Wado UK News 2014

December

7th Wado UK Presentation Evening
This year we celebrated our 7th Presentation Evening in the newly refurbished Asylum venue of the Hull University. It proved to be an inspired decision to move, as the additional space amply accommodated our 230 members in attendance. The view was the second improvement with the new venue as everyone was offered an uninterrupted view to the proceedings. To read more about the evening please click here.

Kids Christmas Bowling Day
On the 6th of December our kids Christmas bowling day grew to a whole new scale. This year we accommodated 96 youngsters at the Hollywood Bowl in Hull. Members of the Chikara, Shinken, East Hull Woodford and Zanshin Dojo's were all rewarded to two games of bowling and lunch for their hard work throughout the year. They all received their customary Christmas chocolate selection also. Thank you to all of our volunteer helpers who helped to shepherd the youngsters to their lanes and ensure their safety.

November

Final November Weekend
On Saturday 29th & and Sunday 30th November, Wado UK held its final grading and squad session of the year, along with a first aid course for good measure. It was a very busy weekend with two full days of activity. The Saturday was filled with courses aimed at final practice before both Kyu and Dan grades. These grading’s followed on from the morning training sessions, and around 50 hopefuls attempted to gain promotion to the next level. Not all were successful, but hopefully this will drive them on to train hard and give it another go. The Dan grading saw just the two students taking part, both of which were attempting Shodan, 1st Dan. They were both successful which means that Jordan Taylor and Ben Harrison are now among our senior grades within Wado UK. A great result for the two of them, and Shirley and Paul Braid’s Shinken Dojo. The two successful candidates can be seen below with instructors Steve Balaam-Reed, Paul Braid, Barry Meanwell and Tony Dent.

Western Karate Union Winter Invitational
Four of our younger members competed at the WKU Winter Championships on the 16th November. They returned home with 6 medals to show for their dedication, and you can check out the detail by clicking here.

Click here to read the November Newsletter

October

Competition Successes
Recent successes at competition were down to the commitment of two of our clubs. Shirley and Paul Braid's Shinken Dojo and Steve Balaam-Reed's Chikara Dojo recently travelled to the Midlands to compete in the CEWKA International. This event is one of several on the calendar for this group, this particular one attracting competitors from abroad also. A long and tiring weekend saw the following competitors receive the following medal successes.

Amie Newton bronze in Kata & bronze in kumite
Ben Harrison bronze in kata
Ellie Hayes bronze in kata
Yakub Lutwiejco silver in kumite



Sunday 12th October
It was a busy Sunday for Wado UK on the 12th October. Four events in one day saw us divided between Hull, London, Cardiff and Doncaster. The Hull event was a competition kata seminar with England Internationals Jon Gardiner and Emma Lucraft. This took place at the Shinken Dojo where Paul Braid had arranged the course to benefit those who wished to train at this competitive level. Around 20 of our students took place on the day from Paul and Shirley Braid’s Shinken Dojo, the East Hull Woodford Dojo, and the Hull Zanshin Dojo. The course was structured such that you didn’t need to know the kata practiced from other styles as such, as some of the training was around understanding movement, stance and kihon. The day was successful enough for Paul to suggest he would like to repeat the exercise again sometime in the future.

The London event was this year’s running of the BIKO Open in Cheshunt. A regular on the calendar for Wado UK, though not necessarily for competitors as we haven't attended for this purpose for some time. Tony Dent has been refereeing at this event for several years though and although rather quirky in its format, it is slowly beginning to improve year on year. This year was the first time that each area had a complete set of officials on each of the four makeshift tatamis. Who knows, in a few more years we may be encouraging our students to return en masse.

Cardiff saw the annual Welsh Open taking place, with just the one Wado UK competitor taking part. Josh Hartery from the Zanshin Dojo won medals in both his kata and Kumite events, and you can see how he got on by clicking here.

