The LKA had a party of 19 competitors compete as part of the JKS England Team at the 2012 JKS Ireland Open, held in Dublin. For many, it was the first time competing abroad.

LKA competitors won three events in total. Ashley Scott beat team-mate Mell Finlay to win the Senior Female Kumite title. She also took Bronze in the Female Kata event. Jordon Probst won the Junior Male Kumite with Joe Finlay taking third place in the same event.

Finally, in perhaps the most pleasing result, Stephen Brown and Sam Goulden were part of the JKS England B Team which beat the JKS England A Team in the Team Kumite final. The A Team consisted of Tom Little, Joe Hart and Joe Finlay. Joe Bulmer was part of the JKS England C Team, which took Bronze in the same event.

The full results for the JKS Squad are on on the link below.

http://www.jksengland.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=8

The full list of the LKA Competitors was: Ashley Scott, Zoe Price, Jordon Probst, Melissa Finlay, Joe Finlay, Sam Goulden, Joe Hart, Stephen Brown, James Brown, Holly Dickinson, Tom Little, Oliver Deane, Dan Martin, Tom Mitchell, Callam Payne, Emelye O’Brien, Adam Banks, Sam Mitchell and Joe Bulmer.

The LKA had a number of competitors competing for the JKS England Team at the EKF National Championships, held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 22nd April. This was, for most, the first time competing under World Karate Federation (WKF) rules and bearing that in mind, it was a very successful outing.

Leading the way was the Senior Male Team, in which the LKA had 6 of the 7 permitted competitors representing JKS England. The team performed very well indeed, reaching the final where they lost to the perenial champions at this event, the Western Karate Union, coached by former WKF World Champion Rory Daniels. To take a Silver medal in your first attempt was a superb achievement. Many congratulations to Joe Hart, Tom Little, Jordon Probst, Sam Goulden, Joe Finlay and Stephen Brown.

In the Senior Female Team, Ashley Scott and Mell Finlay helped the team take a Bronze medal, again an excellent showing for a first time out. Both these Ladies also took joint third in the Female Kumite Under 61Kg event, which was won by Natalie Williams who placed third at the last WKF World Championships in this category.

We were very impressed by the new WKF rule system. It was very good to see that there was practically no diving or faking of injury by competitors, indeed if there was any it was immediately penalised. The level of contact was similar to what we’ve been used to within the Shobu Ippon environment and the repercharge system allowed competitors beaten by the eventual finalist to re-enter the event and compete for the Bronze medal.

All in all, an excellent first run out under these rules. Our next event is the JKS Ireland Open in Dublin in May, where we will be back competing under the familiar Shobu-Ippon rules.

The full list of the competitors from LKA was: Ashley Scott, David Wright, Jordon Probst, Melissa Finlay, Joe Finlay, Sam Goulden, Joe Hart, Stephen Brown, James Brown, Holly Dickinson, Tom Little and Callam Payne.

Eleven LKA members and our good friend Tim Griffiths from Bristol have just returned from a training trip to the JKS Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan.  As expected, the training sessions in Tokyo were very hard, and in the 6 sessions that we completed there we trained with Sensei’s Kagawa, Inada, Matsue, Nagaki and Kai.  Each brought something a little different but one recurring theme was always there, very hard drilling of Kihon.  The pace and content of the classes was always impressive and inspiring, as indeed is the venue itself.

Interestingly, our third session coincided with the ‘first day at work’ for a new Kenschusei, or Student Instructor, Daisuke Wattanabe.  He is a graduate of Teikyo University and it was very interesting to see what sort of pressure he was under in the morning sessions, which preceded the Instructors Training.  When doing any Kumite against us, he was under no illusions that he had to try beat us.

Clearly going to train in Japan, the home of Karate, is a dream for most Karateka.  However, it is sadly one that few ever manage.  It is  a great matter of pride that the LKA has managed two such trips now within a three year period.

As with our previous trip, we tried to leave sufficient time aside for the group to see a good bit of Japanese life too.  Members of the group visited Kyoto, Mount Fuji, the Tokyo Dome for the Baseball and even got to a gig by The Pogues!

