adjustment or cancelling the class(s) on the day due to a school event, instructor illness etc.

Snacks & Drinks

* No butters or margarines (even I cant believe its not butter or vegan alternatives) can be used in student snacks / lunches at all SHMA classes and events: Master Carmichael will be violently sick and vomit if a student has the smell of this in close proximity (the children often touch their faces, clothes and hair while eating); Please use an alternative such as mayonnaise or salad creme etc. * All after-school snacks are required to be inline with the venue school and SHMA snack guidelines (NO Nuts or Nut products, No Glass, No Toothpicks for fruit, No Chocolate, Sweets or Crisps and all primary aged students must have the grapes cut in half). After-school snacks should be a piece of fruit, a plain biscuit(s) - (not shortbread) or an oat or granola style bar. Holiday Camp "naughty" foods are allowed and explained in more detail in the holiday camp section. All student food is checked by the class instructor or class welfare assistant before any student is permitted to eat their snack; this is to ensure student safety for student allergies etc, and I am afraid that if you give your child a snack that is not permitted, the snack will be taken from the student and returned at the end of the class for the student to take home.

Private Lessons

*Private Lessons can be booked as weekly set times in preparation for gradings or competitions or as an add hoc booking for a recap or confidence booster in preparation for a grading. *Private lessons with personal safety / self defence for non martial artists / persons who are joining secondary schools or university who may need to know how to remove themselves from any situation. *Private lessons costs are:
75 minutes £55 / 60 minutes £45 / 30 minutes £25. *Please use the contact us to book a day and time.

Website Members Section

* The membership area gives students access to student grading information, overpayment credits and video technique links + more! * Training students only are permitted in the members area. *Sign up is free. * If you paid for your term after the 1st day of the SHMA training term) you may have been removed from the members section for website student safety which does not allow non training members (after the start of our term) to access. *To rejoin this section just sign up again. *SHMA does not have any of your log in details; if you forget yours you will need to follow the website login recovery information. * Sharing of your password to allow any other person to access the members area (even if they are a training student and have forgotten their details) is prohibited and may cause your membership of SHMA to be withdrawn.

What does "it" Mean

*DAS = Direct After School. * NSC = No Scheduled Class(s). GUP = Coloured Belt Rank in Korean. * DAN = Black Belt. * BONG = Wooden bo staff. *TEMAS =
The Educational Martial Arts System. *SA BU NIM = Senior Instructor of SHMA (Master Carmichael). *ZOOM = Online class
*TANTO = Wooden dagger
*TAHN BONG = Short Stick
*AVE = Avenue Primary Academy. DEV =Devonshire Primary School.

Collection & Late Collection Fees

* All students must be collected by a nominated person(s). *To change a collection on the day please TEXT SHMA 07714 425883 to inform us of this change (We will not release any student without written, texted or emailed consent). *Parents who wish their child to leave the school alone are required to gain permission from the school before informing us (Our venue schools have different age consents allowing students to leave the site alone) * Parents of students who attend evening and weekend classes and are below the age of 14 who will leave the venue alone need to email us once to confirm. * We offer a 5 - 10 minute end of class collection period (actual times are provided in the class information when you book). *As soon as the collection period has ended and you have not collected your child, you are considered late and will be charged a late collection fee. *
Our late collection fees are as shown:
1 - 5 minutes: £2
6 - 10 minutes: £3
11 - 15 minutes: £4
16 - 20 minutes: £5
21 - 25 minutes: £8
26 - 30 minutes: £10
31 - 45 minutes: £15
46 - 60 minutes: £20
* All late collection fees are required to be paid in full before any student is permitted to attend any further classes. * We are not permitted to hand your child to the school to look after if you are running late. * We ask that you have in place a class collection buddy system to collect/hold onto your child to avoid a late fee. * If you have someone collecting your child who the child does not know,(cousin Mildred from Australia!) let us know and we will text you the safety word of the day to inform the class teacher in order to release your child. * We ask that separated parents please be clear on collection; we cannot legally release a child to a parent who does not have custody without permission.

Student Illness & Injury

* We do not refund term fees for injury or illness; we will transfer up-to half a term of fees to a new term if a student has a fracture or operation that prevents active participation in all sports or the student has a illness such as glandular fever, etc. * We ask that students do not attend classes if they have a bad cold, are coughing a great deal, have a temperature or are symptomatic of other viruses that can be transferred to another student. You can make up the class(s) missed, and in most cases SHMA will allow additional time to make up the class if the illness is within a few weeks of the end of the paid term. * You cannot make-up classes in a new term unless you have booked and paid for the new term or paid your monthly training fee (Advanced and Black Belt students).

