Following the continued success of the Bushido warriors programme, Backwell Karate will once again be running a special course for children aged 5-8 years old.
The next Bushido Warriors course starts on Friday 28th February, and as usual bookings are taken in advance in order to secure a space for the eight week programme, which takes place in Backwell Parish Hall.
If you're interested in finding out more, visit Backwell Karate's Bushido Warriors page or email info@backwellkarate.org to request a registration form.
Precision kata and gutsy punching saw Nailsea & Backwell Karate clubs take home three medals from the JKS Open National Karate championship on Sunday 24th November.
The competition, held at Nottingham's Wildcat Arena, drew some of the biggest and best clubs from across the UK and Ireland. With over 800 individual entries and 100 team entries, the event ran for 11 hours solid. As a growing club, with a growing reputation, Sunday's championship was a massive test for Nailsea & Backwell Karate clubs.
Nailsea resident, Nicole Tanner took home a brace of medals in the below black belt senior events. With a sharp Tekki Shodan kata earning her the silver behind Joe Bulmer of Leeds, Tanner then went on to take bronze in a final fight that went to overtime, with the win coming from a quick body punch against her Sheffield competitor.
Nailsea & Backwell Karate's elite senior kata team (Devon Troskie, Steven Connell and Tim Griffiths) added another bronze to the medal tally, beating teams with exceptional reputations along the way to qualifying for the final. The Gold went to a team representing the TSKUK association (made up of 26 clubs in the South-East of England) whose final kata was delivered with exceptional precision and impeccable timing. But a solid performance of kata Ji'in gave Backwell the edge and saw the trio take third place.
At the end of the day, Tim Griffiths, Chief Instructor of the clubs said: "To take away any medal from a competition of this size is a phenomenal achievement, but to take away three was fantastic! There were so many good performances from the whole team and the team spirit from all those that travelled was fantastic.
"In particular, Nicole Tanner performed really well. Having just moved up to the Seniors this year it's a great achievement. Off the back of today's performance we're now looking forward to seeing her knuckle down and develop her skills so she's taking medals in the black belt categories in the future. She's definitely shown the potential."
Nailsea Karate & Backwell Karate's Tim Griffiths picked up a national medal this weekend in the Karate Union of Great Britain's 38th Shotokan Cup tournament.
Griffiths competed in the Male Senior Kata event, which saw competitors from across the UK and Ireland perform advanced katas, judged by a panel of referees and judges, in the hope of winning the prestigious Shotokan Cup trophy.
After a close elimination round and semi-final, the evening's final was contested by the same four competitors as the 2012 event.
Tim Griffiths, who teaches Karate in Nailsea & Backwell, said, "To get through to the final of a national event two years in a row is something I'm really proud to achieve. But this year's event was so tight that I can't help feeling that with another push over the next few months we can bring back a national medal of another colour to the club over the coming months and years.
"As well as our normal lessons week-in-week out, the plans for the clubs are to continue to bring in some of the best competitors and coaches for special seminars to help everyone improve both their traditional and competitive Karate. Having picked up golds at the Southern regions earlier this year, we’ll be pushing for improvement in all areas over the coming months. And with such great attitudes from everyone at both of the clubs I know we’ll keep moving forward."
The final coloured belt grading of the year is scheduled for Sunday 10th November at Sir Bernard Lovell School, North Street, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS. There will be no training in Backwell that morning. Training will take place from 12-1.30pm and will be followed by the grading soon after. After the grading the Annual Bill Winfield Memorial Children's Competition will taking place. We would encourage all under 16s to take part, which gives a great introduction to competing in a friendly, safe environment.
Those training or grading will need an up-to-date KUGB licence which needs to be brought in your red KUGB grading record book on the day. If you're not sure whether you'll be eligible to grade, please speak to one of the club instructors at training.
This month, Nailsea Karate features in the third issue of Nailsea Matters magazine, with an article emphasizing the benefits of Karate for adults as well as children.
We're really pleased to be able to let everyone in Nailsea know what Karate can do for it's participants and also that we are a club for all ages.
The article, contributed by club instructor Tim Griffiths, highlights what Karate lessons can help with:
"Many people wonder if it's ever too late to start Karate. Although it's popular with children, many adults who've started in their 40s reap the benefits of regular training too. It's not all about high kicks, in fact delivering a technique effectively and with accuracy are critical, which are skills that everyone learns. Practiced correctly, you'll see improved flexibility from structured stretching drills and you'll also get a good all-round work out at a pace that's always designed to push you, but never outside of what you're capable of – which is always slightly more than you think!"
