
Latest News |
|
Kata Course |
|
| Sunday 14th June on a glorious sunny day 68 students and instructors gathered for a kata course in Gordano School Sports Hall. Clubs attending were Clevedon, Portishead, Esporta, Broadwell and Shinwa, with a wide range of grades from the students. We broke into groups, and trained for about forty minutes with different instructors, thus giving the students a change from their own school of learning. When the fire escape doors were opened we also found there was a large flat grass area out the back, so some lucky grades were able to be in the sun, though not having brought sun tan cream or hats we alternated between the groups who were outside. Somewhere two hours was gone like a flash but I think that also shows what an enjoyable day everyone had. Many thanks to Vito for arranging the venue, In would certainly be happy to train there again, also to all of those who attended, without their support we could not have had such a great day. Nigel was on hand with his camera, so here is some of his work. | |
March Grading |
|
| Successful candidates from our March grading, glad it is all over and they can relax for a day or two. | |
![]() |
|
Birthday Boy! |
|
Would I really be nasty and put a picture of the birthday boy on the web? Yes, Yes, Yes! Happy 60th Nigel, enjoy the free bus travel. |
|
![]() |
|
Updates to our competition page and also the calendar, check them out. |
|
Clevedon Grading |
|
Sunday 8th March and yet more nervous faces arriving at the dojo, after an hour or so of revision we started into the grading. The first group were our newest members, we were pleased with their effort and overcoming the nerves. Second up was a small group but did they ever have heart? This group set the standard for the rest of the grading, they were going for it, all were hungry for that next grade, Thomas Moss, Ellie Casey, Michael Yeatman and Paul Green all had a grading they can be very proud of. As the grading progressed the heart and enthusiasm stayed the same, all those that followed knew what was expected and everyone of them gave their best effort. At the end of the day it was a pleasure to come away knowing that we could not have asked for more.
|
|
![]() A now more relaxed group of successful students |
|
Esporta Grading |
|
Saturday 28th February was a day for grading at our Esporta club, although not too many of the more senior grades were up for their next grade, the few that were had also managed some extra training at our Clevedon club, this did show. With training once a week at Esporta it is very hard to get to the required standard for those higher grades, so please try during the holidays to come to Clevedon. Lots and lots of the juniors up for their next belts, I must say they did work very hard, a lot of that also goes to the help that young Zara Thomas has been giving them, I don't think she scares them as much as I do! Overall it was a good grading with lots of effort, well done to all of you. |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
Clevedon Grading |
|
Congratulations to those members who graded on Sunday 28th September, a very good effort and a lot of new belts to show for it, well done. |
|
![]() |
|
Esporta |
|
A busy weekend of grading with the Esporta club also moving along. I do not remember seeing so many worried faces but they all did very well on the day. |
|
![]() |
|
New Boy! |
|
![]() New boy in year 7 |
|
Training night |
|
Just a few pictures from a recent training night, the body on the floor is Shaun! |
|
Grading |
|
Sorry for the late arrival of the grading news, I did manage to edit the many photo's that I was given and then promptly went and mixed them all up and lost them. Here we go again with the re-edited photo's. As always we only allowed about half of the club to grade, we believe that it is better to have the quality rather than the quantity, also although it still hurts for our younger members to be told they are not yet ready, it hurts far more to fail! It is a pleasure to see the standard improve overall, there will always be differences between the grades, some find it easy to do certain things while others give their heart but still struggle, giving of their best is what we are looking for. There are a lot of photographs to have a look through so I shall add them to a link. Well done to all of you. |
|
![]() |
|
Sudbury Visit |
|
Down for a week from Sudbury was Symone Bromley, not only did she attend the England kata squad training session in Reading, she came along to two of our Clevedon sessions. Training at a different club is always a culture shock, we all teach in different ways, personally I think it a good thing to train under other instructors, that is with the permission of your own instructor first. Symone fitted in well, helping out at the first session and having a good workout in the second. There must be more like her over in the east of the country, she was a credit to her club and a pleasure to teach. After a week with Chelsie I expect she would have though she had gone deaf on her long journey home! |
|
![]() |
|
Michael "Dino" Dean |
|
On the weekend of 28th June, our very own Dino gave up his time and energy in support of the "Help for Heroes" fund. Dino managed to get out of training with the juniors at Esporta to go for a 5k jaunt on a treadmill, I am not sure what it was, getting away from the tiddlers or walking alongside of some very nice women, well come the end he did also raise some £120.00 for a very good cause. Well done Dino, we shall make you suffer more with the little ones now!
