Members of the Bath club had a good day at the KUGB Southern Area Championships last Saturday – and very successful in many ways. Competitions always bring a sense of camaraderie between the competitors and this was no exception. The ‘Bath squad’ consisted of Richard, Emma, Amy, Kieran and Ron.

Kieran was first up in the Veterans’ kata, where he performed Sochin to secure a place in the finals. Ron was next in the ‘open’ kata event. Although he didn’t get to the finals, he did put beat the competitor who denied him a place in the last 8 at the Nationals 3 years ago – as Amy put it, ‘get revenge’ on him!

Next were Emma and Amy, who both performed Heian Yondan. Emma got through to the finals but Amy missed out by a narrow margin – still an excellent result for her first competition. These three categories had all taken place on Area 4, whereas Richard was on Area 1 so he had no-one to watch/coach/encourage him.

In the finals, Kieran drew with the eventual winner, but due to the ‘count back’ method of adding the scores he lost out by 0.1, taking the Silver. Emma performed Heian Nidan in her final and also took Silver. This was her 4th competition, and 4th medal, an excellent record.

The ‘competitor of the year’ trophy table so far has Kieran and Emma tied for 1st place, with 50 points each. Watch this space…

Last night, Bath Shotokan Karate club was pleased to hold its first grading of the year under Sensei Rob Welsh, 7th Dan. The club instructors would like to congratulate all of our students who passed their grade. Also special thanks to Sensei Welsh for making the trip to Bath to hold our grading.

Well done to …

Beatrice Craig – 9th Kyu
Florence Watson – 8th Kyu
Jake Williams – 7th Kyu
Ollie Childs – 7th Kyu
Chloe Burden – 7th Kyu
Marlena Gulaj – 6th Kyu
Emma Thompson – 5th Kyu
Harry Sanders – 5th Kyu
Amy Beattie – 5th Kyu
Storm Jackson – 2nd Kyu

It’s that time of year again. The KUGB Southern Region Championships are around the corner, on Saturday, 15th March, in Reading – more details can be found on the KUGB website.

Competitor entries are now closed, but all club members are encouraged to attend and support our competitors. Doors open at 09:00, the competition starts at 10:00, and the costs are £10 adults or £5 5-15 years (just pay on the door).

Just to remind you of last year’s club successes go to the ‘Competition News’ section of last April’s update. Who knows what will happen this year?!

Oh yes, and the club is sponsoring the Children’s kyu grade kata competition!