Nailsea residents should have already received the magazine through their letter boxes. Take a look - it's a great magazine which we're proud to be a part of. For those who haven't received a copy, take a look at the Nailsea Karate Facebook page, facebook.com/nailseakarate, and don't forget to click 'like' when you're there!
Nailsea Karate would like to congratulate the participants of our sister club's students on completing a special two month Karate training programme.
Five, six and seven year olds from Backwell through to Clevedon completed the Backwell Karate Bushido Warriors course, which put the little Warriors through 8 weeks of Karate training in a programme especially designed for their age.
Friday night saw the culmination of this training, as the children demonstrated to parents and relatives everything they'd learned throughout the programme, from bowing to basic kicks, punches, stances right through to partner work in an end of course test.
Backwell Karate run the course as part of their support of the national Change For Life campaign, an NHS initiative to encourage people to eat well and move more. The club has been a Local Supporter of Change for Life for over two years, with the scheme recommending children from age 5 are active for at least 60 minutes every day.
The club's next Bushido Warriors course begins on Friday 6th September, and spaces are strictly limited. As soon as places are full we operate a waiting list for future courses. For more information about the Bushido Warriors programme, visit the Backwell Karate website.
Nailsea & Backwell Karate clubs hit new heights this weekend at the Karate Union of Great Britain Southern Region Championships, taking three regional titles including the blue riband event, Team Kumite (free sparring).
The gold for the prestigious team event, where clubs from across the south of England put their best fighters into teams of three plus a reserve, was won in a gripping final against the 2011 and 2012 champions, Egham Karate Club. Tim Griffiths, Devon Troskie and Dan Henley lined up for Nailsea & Backwell, but after three tight matches the scores were tied at one fight each and a draw. The fight went to one more deciding match, which was won on judges' decision by Backwell karateka Devon Troskie after dominating throughout an intense final bout.
As well as the team event, Backwell competitors Tim Griffiths and Devon Troskie took Gold and Silver, respectively, in an all-Backwell Senior Male Kumite final, which was won by Griffiths in overtime with a spinning back kick to the stomach.
In all, the clubs came away with an impressive 11 medal haul from the championship, which took place in Reading. After moving up into the 16-17 age category Steven Connell picked up his 2nd straight Southern title with a confident performance in the final. There were also impressive performances in Kumite by Nicole Tanner, Ayla Moore and Fergus Puddy and in Kata by Sam Henley, who each picked up medals in their respective events.
We're really delighted at how well each and every one of you performed on the day. All those that represented the club did us proud, with so many great performances! Here is our full list of results:
Male Team Kumite 1st: Tim Griffiths, Devon Troskie, Dan Henley, Steven Connell
Male Senior Kumite 1st: Tim Griffiths
Male Junior Kumite (16-17) 1st: Steven Connell
Senior Team Kata 2nd: Tim Griffiths, Devon Troskie, Steven Connell
Male Senior Kumite 2nd: Devon Troskie
Male Senior Kata 2nd: Tim Griffiths
Girls' Kumite over 5'3" 2nd: Nicole Tanner
Female Kyu grade Kumite 3rd: Ayla Moore
Boys' 10-11 Kumite 3rd: Fergus Puddy
Children's Kyu grade Kata 3rd: Sam Henley
Male Senior Kata 4th: Steven Connell
Full list of competitors: Tim Griffiths, Devon Troskie, Dan Henley, Steven Connell, Ian Connell, Dan Salter, Fergus Puddy, Jim Mateer, Sam Henley, Nicole Tanner, Kevin Hooper and Ayla Moore.
Do you know anyone with children aged 5 to 8 who might be interested in Karate? Our sister club at Backwell will be starting their second Warrior course of the year on Friday 10th May.
The Bushido Warriors beginners' courses are a great way to have fun and learn something new in an environment that's especially for children. Over the 8 week programme, we will teach the basics of Karate-Do, from bowing, to kicking, punching and also basic partner work.
For more information, visit the Backwell Karate Bushido Warriors web page (opens in a separate window).
Today is our first birthday! To celebrate, we welcomed over 20 students and two new starters to a funfilled class last night which included taxing punching drills, kicking drills and padwork!
Thank you to all our members for your support over the last year. It was great to see many of those present for our first ever class join us last night, and also to see so many new faces over the last 12 months. We look forward to seeing you all progress throughout our 2nd year!
We are delighted to announce that the Chief Instructor of the Karate Union of Great Britain, Sensei Andy Sherry, will be paying a special visit to our sister club, Backwell Karate, at the Backwell Parish Hall dojo on Friday 19th July.