It was particularly nice to meet up with old training partner, Richard Heselton, who has now lived in Tokyo for the past 18 years.  On our final night, Richard organised a bar for us to meet up with Scott Langley’s party which had arrived the day before and also famous British Karateka Dave Hooper who has also been resident in Tokyo for many years.  It was  a great night.

On Tuesday 13th March, the LKA were truly honoured to host Kagawa Sensei, 8th Dan Chief Instructor of the JKS worldwide.  Sensei probably needs no introduction, but he was, in his younger days, an All-Japan and World Champion, renowned for his ability in both Kata and Kumite.  These days he is coach to the Japanese All Styles National Team as well as the leading Japanese University Team, Teikyo University.  He also runs the JKS Hombu Dojo in Tokyo and along with his Senior Instructors is in constant demand for teaching all over the world. (more…)

The LKA had a squad of over 40 competitors go to compete at the 43rd North West Open held, as usual, in Atherton. Coming the day after the huge Funeral Service for Sensei Randy Williams in Leeds, there was a feeling of togetherness and bonding between the LKA and Leeds Shotokan Karate Club teams, which was very nice to see.

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Thursday 1st of March saw the Harrogate District Sports Awards and Annual Dinner. As always the club was well represented at the dinner with 21 members in attendance. The LKA senior teams took the top prize winning the districts best sporting team award. This is a fantastic achievement and something that all members can be proud of. The teams had a great year in 2011 winning many National and regional titles.

Callam Payne was also awarded with Volunteer of the Year. Callam gives up his free time to help coach the junior members on a Friday evening.

The evening also saw senior team member Joe Finlay celebrating his 18th Birthday. Joe enjoyed the singing of Happy Birthday by all the districts sporting teams!

It was with a huge degree of sadness that we learnt today of the death of Sensei Randy Williams 6th Dan.
Randy was a team mate of Sensei’s Heald and Price for many years whilst they competed for Leeds Shotokan Karate Club under the guidance of Sensei Bob Rhodes. They were part of the same team that won the KUGB National Championships a number of times and trained together week in week out for the best part of 15 years. (more…)

The LKA has decided, after much thought, that it is going to seek a new direction for it’s Karate and sadly end it’s affiliation to the KUGB.  There are a number of factors which have led to this decision but not least is the opportunity to receive instruction from, and compete against, the very best that Japan has to offer. 

We would like to thank the Senior Instructors of the KUGB for all their input and help over the years and if at all possible reassure them that it is in no way a personal slight on their Karate abilities, which we hold in high regard.   It has been an honour and privelige to train with and compete for the KUGB over the years.  However, we do feel that the time has come for us to make a fresh new start and move on.

So, with effect from Monday 23rd January 2012, the LKA has affiliated to the JKS England.  In addition to this we are also very pleased to annouce that we will be hosting a special course with the Chief Instructor of the JKS worldwide, Kagawa Sensei 8th Dan.  This will be held at the LKA Hombu Dojo on Tuesday 13th March.

Leeds Karate Academy  celebrated a fantastic year in 2011 with an awards evening at the Styan Community Centre, Harrogate.

The award for Most Improved Junior went to Sam Mitchell. Sam, a pupil at Harrogate Grammar School, gained his Black belt in 2011 and took his fist competitive medal at the North of England Championships. All aspects of Sam’s karate greatly improved during 2011.

The Most Improved Senior Award went to Joe Finlay. Joe’s constant hard work has seen him become an excellent Karate-ka. His diligence paid of in 2011 when he made his debut for England and took an individual Bronze at the European Shotokan Karate Championships. Joe also took the Players Player award as voted for by the clubs competitors. (more…)

Six LKA members and a number of supporters and family made the trip to Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland for the annual ESKA European Championships.  Joe Finlay was competing in the Cadet events, Jordon Probst, Melissa Finlay and Stephen Brown were competing in the Junior events and Ryan Tucker and Ashley Scott were competing in the Senior events. (more…)