The fourth and final event then was a visit to Doncaster, and Andy Genery’s British Wado Ryu Karate Union. The purpose of this was to attend a seminar designed to accredit club instructors with coaching awards, which are required by most of our local authorities. Although not an English Karate Federation course, as Andy is no longer a member, it is a certificate most authorities would recognise as acceptable. The ideal would be for the EKF to roll out its new scheme for this purpose, but after over two years of inactivity on this subject we still have no idea where they are in the process. Despite the intensity of the weekend, several of our instructors were still able to attend this course, and it saw John Moreton, Steve Balaam-Reed, Jim Dunn, and Mally Adjei requalify as club instructors. Also in attendance for the first time was Brian Goff and Jon Chia. Jon actually still a junior was attending for a junior dojo leader certificate.

You would think at this time of year we would be winding down!!

Click here to read the October Newsletter

September

On september 27th, Wado UK had two commitments to attend to. Firstly it was the traditional Bag-pack which goes towards paying for the Kids Christmas Bowling Day, and the secondly we had the not so small matter of the British International Open Karate Championships in Glasgow to contest. For details of how the Bag-pack went click here, for a Competition report click here.

Our very own 6th Wado UK East Yorkshire Open Karate Championships took place on Sunday September 7th. Once again the day was a tremendous success, with over 400 competitors from across the UK taking part. Wado UK member clubs won an impressive 6 gold, 7 silver and 14 bronze medals at the event, which is the biggest and busiest weekend in our calendar. To see how the day went, click here to read a more comprehensive report. We also received a letter from the Lord Mayor following her visit. It can be viewed by clicking here.

To read the September newsletter click here

August

After a very quiet month for Wado UK during August, the things we have been involved in most of all are the events for us which will finish the year off. Rather than go into detail here why not click on the newsletter link below and read all of the detail in there.

Shinken Dojo Summer Camp
Paul & Shirley Braid's Shinken dojo ventured into new territory during the school holidays, with three days of summer fun for their own club members, and one or two others besides. The three days were full of karate along with fun and games along the way. Their efforts were rewarded with great feedback to the degree they have decided to run the scheme again next year. If anyone would like to attend on the next occasion just see your club instructors or contact Paul. We will of course circulate details nearer the time.

Click here to read the August newsletter

July

1st Yorkshire Junior Karate Championships
Wado UK were invited to take part in the First Yorkshire Open Children's Karate Championships at the Honeywell Sports College in Barnsley on 13th July. Clubs from within the Shindokai group had organised the event, and although the event was a complete unknown two Hull Zanshin members took to the mats. Click here to see how they got on.

Central England Karate Championships
Just two Wado UK competitors made the trip down to the Central England Championships this year. Joel Edgar and Jordan Taylor of the Shinken Dojo made the trip to the midlands on the 6th July. A silver and a bronze medal was won on the day, and to see how they got on click here.

Click here to read the July Newsletter

June

Wado UK Junior Championships
Our 5th Junior championships took place at the Woodford Leisure Centre on the 28th June. Once again we had an excellent response from our junior members, with over 80 entrants once again. The day was a great success, and all of the results and podium photos can be seen by clicking here.

Leicester Open Karate Championships
5 Members of the East Hull Woodford and Hull Zanshin Dojo's took part in this year's Leicester Open Karate Championships, and between them they managed to secure 9 medals for our group. Those in attendance were Teerth, Charan and Amrit Dhesi of the East Hull club, and Ellis Miller and Josh Hartery of the Cottingham based Zanshin club. Click here to see how they got on.

England Kata Squad Selection
Jordan Taylor of the Shinken Dojo has recently been selected on to the England 'A' Kata Squad. This follows many months of intense training with not only his Shinken Dojo, but traveling the country in search of courses with National and International instructors.

We wish Jordan the best of luck in this next stage of his development.

Click here to read the June newsletter

May

British 4 Nations Championships - Glasgow
Members of 2 Wado UK clubs took part in this year's British 4 Nations Championships. The Dhesi siblings form the East Hull Woodford Dojo, along with Aimee Newton, Joel Edgar, Ben Harrison and Jordan Taylor of the Shinken Dojo all made the trip to Glasgow. To see how they got on click here.



Northern Open Classic Karate Championships
Our youngsters did us proud recently when they won a total of 17 medals at the Northern open Classic Karate Championships. Members of the East Hull Woodford, Chikara and Hull Zanshin Karate Clubs took part, and you can check out their progress by clicking here.