Trial Lessons

* We offer a free trial lesson at the following classes: Mondays 6:15 - 7:15pm (7 - 13 Yrs of age), Tuesdays 6:30 - 7:45pm (11 Yrs+), Fridays 5:30 - 6:45pm (7 - 13 Yrs of age), Saturdays 9 - 9:45am (4 & 5 Yrs of age), Saturdays 9 - 10:15am (6 - 11 Yrs of age) and Saturdays 10 - 11:15am (11 Yrs +). * Students wishing to try a Direct After School Class may trial one lesson for £10. * To book a trial lesson please use the Contact Us form to request a trial lesson; please state the class day, date and time you wish to attend. * We will confirm with you the trial class and then request you complete a regular booking form from the classes section so that we can have a few more student details (medical details etc). * DAS trial students will be provided with the payment details to pay the £10. * Students should attend a trial class in their school Pe kit or loose joggers (no leggings are allowed, also no football kit is allowed) and we will request that you bring water, and if a DAS trial that the snack you bring is within our permitted range of foods.

Viewing Classes

*We welcome parents to watch their children in all classes except Direct After School classes and the Black Belt Class. * Parents watching are reminded that mobile phones must be kept on silent and kept in a pocket or bag the entirety of the lesson (child safeguarding), this also includes any other electronic devices that have a camera.

Headguards & Sparring Pads

* The protective safety Headguard is required by all students when the student buys their first SHMA uniform. * Safety headguard colours permitted are: black, blue white and red. * The full sparring protective safety kit is required when a student passes their 10th Gup (Yellow Belt examination). * A full protective safety kit comprises the following: Hand, foot and shin guards; (males also require a groin guard). * There are 2 types of protective safety pad that you may purchase from our website shop. The slip on style hand and foot guards which come in blue and red and the X style shiny pad style which comes in black, blue, white and red. * Shin guards are one style and the colours are black, blue, white and red. * All pads should be (when possible) one matching colour. * Mouth guards are required at advanced student grade, they are are strongly recommended from Intermediate student grade and are recommended from 10th Gup * All protective kit can be brought from our website shop and will be given to the student in their next class or as soon as they are delivered to the class instructor. * You may buy the kit yourself from an online retailer, however if you buy the wrong style or colour your child will not be permitted to wear the kit and will miss out on all aspects of in class training that require a head guard or the full kit. * SHMA usually sells the kit cheaper than you can purchase on Amazon, Ebay or any Martial Art Shops. * If you do buy the kit yourself, please remember that our Martial Art Style is Tang Soo Do Karate and not Taekwondo or Kick Boxing etc, and Martial Art safety kit styles differ according to sparring rules and the contact used in sparring *We are a semi contact Martial Art (light touch) so that we can show our skill, alert the other person to their sparring vulnerabilities, and train without fear of full contact sparring injury.

Venue Drop off & Parking

* Vehicle drop offs and collections are permitted weekdays between 6 - 9pm and at all times at weekends. * Vehicles are NOT PERMITTED past the wall opposite the school field. *This vehicle area is not for SHMA use (even drop off) except for the senior class Instructor. * Drop off, parking & collection is permitted at the side of the sports hall where the bins usually are, at the top of the football field and the bays in front of the main vehicle gates. *Any person who parks, drops off or collects in any other area on the school grounds will be reminded of our policy once and then if another vehicle infringement happens will be refused vehicle access rights for a 3 month period. * If SHMA feels the action of the vehicle movement is dangerous (reversing into our open doorway to turn) you will be automatically banned from vehicle access. * SHMA is not being difficult re parking - we have seen too many parents not think of the safety of all our students.

How to Book a Class

* Click the weekly schedule classes picture on the home page or click the classes tab, read the information for each class so that you book the correct one then click book! *SHMA will contact new member bookings via text to confirm that we have received and accepted your booking. * Once we text the booking confirmation to you, you have 24 hrs to pay. *If you have not paid in 24 hrs we will offer you another 24 hrs to pay for your booking with our standard £3 late payment fee. * If you do not pay within the additional 24 hrs your booking will be cancelled without notice to you. * A subsequent booking of the same term will still incur the £3 additional admin fee. * Please do not book if you are not ready to pay the class fee within the 24 hrs.

Student Medicines

* All medicines must be handed to the senior class instructor or class welfare assistant on student arrival in a named bag or container. *We require written (note/text/email) consent to give your child any medicine. * The information must confirm the student name/medicine name/amount to give/time to give. *throat sweets, headache tablets etc that older students often take themselves must be also be handed to the instructor incase a junior or younger student "finds" them in someones bag.