|
|
![]() |
|
Dan Grading |
|
Congratulations to our new Dan grades, Jenny May and Simon Rudge, their hard work has finally paid off, also to Eddie Emmanuel on attaining his 3rd Dan. A hard day in windy and occasionally wet weather on Saturday must have taken it's toll on the stamina, though from the forecast I believe that we were very lucky with the lack of rain that had been forecast for us. Sunday morning and under starters orders the kyu grades were first up, all of the lectures, shouting and generally being horrible seemed to have paid off. Jenny now knows what it is like to sweat perhaps we shall see a little more of it in the club, we do have pictures to remind her. Simon held his nerves together, whilst Eddie did get out of his sick bed to give what stamina he had mustered. Over all a very good result for Clevedon club, it shows that these things may not come first time but if you persevere, you will get there. |
|
![]() |
|
Competition Results |
|
I am now compiling the results from our WKU national competition, it will shortly be on our competition page, also I shall add a small report about Chelsie and Shaun weekend in Edinburgh at the Commonwealth Open event
|
|
Donations |
|
Our thanks to those many members of the clevedon club who gave donations to the WKU fund for those attending the Commonwealth Games "elite"competition in Edinburgh. Donations from just our club have amounted to just under £1,000.00 a fantastic achievement. Simon Bunker a member of our club donated a very large cheque on behalf of his company Samba Consulting, so if you need any IT work done, he is the man to get in touch with. Hudson Engineering of Nailsea have also been very supportive, our thanks to one and all, no matter how large or small, all donations make a difference.
|
|
|
|
Kyu Grade Competition @ Bristol |
|
A full report for Clevedon and Esporta clubs is available on our competition pages. |
|
Jersey Course |
|
October 2nd-6th is the last course where Liam will still be on the island, he is due to retire back across the water to Ireland. Calling all of those who have tasted the hospitality of the Jersey club and who will also know the work and effort Liam has always made to make our trips so enjoyable, let us return the compliment and show up in force for this course. Many of our members have met Liam and his wife Joan when they have visited, coming on this course would also be a good chance to meet Ryan and Steve, they will be running the club after Liam leaves Jersey and I know they will keep up his legacy of fun, madness with a little training to go along with! Contact Kevin for details of flights and accommodation. |
|
Clevedon Party Night |
|
And what a night it was? Members and families
from the clevedon club took over the upstairs of the Triangle Club,
a great venue for any party. Nigel, Pauline and myself were up there
in the day setting up the tables and adding the helium filled balloons
for that extra touch. The disco arrived from Nailsea, this another good
choice for the night, we were on our way to party time. Our thanks to all of those who gave their time to make it such a wonderful night, the disco Steve Burley can be reached on 01275 880427. If you liked the venue have a word with the steward or his wife at the Triangle club, very good value, the best venue we have ever had, and a well stocked bar, well it was until you lot got to it! If I have missed anything let me know and I will add it, also any pictures you want added please send them to me. I have a link now for the pictures that we have so far, have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. Kevin & Nigel
|
|
New Dan Grade |
|
Congratulations to Zara Thomas who on November 18th became our latest Dan grade in the clevedon club. After what turned out to be quite a grueling pre-grading course Zara had earned her black belt. |
|
![]() |
|
Latest Opening! Clevedon club are expanding and will be running a club at Yatton Junior School on a monday evening. The start time is 19.30 until 20.30, this the only hour until the club is established and we can see if the second senior session is required. Please pass the word around, it is the best form of advertising.
|
|
Have you looked at our "students of the Month" pictures? Don't forget the kata course Sunday 4th November 14.00 - 15.30. |
|
Check out our competition page for the latest results. |
|
Officials Course |
|
Sunday 11th November there was an officials course held at the Clevedon Dojo. A lower than hoped for attendance from the association but still some good support from our club, this was to be rewarded with presentations to three members of our club. Michael Dean, James Brooks-Hulin and Zara Thomas all gained their table officials qualifications on the day. |
|
![]() |
|
Kata Course |
|
November 4th started off to be a kata course for those approaching grading from the Clevedon club, it turned out to be a very well attended course with visitors and instructors from Clevedon, Shinwa, Esporta and Bristol. With 49 training we soon managed to warm ourselves, we broke into groups and this gave each grade their own personal instructors. With a Dan grading on the horizon it was good to see six students who are all hoping to go for their Dan grade on November 18th, their standard was impressive. Our thanks to the instructors who gave their time and also to the students for their support. |
|
![]() |
|
Athletics Star |
|
Sophie Millard has again been proving herself on the track and field winning medals at an event in Yeovil and I believe more locally recently. Dad will write a report and I will add it to this section.
