Wado UK News 2012

December

Wado UK Presentation Evening
The 5th annual Wado UK Presentation Evening took place on the 14th December. The evening was attended by around 150 of our members and their family members. To see who were the recipients of the club and association awards, (click here).

Geoff Thompson Kumite Course
On December 9th, Joe Munro of the East Hull Woodford Karate Club attended a Kumite course held by Andy Genery and his British Wado Ryu Karate Union. Geoff Thompson a five times World Champion was conducting the session in Doncaster, and around 35 Karate Ka attended the course.
Although Geoff conducts many courses for the BWKU, on this occasion it was used to help raise funds for the Youth Charter, which is a charity which both Geoff and Andy's sister Suzanne Genery were instrumental in developing. Suzanne lost her battle against illness some time ago, and the course was run in her memory.
Geoff was in many of the same competition squads as our own Chief Instructor John Moreton, and they remain friends to this day.

The photo shows Geoff and Joe following training.



Christmas Bowling Day 2012
On December 8th, 78 of our younger members converged on the Hollywood Bowl to enjoy an afternoon of fun. The youngsters came from 5 of our member clubs, and were all aged 15 years or below. Many of our parents assisted in the care of our bowlers, and we are very grateful for this assistance.
The event was a repeat of the 2011 bowling day, although the venue was changed due to the Hull Bowl closing during the summer. The afternoon was rather chaotic compared to the last time, but this was due to the Hollywood Bowl assuming control. Next year we will ensure that our plans are those used, and hopefully have a smoother running event.
On a positive note, all those bowling had their intended fun, and overall the day was a success. Thank you to all who assisted on the day!

Click on the photo of Tommaso Concass of the Zanshin Dojo to see a gallery of photos

Click here to read the December newsletter

November

Weston Karate Union Championships
The Dhesi family did Wado UK proud on the 25th November. The Hull trio traveled to Weston-super-Mare to compete in the WKU Winter Invitational Championships. Medals were the order of the day, and you can see how they got on by (clicking here).

Northern Regional Squad Training
On the 18th November, five wado UK squad members traveled to Sale in Greater Manchester for the latest in the Regional Squad program. Barry Meanwell, Oliver Dearing, Charlotte Pinder, Thomas Balaam-Reed and Calum Longmuir were all at the session. Teerth Dhesi, Joe Munro and Joe Rose were also due to be there, but an overnight stomach bug prevented them from attending.
The photos below show all those who attended the session, and our group of five athletes with instructors Gavin Foster left and Ian Swain, owner of the Sale Dojo right.

Click here to read the November Newsletter

October

Wado UK East Yorkshire Open Karate Championships
Our very own East Yorkshire Open Karate Championships were held on the 21st October. Once again they were held at the KC Stadium, in the recently renamed, Sports Arena. The day was well attended, well supported by our own athletes and supporters, and was once again a tremendous success. To see how the day went, and to check out our medal winners, (Click Here).

British International Open Karate Championships
On the 6th & 7th October, the British Karate Federation held it's International Open in Glasgow. Wado UK sent a small squad, and it turned out to be the youngsters who came home with the medals. To see how they got on, (Click Here).

Click here to read the October Newsletter

September

Two events on one day
On September 30th, Wado UK attended two events, one in Keighley, and the other in Cardiff. The Keighley event was the latest in the Northern Regional Squad sessions. It was held at the Number 1 Fitness Centre which is the home of Paul Newby's Olympic Dream Dojo. Oliver Dearing, Charlotte Pinder and Joe Rose were the youngsters there, and were joined by Barry Meanwell along with Chris and Dean Fenton. For details and photos (click here).
The second event was the Welsh Open Karate Championships. This was attended by Joe Munro, who was also responsible for looking after Teerth, Charan and Amrit Dhesi. The group from the Woodford Dojo managed to win 2 Gold medals, 2 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. To see how the quartet got on (click here).

Some of the youngsters involved are pictured below

Luca Valdesi Kata Course
On the 16th of September, Paul Braid and Matthew March of the Shinken Dojo traveled to Enfield to train with the most prolific Kata champions of all time. Luca Valdesi has won Gold medals at World & European, World University, Karate 1 premier League and almost every other major Karate tournament there is. He has been Individual World & European champion, and a team member holding World & European championship titles many times over.

The course itself was split over two 2 hour sessions, working on competition kata and techniques. This was followed by a performance by Luca Valdesi himself.

The first session started with a warm up followed by some technical work in lines, which included hip rotation work, focus, and other elements to improve kata performance. The group then worked on sections of a kata which would later come together to make the overall performances much more complete.

The second session saw those training working more on timing, and the difference between slow and fast movements and how to make the kata more dynamic. During this session everyone was pushed to the maximum of our physical and mental abilities. The day was thoroughly enjoyable and extremely hard work, but to train with such a prestigious Karate ka Was an amazing opportunity not to be missed.

The top photo sees Paul Braid of the Shiken Dojo left, Luca Valdesi centre, with Matthew March also of the Shinken Dojo.

Although the group photo below is rather small, it is worth including it here to show how popular the course was.

