Today saw the latest kyu grading in the Bath-Bristol area followed by the annual children’s competition held in memory of Sensei Bill Winfield. The day was presided over by Sensei Bob Poynton, 8th Dan. There was a great turn out from all of the clubs in the area with 73 people training with Sensei Poynton and 52 people grading. There were also 22 children competing at Bills Day.

Congratulations to the following members of Bath Karate who successfully graded:

9^th Kyu: Islam Elbadawy

8^th Kyu: Momen Elbadalwy

7^th Kyu: Alex Martin, Adrien Espinasse

6^th Kyu: Nancy Richardson

5^th Kyu: Adam Mutlow, Sam Daly 5^th Kyu, Ben Hardy 5^th Kyu

3^rd Kyu: Jack Frith

2^nd Kyu: Paul Gamble

1^st Kyu, Adam Winchester

Bill’s Day Competition Results

Kumite 7^th Kyu and Below: 1^st Harry Lee; 2^nd Dylan Mateer

Kumite 6^th Kyu and Above: 1^ST Tyler Templer; 2^nd Allister Hanlon

Kata 7^th Kyu and Below: 1^st Dylan Mateer; 2^nd Quaid Bennett

Kata 6^th Kyu and Above: 1^st Archie Newbury; 2^nd Alistair Hanlon

Student of the day: Dylan Mateer

Thanks to everyone who trained, graded, competed, refereed and supported the event. Thanks also to Sensei Poynton for spending the day with us.

The club instructors wish to send their congratulations to  Rebecca and Sam who have recently got married. Rebecca has been a member of the Bath club for over 10 years and Sam joined about 18 months ago. The two of them met at school (sadly, not training at the club – that would have been a good story!) and training in karate together has been a more recent joint activity. They are currently away on honeymoon in Iceland, but as you can see from the photo below, Sam has not neglected his dedication to the art!

The club has recently moved to a new dojo at Oldfield School in Bath. The details can be found here. As you will see from the pictures, the new hall is bright and modern and air conditioned. It also has a fully mirrored wall, to give you instant feedback on how you are doing! The new dojo also has good sized changing rooms with showers.

If you haven’t been to train at Oldfield School yet, then come over soon.

Please note that as of Thursday 3rd November 2016 Bath Shotokan Karate Club is moving venue to: The Dance Studio, Oldfield School,  Kelston Road,  Bath BA1 9AB.

You will be aware that Bath Sports Centre is undergoing a major refurbishment to the building and facilities. During this time, and in order that we can train in the right atmosphere we have found a new training hall for the club. The state of the art dance studio at Oldfield School will be a high quality dojo that has a sprung wooden floor and large mirrors that will enable the club members to train and improve in an appropriate environment.

Oldfield School is to the west of Bath city centre, near the Royal United Hospital.

Our training times will remain the same:

Adults:

Mondays,  7.45pm – 9.15pm

Thursdays, 7.45pm – 9.15pm

Please call Kieran on 07818 511216 if you have any issues or questions.

The club session tonight was taken by our guest instructors, John Bruce, 5th Dan and Holly Sterling, 4th Dan from  Sendai Kushiro Karate in Sunderland. Having been guest instructors at the club in the past, we were expecting an inspirational and technical session for all grades. 

John took the Dan grades for the first half, going through kata Tekki Nidan (a club favourite!). The session was based around the principle of developing the ‘small’ movements (hip and slight body rotation) rather than the large, obvious movements. Meanwhile, Holly was instructing the Kyu grades in basics, focusing on posture and timing in punching, and also the kata Heian Nidan.

The instructors then swapped and John took the Kyu grades through aspects of kihon ippon kumite focusing on defences using spinning uraken uchi strikes. Holly took the Dan grades through some kumite techniques linking kicks, sweeps and punches. This was very technical, but most were able to make the combination ‘flow’ by the end of the session – which came all too quickly. 

Overall, the session was enjoyed by all the students, each of whom took something to work on from the expert instruction of two of the best ambassadors for the KUGB. We are already planning the next session with them … 

Just to prove that the Bath Karate club trains hard and plays hard! The club had its summer barbecue and party today. A chance to relax, enjoy each others’ company and even talk about subjects other than karate!!

Many thanks to Kieran and Paula for hosting the party and opening their house to the club.

Many congratulations to Adam, Jack, Sam and Paul for passing their latest kyu gradings today. All four performed very well under the watchful eye of Sensei Bob Poynton, 8th Dan, the grading examiner.

Last night, Bath Karate club members rounded out 2015 with the annual Christmas dinner in Bath. A good number of members eat and drank their way through the evening. This has been a very good year for the club with a number of successful gradings (including new black belts), competition successes, but above all, consistent and regular training.

At the dinner, Nigel Davies was presented with the award for Student of the Year, selected by the club’s senior instructors – well done Nigel!

Training starts again on Monday, January 4th 2016.

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year to all our members, friends and families.

Today, the club instructors have awarded the Bath Karate Competitor of the Year for 2015 to Gosia Glapiak. Gosia has dedicated herself to training hard this year, being awarded her 1st Dan grade and has competed really well obtaining medals in both the Southern Areas and the South West Areas Championships.

On the same day as the Kyu grading, the annual Bill Winfield Memorial Children’s competion was held.  17 children from the local clubs competed; the results were:

Kumite 7^th Kyu and below
1^st – Alfie Teague – Backwell Karate
2^nd – Adam House – Backwell Karate

Kata 7^th Kyu and below
1^st – Alistair Hanlon – Backwell Karate
2^nd – Quaid Bennett – Backwell Karate

Kumite 6^th Kyu and above
1^st – Theo Isaac – Bath SKC
2^nd – Brandon Cole – Backwell Karate

Kata 6^th Kyu and above
1^st – Archie Newbury – Backwell Karate
2^nd – Josh Mashford – Backwell Karate

Competitor of the day 
Alfie Teague –  Backwell Karate