We are thrilled to bring you this report from Mr Fieldhouse..

“On Saturday 14th May four pupils, Sarah, Danielle, Covy and Jake from New Bridge School gathered at seven thirty in the morning to take a minibus to Liverpool to compete in the 1st C.I.K.A England Karate Open Championship. Arriving before nine o’clock in the morning they were greeted by a huge crowd of karateka.

This was no ordinary competition! There were European and World Champions present and the competitors had flown in from Denmark, Switzerland, Holland and Ireland to name just a few of the dozen or so countries people had travelled from.

All our pupils were entered into the K21 open kata category and were competing against karateka of a higher level. The standard of the karate displayed was excellent. After several fiercely fought rounds, Danielle and Sarah had beaten the competition to take Bronze and Silver Kata medals respectively..

Covy and Jake also made a determined attempt, only just missing out on the medals..

The behaviour and comportment of the pupils on the day was to be respected as they carried themselves as true practitioners of karate should..

They also made new friends from the wider Ippon Karate Academy club..

The pupils made their instructor very proud on this day and should be proud of themselves for all they achieved.

This is just the start of their karate journey and in the future they will all be adding more medals and victories to the ones they won at this competition.”

Watch this space!!