Bag-Pack 6
Our youngsters once again swamped the Iceland Store at the North Point Shopping centre, with a view to raising funds for more necessary competition equipment. To see how we got on, (click here)

Click here to read the September newsletter

August

South Yorkshire Open Karate Championships
On Sunday 19th August, 19 Wado UK members traveled to Barnsley to take part in this years South Yorkshire Open. This is a regular competition on our year planner, and you can see how we got on by (clicking here).

Click here to read the August newsletter

July 2012

Olympic Celebration Championships
Thomas Balaam-Reed and Charlotte Pinder were in action again recently, at the Olympic Celebration Championships in Sheffield. To see how the Wado UK duo got on, click (here).

Wado UK Junior Championships
On Sunday July 22nd, Wado OK held it's annual Junior Championships at the Woodford Leisure Centre. Once again around 75 of our youngsters took part, and you can see how they got on by clicking (here).

 

Wado UK now has its own Kabaddi medallist. Teerth Dhesi of the East Hull Karate Club has been involved in the sport for a little while now and can be seen to the right with his most recent trophy.

Teerth has won several trophies for this sport, many of which have been for playing above his age group.

Well done Teerth.

 

CEWKA Championships
8th July saw the annual Central England Wado Ryu Karate Association Championships. Paul Braid of the Shinken Dojo was there coaching a small medal winning squad. To see how we got on (click here)

Race Night Fundraiser
On July 7th, around 100 of our members attended our very first Race Night. The event was planned to help raise funds for our new competition mats and also to have some fun along the way. To see how we got on (click here).

Junior Lefevre Course
On the 7th July, several Wado UK members traveled to the Midlands to attend a Kumite course by Former World Champion Junior Lefevre. Below are pictures of those who attended with Junior Lefevre centre rear on photo 1.

Antonio Seba Course
Following on from our recent competition session with Paul Newby, we were invited to a competition session with former 5 X Spanish National Champion and Spanish National Squad Coach, Antonio Seba. Paul Braid of the Shinken Dojo went along with Jessica Newton and Joe Munro to take advantage of this opportunity. It took place at Paul Newby's Dojo in Sylsden on July 3rd and all three of our attendees said it was an incredible course to be involved with. If such an opportunity were to arise again in the future, we will be sure to jump onboard.

Pictured are, from L-R: Paul Braid, Paul Newby Antonio Seba, Joe Munro and Jess Newton

Click here to read the July Newsletter

June 2012

Once again former World Champion Paul Newby visited Wado UK to put our squad members through their paces. Paul visited on 30th June and he gave our competitors another session to remember. To see how the day went, (click Here)

Three of our clubs were competing at the Simon Coope Karate Championships on the 24th June. The group managed an amazing medal haul and you can see who won what by (clicking here).

Charlotte Pinder of the East Hull Karate club and JOsh Hartery of the Zanshin Dojo were in action on June 17th. The competition was the Chojinkai Open Championships and to see how the Hull pair got on, (click here).

Wado UK were in action at the British 4 Nations Championships in Glasgow on June 3rd. Four medals were the order of the day and you can see who won them by (clicking here)

Click here to read the June newsletter

May 2012

Three of our clubs took part in the Northern Open Classic on the 27th May and the group took 1 Gold 1 Silver and 4 Bronze medals for their efforts. (click here) to read a report of the day.

European Championships 2012

We had hoped to bring home exciting news about Barry Meanwell ’s second visit to a Senior European Championships, however fete had a part to play which left Barry more than a little dejected.
The England Team Coach, realising England had drawn the French team in the first round decided to
take a gamble. He put the younger less experienced fighters at the front of the line-up, thinking that if they could scratch a couple of draws out against the better French fighters, our big guns could go in and take the wins required to secure the match. However as is the case with gambling, there is always a chance that the plan can back-fire. This is exactly what happened because our younger fighters felt the pressure and all succumbed to the more experienced French competitors, meaning that mathematically the match was over and the England team out before Barry got his chance to shine. It was an incredibly frustrating time for those of us watching and only Barry himself knows the heartache of being so close and having the rug pulled from beneath him.
The work Barry did prior to this Championships was nothing short of incredible. Not only was Barry working all the Karate classes he could, he was also working in fitness classes of all kinds and strength and conditioning too. Barry sets a good example to anyone wishing to get to the top of our sport and he should at least be proud of his personal approach and professionalism to his preparation for this tournament. Well done Barry!

Tony Dent was there also as an official and things went much smoother in this area. The competition was a good one for him as he was selected for many matches of both Kata and Kumite. There was a recommendation from a Tatami manager to give Tony a final to adjudicate on, but unfortunately that didn't’t happen this time around. Tony is seen to the right with European Commission Member Giuseppe Zaccaro at the beginning of the tournament.

Click here to read the May Newsletter

April 2012

National Championships
Over the weekend of 21st & 22nd April, the English Karate Federation held their National Championships for 2012. Wado UK had some fantastic results, thanks to Jessica Newton, Barry Meanwell, Joe Munro, and Thomas Balaam-Reed. To read the full results (click here)

Our first news entry for April was one of success. Charan and Amrit Dhesi from the Woodford Dojo, along with their elder brother Teerth took part in the Mushindo Kata Championships. The younger pair coming up trumps with Charan taking a silver medal and Amrit winning a bronze. An excellent result for such a young pair of Karate-Ka.
Well done!!