Sensei Sherry will be taking a Kyu grade training session, Kyu grading and a special Dan grade class. This is the first grading to be held at the club in its 35 year history.
Sensei Sherry is an inspiration to those who train under him. He has recently been promoted to 9th Dan of the KUGB – 47 years after passing his 1st Dan under the auspices of the late Karate legend, Sensei Enoeda. Sensei visits us just ten days after celebrating his 70th birthday and he certainly shows no signs of slowing down.
The evening will run as follows:
Kyu grade training: 6.00-7.00pm
Grading: 7.00-8.30pm
Dan grade training: 8.30-10.00pm
As usual, the combined training and grading fee will be £20. Training only will be £10. Training is only open to students of Nailsea Karate, Backwell Karate and invited guests of the clubs. Please note that the start time is earlier than our usual Friday night training time.
We hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us for this momentous occasion for our clubs. It is sure to be an evening to remember!
Congratulations to all those members that graded today in Bath under Sensei Bob Poynton, 7th Dan.
After a training session for all grades, twelve members from both Nailsea Karate and Backwell Karate took their grading with all achieving full passes. A special congratulations to our five members who graded for the first time: Toby, Josh, Archie, Sandra and Matt. Matt started at our Nailsea dojo just a few months ago and did exceptionally well.
Congratulations to both Dan Salter and Dan Henley who passed their first and second dan gradings, respectively, today in Egham.
Both Dan and Dan have put in a lot of hard work and dedication to reach an excellent standard and we are all very proud of their achievements.
Dan Salter joined Nailsea Karate as a 1st Kyu a year ago and has quickly become a valued member of both Nailsea and Backwell. Dan Henley is only the fifth person at the club to have been awarded Nidan level, but is the third within a year, showing the strength of the club at the moment.
We will be delighted to see their continued progress over the coming months and years, and hope that their achievements prove an inspiration to those looking to take their black belt gradings in the future.
With Christmas around the corner, we wanted to let you know that our last training session of 2012 in Nailsea will take place on Wednesday 19th December, after which we take a one week break. We'll be starting back in Nailsea on the Wednesday 2nd January for those keen to get back to regular training.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and to thank all our members for their support in this first year of being in Nailsea. We look forward to picking up where we left off for a successful 2013.
Nailsea & Backwell Karate practitioners were buzzing this weekend after a visit from European Shotokan Karate Champion Sensei Matt Price.
After a surprise appearance at the Backwell Karate dojo on Friday night, Price taught two seminars at Scotch Horn Leisure Centre in Nailsea where he shared both competition and traditional Karate techniques and drills that have not only taken him to a European title but have also seen him coach a new generation of champions to their own Euro titles in Italy earlier this year.
Saturday's lessons saw Nailsea & Backwell Karate members put through their paces with drills to improve punches, kicks, sweeps and submission techniques over the course of three hours.
Chief Instructor at both Nailsea & Backwell Karate, Tim Griffiths, said, "We are delighted to host guest instructors of the calibre of Sensei Price here in Nailsea as part of our strategy and ethos for continuous improvement for the area. The progress we've made as a club this year has been fantastic, having won medals at regional and national competitions and also having seen numerous outstanding performances at belt examinations.
"The instruction at special courses like this – along with the hard work and dedication from club members week in, week out – help us to keep improving. I’m really proud to be part of something that feels so special right now."
Karate is an excellent way to get fit at the same time as learning a skill that improves concentration and discipline. Nailsea & Backwell Karate are currently accepting new members.
The final coloured belt grading of the year is scheduled for Sunday 16th December at Bath University Sports Village (New Sports Hall), Bath, BA2 7AY. There will be no training at the Backwell dojo that morning. Training will take place from 12-2pm and will be followed by the grading soon after. After the grading the Annual Bill Winfield Memorial Children's Competition will taking place. We would encourage all under 16s to take part, which gives a great introduction to competing in a friendly, safe environment.
Those training or grading will need an up-to-date KUGB licence which needs to be brought in your red KUGB grading record book on the day. If you're not sure whether you'll be eligible to grade, please speak to one of the club instructors at training.
Our sister club, Backwell Karate, launches it's new youth section in October.
The new programme, Backwell Karate Bushido Warriors, will run from School Year 1 (age 5) up to School Year 6 (age 11), split into two sections:
If you have a child from school years 1-4 who would like to start Karate then email or call now for more details and to enrol them on the Bushido Warriors programme. The number of spaces is strictly limited. Call 07720 285549 or email info@backwellkarate.org
And visit the Backwell Karate Facebook page at facebook.com/backwellkarate for the launch of the new Backwell Karate Bushido Warriors mascot over the next few days!