Click here to read the May newsletter

April

BKA 50th Anniversary Championships
East Hull Woodford competitors were the dominant force for Wado UK at the weekend, when on the 12th April they secured all 5 individual medals, and played a part in the remaining 3 pairs and team medals. To see a report click here.

Wado UK/EKF Kata Course with John Gardiner
Wado UK hosted both John Gardiner, and the English Karate Referees Department on April 6th. The reason was to expose our students to the knowledge and experience of English International Kata competitor John Gardiner, and the valuable opinions of several of the EKF's top refereeing officials. This was the first time the EKF has held a course in Hull, and the East Hull Woodford Dojo was a perfect venue for the event.
The day was split into different areas of training, with our competitors and invited visitors training with John, while the referees were addressed by EKF Chief Referee Dale Gamble in the classroom. The second part of the day saw the referees and John training together, with the final part being the referees working alongside our competitors. The advice offered is sure to help develop our competitors further. Several referees then sat the practical exam required for them to advance to either judge 'B' or judge 'A', having sat the written exams after lunch.
A great day for Wado UK students and hardly any travel necessary, highly unusual!

Click here to read the April newsletter

March

English Karate Federation National Championships

Two Wado UK clubs were in the medals recently, when Paul Braid's Shinken Dojo and Steve Balaam-Reed's Chikara Dojo won 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals between them. To see how the medals were distributed click here.

Mushindo Kata Championships

Steve Balaam-Reed took his Chikara Dojo to the Mushindo Wado Kata Championships on the 16th March, and the trip rewarded them with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. A report has been posted on the competitions page which can be viewed by clicking here.

Chojinkai Junior Championships

On Sunday the 9th March, four of our member clubs attended the Chojinkai Junior Championships in Penrith. It was one of the longest days for a children's championships we had attended, with some competitors getting home after midnight. The group of competitors in attendance though took 18 medals on the day, and you can see who won what by clicking here.

Click here to read the March newsletter

February

ShitoKai England 7 Championships

The Dhesi family of Teerth, Charan and Amrit were in fine form at the weekend, when they attended the KSE 7 Championships in Gloucester. The competition took place at the G1 Arena on the 2nd March, and the total of 7 medals the youngsters won was almost a carbon copy of the results from last year. The trio ended up with 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals and a bronze medal following their kata and kumite categories. A full report can be seen by
clicking here.

Amrit, Charan and Teerth can be seen right with Rory Daniels, the 2004 World Kumite Champion from of the Western Karate Union.

New Wado UK Dan Grades
February the 16th also saw our first Dan grading of the year. Successful candidates were Matthew March who took 2nd Dan, and Paul Braid who was taking 3rd Dan, both from the Shinken Dojo. Following the physical examinations of Brian Goff and Gary Pickles of the Chikara Dojo, both students were awarded their honorary 1st Dan's.
Well done to all those who have received their promotions.

1st Wado UK Squad Session of 2014
On Sunday 16th February, around 40 of our Wado UK students assembled at the Woodford Sports Centre for what was the 1st of 4 squad sessions throughout 2014. The day covered kata in the morning session, with kumite in the afternoon session.
Qualified and prospective table officials and judges took to the classroom in the afternoon also, where they discussed the finer details of running a competition from an administrative side, and an adjudication side also. The day finished with all groups assembling on the mats, for some of the kumite students to practice with the new table officials and judges.
Those in attendance for the training on the mats, all have aspirations to get into the Wado UK Squad which will be our pool of competitors for competitions moving into 2015.
The next session is planned for late May.

Click here to read the February Newsletter

January

EKF Kyu Grade Championships
Wado UK clubs won 4 silver and 3 bronze medals at the weekend, as our members converged on the Ponds Forge sports centre in Sheffield. The event was the fourth running of the English Karate Federations competition for Kyu grades. To see who won the medals click here.

Luca Valdesi Kata Seminar
Paul Braid and several members of his Shinken Dojo visited the Midlands recently, to train with several times World and European kata champion Luca Valdesi. They can be seen below in a photo opportunity with Luca Valdesi following the training session.

Asda Bag-Pack

Our first activity for 2014 was another Asda bag-pack. A staggering £951.78 was raised by our members, thanks to the generosity of the Asda management, and the Asda shoppers. To see who won the prizes for the nearest guesses, click here.

Click here to read the January Newsletter