Our club played host to Camp Geordie 08 recently. The three day long camp was attended by members from as far as Bury St. Edmunds and Perth in Scotland. The camp consisted of many types of training in different environments such as woodlands, rivers and on the beach. Senpai Glen Alexander, from Scotland commented; “I have attended this camp in previous years and it goes from strength to strength, every time I visit Spennymoor I have a great time. It is real value for money and training facilities are fantastic”. A grading also took place at the camp where four members of the club passed having been tested by Shihan Mac Robertson. Both Taylor and James have moved up rank to 5th Kyu and Adam and Debbie took their first grading and were promoted to 9th Kyu. Members of the club would like to thank everyone who kindly donated recently to a sponsored run organised by Amanda. We would also like to thank one of our sponsors, Mark Anderson for providing us with a great camping venue. We all had a brilliant, if not tiring weekend and we look forward to hosting Camp G next year.
Karate Kids CampSuccess
Eleven younger members from our club attended the annual junior summer camp in Nottingham recently. The camp consisted of a weekend of training under different instructors from around Great Britain, with students learning new self defence and combat techniques. In total there were approximately seventy students in attendance from as far afield as south Wales.
Two of our students also took part in a grading, which they passed with flying colours after a lengthy examination by Shihan Jose Claronino.Stuart and Rachael both moved up ranks, making Rachael a yellow belt and Stuart a brown belt.
Senpai Adam commented “I was extremely proud of all of the juniors who took part in the camp; it is a great honour to have instructors from around the country comment on the high standard of fighting techniques displayed by students from our club”.
Members Pack More Than a Punch
Members of our club would like to extent their thanks to ASDA
for allowing them to ‘pack bags’ in their store in Spennymoor recently. In the short time we were there we managed to raise just over £500. This is a great boostfor our fund and we will be using some of it to hire a mini bus for the kids summer camp in Nottingham. Amanda, who organised the event commented “I am very pleased with the efforts of those who turned up to help, the day was very successful both in terms of how much we made and the help we were able to give ASDA”. It just goes to prove that our members can pack more than a punch!
Karate and Kickboxing Success
Eleven students who train at our club passed their grading with flying colours recently.
They were examined by Shihan Martin Marlbrough, a Kyokushin Karate and Kickboxing Master from Perth, Scotland.The grading was split into two sessions, the first being a karate grading and the second dedicated to members of the ladies only kickboxing class,
who also train at the club. At the Karate grading four students double graded and the efforts of everyone involved were commented on by
Shihan Marlborough who said; "I am very pleased with the standard shown by all participants, particularly in the kata and it gives me great pleasure to see such dedication, particularly amongst the young students who train very hard and attend the club regularly". The ladies Kickboxing grading was unique as it was the first time such an event has taken place at the club. Everyone who took part in it worked exceptionally hard and after training so hard in the period leading up to the grading they were all very pleased with the results.
Karate Grading Members
Kickboxing Grading Members
Another Great Event
Members of our club attended the prestigious Kyokushin English Championships in Ware, Hertfordshire recently. The competition saw over 200 competitors gathered together under one roof from as far afield as Poland and Japan. The day was extremely successful and saw many of our fighters return home with titles and trophies.
In the boys 13-15 year old kata (patterns) category Nathan Graham placed third and Damon Gallone place first. Kenzie Williams placed third in the girls 14-15 year old category.
In the full contact knock down category the following results were achieved;
In the boys 10-12 year old category Stuart Ross from Ferryhill placed third having had four fights with different opponents. Taylor Murphy placed first in the girls 13-15 year old category and is now the new English Champion. In the boys 13-15 year old category Damon Gallone destroyed two opponents to win himself a place in the final where he was unfortunately beaten on a judges decision by a much older and bigger fighter.
In the girls 13-15 year old category Kenzie Williams defended her title against two opponents and remains the English Champion for another year.
In the women's heavyweight division Amanda Foster, 26 defeated a much heavier and more experienced professional fighter from Poland to hold onto her English Championship title for the second year.
Instructor Adam Walker commented that "all competitors train regularly at our club and are a credit to their community and the world of sport. I am very proud of them all and would like to say how pleased I am that they dedicate so much of their time to being the best they can be at this very unique Martial Art".
CLUB Members Battle It Out
Three members of our club recently moved up grades. They attended winter training camp, along with other members in Crieff near Perth, Scotland. Kenzie Williams, Amanda Foster and Craig Mayhew all did remarkably well considering the weekend of tests were so demanding both in terms of mental and physical ability.
Whilst the weekend was very hard for all of those involved it was particularly brutal for Kenzie, who, at the end of her grading had to complete 20 one minute full contact bare knuckle fights, against very experienced fighters from around Europe, all of whom, apart from 2 were men. She did this with a great fighting spirit and refused to be knocked down. At only 15 years old she is one of the youngest Kyokushin black belts within the UK. Congratulations Kenzie, well done!
Kenzie Williams
A big thank you to all at Crieff for their hospitality OSU!!!
Santa Came Early For Students
Seven students from our club had a 100% pass rate at their December grading which took place recently.
The magnificent seven were examined by Chief Instructor Adam Walker who remarked, “a very high standard was demonstrated by everyone who took part, it gave me great pleasure to see everyone trying their best”.
The highest grade of yellow belt black stripe was awarded to Nathan Graham (13) of Spennymoor who has been training at the club for approx. two years and who showed great fighting spirit towards the end of the grading when he completed seven full contact fights.
Adam is delighted with the ongoing progress of the club and is looking forward to another successful year with the possibility of having some of his students win competitions again next year both here in the UK and in Europe.