Nailsea Karate and Backwell Karate are proud to be hosting a special training session with Sensei Matt Price on Saturday 27th October.
Sensei Price is the current JKS England Squad Coach, and is a former European Shotokan Champion and KUGB Grand Champion. Those who've trained with Sensei Price in the past will vouch for the fact that he lives up to his reputation for teaching exciting lessons, with something that bit different from many other instructors.
Training will be held at the Scotch Horn Leisure Centre (Auditorium) from 10-11.30am for 9th to 4th kyus and 12-1.30pm for brown and black belts.
The cost of training will be £10 in advance and £12 on the door, and as space is limited, the only way to guarantee your place is to book in advance.
To book your place, you can
Take a look at the links below for clips of Sensei Price in action:
Sensei Price ippon at European Championships
Sensei Price demonstration at JKS World Championships
Backwell Karate picked up two titles amongst a raft of placings at the KUGB Southern Region Championships held in Reading this weekend.
Steven Connell and Tim Griffiths both picked up a brace of medals, with Connell taking Gold in boys' kumite (free sparring) and Silver in under 16s kata and Griffiths taking Silver in men's kata and bronze in kumite. Jim Mateer also picked up a kumite bronze (men's kyu grade category) in his first ever KUGB tournament.
In the team events, Backwell Karate took Gold in Team Kata and bronze in Team Kumite.
With an overall haul of two gold, two silver and three bronze medals this was the club's best ever performance at the tournament for the 70 KUGB clubs in the south of England.
Club instructor Tim Griffiths said, "Everyone's made fantastic progress over the last few months in Backwell and also our new Nailsea club and today's results really help demonstrate this. There was a great team spirit at the competition, and the medals put the icing on the cake.
Nailsea and Backwell Karate hold classes three times a week for both adults and children aged 7 and up and are currently accepting new members.
For more photos, visit the Backwell Karate Facebook page.
The next Kyu grading is scheduled for Sunday 17th June at Sir Bernard Lovell School, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS.
Prior to the grading, Sensei Bob Poynton (7th Dan, KUGB) will be taking an all-grades training session, which starts at 12 noon. For those members that also train at Backwell Karate, there will be no training in Backwell that morning. After training finishes at 1.30pm there will be a short break before the grading commences. For those who pass their grading, new belts will be on sale at the back of the hall.
Those grading are advised to bring their up to date licence with grading book and also something to eat and drink prior to the grading.
If you're not sure whether you'll be eligible to grade, please ask at your next training session.
We're delighted to announce that Nailsea Karate will be opening its doors on Wednesday 11th April at 6.30pm in Nailsea School (Sports Hall).
Although we're a new club, our small team of dedicated instructors have over 70 years of Karate experience between them. We are linked with Backwell Karate, which has a long history of helping local people achieve their goals through the martial arts.
From 11th April we'll be holding two classes every Wednesday evening. One that's dedicated to beginners and another for more advanced students, from purple belt upwards.
Why not come along and give it a try! If you're interested in finding out more, visit our Classes page or alternatively, you can send us a message straight from our Join Us page.
To celebrate the launch of Nailsea Karate, we're hosting a special 'double header' training course on Saturday 7th April with international medallists Sensei John Bruce and Sensei Holly Sterling in Scotch Horn Leisure Centre (auditorium), Nailsea!
There are two training sessions which everyone can attend. Training times are 10am to 11.30am and 11.45am to 1.15pm. There will be separate classes with each instructor which will be split by grade (beginner to 4th Kyu and brown and black belts) which means that everyone will get a good chance to get the best out of the training.
Space is limited and so places will only be guaranteed by buying a ticket in advance. Tickets for the whole day cost £16. While Senseis Holly and John have a 600 mile round trip to be here, for us it's a great opportunity to train with some of the best competitors in the country right on our doorstep!
Tickets can be bought at training sessions of our sister club, Backwell Karate, or reserved by email. Email info@nailseakarate.com for details.
On Saturday 4th February, the KUGB's England Kata squad selections took place at the famous Liverpool Red Triangle Karate Club, under the watchful eye of Chief Instructor Sensei Andy Sherry.
Sensei Tim Griffiths was once again selected for the England Squad. He was in good company - of the 23 selected there were at least four competitors who have previously won the KUGB National Championships and also placed at European and World Championships.
Tim is not only proud to be representing both Nailsea Karate and Backwell Karate but pleased that he can continue to train at the very highest level so he's able to pass on his knowledge to members of the club.
We look forward to this being the first of many highlights for the club in 2012!