|
|
![]() |
|
Clevedon Training |
|
Just a few snippets from a recent training night, we seem to be making more time for Ippon techniques and self defence, I feel it showed in our recent Dan grading where Chris Green and Shaun Langson showed their skills to the panel.
|
|
Badminton Glory |
|
Grace Ball has again been showing her prowess away from karate, she has won silver in a recent badminton event, well done Grace. |
|
![]() |
|
Clevedon's latest Dan Grade Success |
|
The weekend of July 7th & 8th was booked for the summer course and Dan grading, not only was the pressure of training on in the weeks before, the weather was not looking as if it was going to play ball! I had booked the sun a long time in advance but even I was getting worried about my connections above. Still as would prove out, the sun shone, the wind dropped to a nice level and all who attended had a great time. Valuable knowledge from many instructors was lost by a rather smaller than normal attendance from our club, we do not carry out many courses during the year and all effort should be given to attend these. The Sunday brought the day of the grading, many nervous faces trying to concentrate on loosening up. The students attempting Shodan were first onto the floor, seven with our own Chris green being not only the eldest but nearly twice the age of his nearest compatriot. Still he gave it all he could, the sweat was pouring from him as he carried out the basic techniques, kata was next in line, a good strong performance. The icing on the cake for Chris came when Shaun partnered him for his Ippon techniques, the first strike on Shaun turned a few heads on the panel, that was setting the bench mark. The time that both of them have put in on this section and the help from the likes of Steve and Eddie proved to be very worthwhile. They were the only two carrying out take downs and very effective they were. The connections they made sounded hard and I expect a few were but the control that they have learnt together meant there were no injuries, this just as well as it was Shaun's turn to get up next, he was attempting his Sandan grade. Eight Dan grades in all going for a higher qualification. From the start the atmosphere was electric, here we had a group of established Dan grades who knew what was wanted from the and they were all determined to prove just what they could do. The standard that was shown throughout their grading was a good benchmark of what we in the WKU expect from our students, Dan grades and instructors. At the end of the day three of those attempting Shodan were successful, Chris being one of them. All eight of those going for the senior grade passed, Shaun amongst them. A point from being an instructor and also on that panel, the time and effort that Chris and Shaun have put in proved their saviour, a minimum of twice a week, most times both sessions and supporting of all courses and competitions that they could, it is their commitment that saw them through, once a week and not attending courses does not gain a black belt around your waist. Well done to both of them and thank you to those others as mentioned who have helped to get these two to the standard they are at. |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
March 31st Club Grading |
|
About a third of the club were graded and as always our younger members pull something extra out of the hat on a grading. The standard of effort was set by those attempting their 8th kyu, lots of heart and effort was very evident. Some of the seniors I am sure will have found it a little painful to move on Sunday morning but again they gave everything that they could.
|
|
![]() |
|
Christmas Party 06 & Club Report |
|
| I have not a clue where the year has gone, not
a bad one for the club with three new Dan grades through the system. New
members have arrived, lost members will be missed but they will always
be welcome back. A fair attendance at the party and many thanks to all
who came along and hopefully enjoyed themselves. Our thanks also to Pauline
for her help and all of those raffle prizes, the funds will be well spent
on the sweets for the last couple of nights fun and games. A big thank
you also to Jill Adams, you see her wandering around at competitions,
courses and parties with her camera, what you do not see is the hours
that she spends after editing the pictures and her work for us on the
web sites. Tomas and Ruth did us well with the bar, I did not see anyone
go thirsty on the night. As always there was plenty of food and a nice
variety of it for all to choose from. The disco was all that we could
hope for and with luck we shall certainly be asking them back for our
next party. Thanks also to Gary, Sindy and family, when Nigel and myself
arrived to set the place up they had it done already, saved a lot of stress
and as you all know I get a little of that until after the presentations.
