HARPENDEN KARATE CLUB
Update
HARPENDEN JKA
Always busy
From grading and medal success to courses and guest instructors – Harpenden JKA Update is where you’ll find snippets of news about the club and its students.
13 Harpenden karate students graded, 13 new coloured belts
Yes! 13 Harpenden karate students graded – just about says it all really! Lots of hard work went into those new belts so congratulations all round.
Special shout out to the 3 new karate students (Nick, Chris and Emily) now sporting orange round their waists. The grading was held together with our friends at Stevenage JKA Club. Busy, long day for everyone and our thanks to Sensei Adel for travelling up to preside over the whole grading.
November and December 2019 Diary Dates
3 Key JKA events for Harpenden students – training, grading and competing
Winter International Course
Great opportunity to train with visiting senior Japanese instructors
Dates: Friday 1 to Sunday 3 November 2019
Times: Friday: 5pm to 8pm / Saturday: 11am to 2pm / Sunday: 11am to 2pm; Dan Grading 3pm
Venue: K2 Crawley, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley RH11 9BQ
Harpenden JKA Club Grading
Our own grading for kyu grades with Sensei Adel Ismail in conjunction with Stevenage JKA club.
Date: Saturday 9 November 2019
Times: Training: Black / Brown Belts : 12 -1pm / Kyu Grades: 1pm-2pm followed by the Grading
Venue: The Barclay School, Walkern Road, Stevenage, SG1 3RB
JKAE Open Championships
Another opportunity for Harpenden karate club to win more medals in kumite and kata!
Date: Saturday 7 December 2019
Time: 10am
Venue: K2 Crawley, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley RH11 9BQ
New karate students
A huge hello to our new karate students joining this October when we opened our dojo doors to people wanting to be part of Harpenden JKA.
We’re really delighted to welcome such a diverse group of beginners and experienced students. This group really emphasises the ‘family’ aspect of Harpenden JKA by adding three more sets of siblings and a couple of dads n’ sons to the club. (Of course we won’t be taking advantage of any rivalry when we play games and work in teams, no, no, no…)
Our new karate students are already part of the main class, having had some intensive training to get them up to speed with how we do things at Harpenden JKA.
At the next photocall, we expect to see some coloured belts and those trousers getting shorter as the youngsters get taller (or the washing machine gets its own back)!
Guest instructor, Abigail Good, JKA England squad member
We persuaded JKA England Squad member and Westminster student Sensei Abigail Good to take our two Thursday classes recently. Junior and senior grades attended, including young Gregory one of our very newest students.
Having battled her way up the M25, Abigail proceeded to give us some specific training across basics, kumite and kata to complement Sensei Miranda’s instruction. Abigail spent 18 months in Japan so her skill and knowledge is really valuable and on point – ideal just ahead of the JKAE Nationals and our July grading.
Both sessions were full on but Abigail managed to squeeze in a lot of laughter alongside the light bulb (or ‘I didn’t know I was doing that’) moments. And she promised to come back!
2 gold medals at the JKAE Nationals
We won a total of 4 medals, including 2 golds, at the JKAE National Competition on Saturday 22 June 2019! The competition was held at the K2 sports complex in Crawley. Our team of 9 entered 7 categories (kata and kumite) across the 10-19 age groups.
Harpenden’s medal-winning students are: Mounir Tadja (gold for kumite and bronze for kata), Katherine Israel-Bolarinwa (gold for kumite) and Timothy Halca (bronze for kumite).
We are super proud of everyone who entered. They all trained really hard to get to this level – and the results speak for themselves. This is an important karate competition featuring skilled students from JKA clubs across the UK – including England Squad members. Winning 4 medals is definitely a great achievement for Mounir, Katherine and Timothy – and the club generally.