As you might have seen on the news this morning, Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered broad restrictions and shutdowns for restaurants, theaters, gyms, and all indoor social gatherings in an effort to slow the state’s burgeoning coronavirus epidemic. This is frustrating for us but we need to keep the greater good in mind.
Since martial arts schools are categorized as gyms & fitness activities, our indoor classes will be canceled until December 14th. Instead, we will be experimenting with outdoor classes and private zoom sessions. We will first try holding these new outdoor classes in our parking lot beside the dojo. These restrictions will be effective from Midnight (11:59 pm) on Monday.
In-person classes on Monday, November 16 will run as normal indoors at the dojo as this is before the regulations go into effect.
However, starting from Wednesday, November 18th, our in-person classes will be held outdoors.
Here are more outdoor class details:
– No INDOOR training.
– Location: We’ll practice outdoors in the parking area next to the dojo. The front 8 parking spaces are reserved for Emerald City Karate. We will be blocking off the entrance to the front parking lot to ensure the space is usable.
– Clothing: No karate uniforms required. Please dress appropriately for the potential of cold weather including shoes and gloves if needed. We are recommending that you wear your karate belt on the outside of your coat jacket.
– Weather: With the winter weather setting in we may need to cancel outdoor classes due to inclimate weather. We will post updates about any class closures on our public Facebook page. Feel free to call the dojo to get updates if the weather looks inhospitable.
– The schedule for in-person classes on Wednesday, November 18th will be as originally planned. The outdoor in-person class schedule will be announced for the first two weeks of December at the end of this month in our Cyber Dojo email.
Private ZOOM online classes: We will also be offering private zoom lessons for students who struggle with group zoom sessions. One private zoom lesson per week will be included with your monthly membership at no additional cost but donations would be greatly appreciated during these challenging times. These will be opportunities for our instructors to give you some one-on-one feedback on your individual skills. Please check our Bookwhen schedule for available time slots for these private zoom sessions.
Distance Learning Program: Since our Distance Learning Program is considered childcare, there will be no change for this program. Our program will continue to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Group Zoom Classes: There are currently no changes planned for our Groom Zoom Class Schedule.
Thank you for supporting our dojo and small business during these challenging times. This has been hard on our whole community and we appreciate all the support our members have been able to provide. It is solely your amazing efforts that have allowed us to keep our doors open when so many other businesses have had to close. Thank you very much. Arigatou Gozaimasu.
Let us know if you have any other questions. We’re here for you.