On that note congratulations to Daniel Williams and Michael Dean, our
latest junior and senior students of the year. We have three new 1st Kyu's that now will be giving it their all heading for that Dan grading next year, Charles and Grace our latest 3rd kyu's have a lot of hard work ahead of them but I know they can both go all the way to achieving their Dan grades. The latest grading was a pleasure to watch, everyone gave all that they could, it must have been good as it was commented on that I did not shout at anyone! We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year, so please as always, keep drinking but please NO DRIVING. To have a look at the party photographs you can go to the gallery page or click on this link here. |
|
Dan Grading November 2006 |
|
| Congratulations to our latest Dan grade in the Clevedon club. A very nervous Daniel Williams held it together and gave a fine display to be awarded his black belt by a panel of senior instructors at the bristol dojo on Sunday 19th November. Daniel was the only student from the Clevedon club and also the only junior attempting their Shodan. Well done Dan from all at the club. | |
![]() Daniel with Dave Wheatley 7th Dan Vice Chairman WKU |
|
Jersey Course |
|
What a wonderful weekend
in Jersey for all those that made the trip! We had sun, lots and lots
of that strange yellow ball in the sky. Who would have thought that
it was warm enough in October to go walking along the beaches and there
are plenty of beautiful ones to walk along over there?
|
|
![]() |
|
I have many more pictures of which I am in the process of editing, these will be displayed ASAP |
|
AMA Portishead |
|
Report on our competition page. |
|
AMA Nottingham |
|
| Look on our competition page for a report and a picture of our kata star! | |
Beach BBQ |
|
A great day if a little breezy at Uphill, nearly 50 members and families from Clevedon & Esporta helped to make the day a success. Thank you to all who attended, we hope everyone had enough to eat, as usual Wendy supplied lots of food and some lovely side dishes to go with all of those burgers and sausages. I think the breeze stopped the playing of the usual beach games, the sand was flying a little and I know we stopped the juniors training a little early as we were worried about them getting it in their eyes. Still a few hardy (or fools!) did manage to make it into the sea, I think again it was mainly the Clevedon club leading the way. Jill has done a marvelous job of getting pictures up on the web, there are just over 100 of them for you to browse through so please go and have a look at them. |
|
Tough Guy Competition |
|
| On Sunday 31st July Shaun Langson from “Clevedon” and Ben Hughes from “Portishead”, traveled to Old Perton South Staffordshire to participate in the Tough Guy challenge. 2300 entrants stared the race off these only 1701 made it to the finish line. Both Shaun & Ben work at the Corus Hotel Spot & Leisure Centre, Failand. | |
![]() |
|
Dan Grading Success |
|
| Congratulations to Jessica Adams and Michael "Dino" Dean on achieving their Dan grade. On a muggy weekend course, the Saturday spent outside training and the Sunday indoors being the final part of the grading, they gave everything they could. The result was two well deserved extra black belts at the Clevedon club. | |
![]() |
|
Clevedon Club Grading |
|
A total of nineteen students graded on Sunday 16th July.
A fine hot day, just the type of weather to make them work that little
harder! A great atmosphere and some very welcome help early on from our
new Dan grades ensured that all of the students were put through their
final session and ready for what was to come. Many thanks to Jill Adams
for her photographic talents and lots of patience, in the last two weeks
she must have edited and posted over two hundred pictures on both of our
website's. Well done to all of those successful students, keep up the
hard work.
|
|
St Nicholas Chantry Fete |
|
| Again another busy weekend at yet another school, a very hot day but still a fair attendance seeing as this was the second weekend in a row that we were asked to give a display. A very appreciative crowd seemed to enjoy everything, plenty of takers for the sparring and a few who strutted their stuff at individual kata. Well done and thank you all for your support. | |
Tickenham School Display |
|
| On a very hot summers day we were invited to carry out a display at Tickenham school. About 25 students came along to support and most got up and strutted their stuff be it individually or with a partner. The crowd enjoyed it and showed their appreciation with many rounds of applause. Well done to all of those who supported, these events are a showcase for the club and can be a good boost to the students own confidence. | |
Latest news |
|
| Another Clevedon student has made it into our national squad. Jenny May will be representing WKU in the forthcoming British Youth Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Jenny will be taking part in both kata and kumite, we all wish her the very best. | |
![]() Jenny and her squad badge |
|