Click here to read the April Newsletter

March 2012

Mat Grant

Wado UK were recently the beneficiary of a £720 grant from the Co-Operative membership Community Fund. The purpose of the grant is to increase the amount of tatami mats we have for our competitions and courses. The grant body as their name suggests, assists with funding requirements for community groups such as ours. We submitted the application earlier in the year, and are thrilled to be able to report the tremendous outcome. We will be hoping to have the mats in time for our summer Paul Newby course, but definitely for our 4th Wado UK East Yorkshire Open Karate Championships in October.
This is an amazing award, and we are very grateful to the Co-Operative membership Community Fund.

Oliver Dearing and Charlotte Pinder are seen below, holding a certificate from the Co-Operative membership Community Fund, our funders.


 

Northern Medical Services delivered a First Aid course for us on the 25th March. The idea was to make sure that all of our students were adequately protected during our regular training sessions. The day was well received and very educational............... For further details (Click Here)

The English Karate Federation held a Kumite / Kata course on March 24th. The course was aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of the referees and judges. Normally the 'A' Squad would be in attendance, however on this occasion this wasn't the case. As a result there were no competitors to help in the process. Wado UK helped out by inviting Harry Oetegenn and Joe Munro to the course to do a series of competition Kumite bouts. The pair did a great job and were warmly received by the officials on the day. Following on from the Kumite there was a couple of hours Kata practice, in which Tony Dent instructed the assembled Kata judges on the Wado Kata, Seishan.
Harry and Joe are pictured below preparing for one of their bouts on the day.

On March 18th 13 members of Wado UK Karate clubs paid a visit to the Hartlepool Wado Kai Championships. This was the first time we had entered this tournament and by the end of the day our clubs had won 19 medals. For a full report on the day's proceedings, visit the competitions pages, or click here.

On March 17th, 24 Wado UK members visited the Iceland Store on Brandshome to raise funds. To see how we got on please click here.

Our first entry of news for March is the Chojinkai Junior Championships in Penrith. This is an event we attend every year and this visit resulted in 12 medals for the Wado UK group. To read who won what and how everyone got on, click here.

Click here to read the March Newsletter

February 2012

England Call Up for Barry Meanwell
For the second year running Barry Meanwell of the Woodford Dojo has been called up to the England Squad. The selections took place at the recent EKF Squad session in Milton Keynes, where Barry was selected to compete in the senior men's team at the upcoming European Championships in Tenerife. The competition takes place between the 11th-13th May and we will attempt to leave a link on the Wado UK web site so that everyone can keep up to date with the action.
Congratulations Barry!

Jessica Newton from the Shinken Dojo flew out to Azerbaijan on Tuesday 7th February. Jess was selected to represent England in the Junior European Championships in Baku. Jess will be in action on Friday 10th in her Cadet Kumite division. We wish Jess every success and will bring you any news we receive as soon as possible.

The updated information for the squad as a whole can be seen on the EKF web site as reports and photos are being added on day to day basis.

 

 

The latest session in the Northern Regional training program took place on February 5th. It took place in Wigan at the Hindley Dojo, on a very cold, foggy and snowy Sunday morning. The trip over saw our Wado UK group brave -9 degree temperatures in an attempt to arrive at 9.30am, for a 10am first class. Fortunately everything went to plan and Oliver Dearing along with Charlotte Pinder attended their first EKF training course. The course was run by the Northern Regional coach Ian Swain, along with his assistant in the role, Gavin Foster. Presumably because of the weather, numbers were down on previous sessions, but it was still a hard and rewarding training session never the less.

Charlotte and Oliver are seen here with
 Ian Swain, Northern Regional Coach


Click here to read the February Newsletter

January 2012

The English Karate Federation held it's inaugural Kyu Grade Championships on the 22nd January. Wado UK member clubs entered competitors at the event and came away with eight medals. To see how the day turned out and learn of those in the medals, (click here).

The first Karate 1 Premier League championships took place in Paris on Saturday and Sunday 14th/15th January. Tony Dent was selected along with seven other English Officials to assist in the officiating of the championships and he had an enjoyable weekend. The standard of the competition was first class, as you would expect for a World Karate Federation event and Tony gained a lot of experience at this level. A bonus for Tony was a photo opportunity with World Champion Raphael Aghayev.

 

17 members of Wado UK will be competing at the inaugural English Karate Federation Kyu Grade Championships. The competition takes place on the 22nd January at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield. Good luck to Oliver Dearing, Charlotte Pinder, Teerth Dhesi, Charan Dhesi, Amrit Dhesi, Joe Rose, Gary Stevenson, Ellis Miller, Andrew Parker, Amie Newton, Brandon & Hayden Greenwood, Jessica Bates, Toby Ashwoth Tom Haylock, Lauren Horner and Lauren Foster.

Click here for the January Newsletter