Bristol Karate Academy

Bristol medallists put in their best performance at the Central England Championships to take away four golds and fifteen medals in total this weekend.

The Centrals is the benchmark when it comes to all-styles open tournaments in England and with draws looking challenging, it was incredible to see everyone rise to the challenge once more and step out confidently on the tatami.

With four golds, Bristol were propelled to 5th place amongst all clubs and associations taking part.

Leading the way for our kata teams were Nephele Metsiou and Lucie Tarr (officially listed as competing as JKS England), who became alchemists for the day, turning last year’s Pairs Kata bronze into a 2026 gold medal. They beat some exceptional teams along the way.

There were so many other great team performances to be proud of too, including a Silver in Senior Team Kata for Liam Mashford, George Tarr and Walsall’s Zach Ruizo. A great checkpoint ahead of their target tournament: the JKS World Cup in August.

Cameron Mitchell kept up the momentum by picking up gold in Para Kata, conquering his nerves and delivering a solid performance of Bassai Dai. This was Cameron’s third gold medal of the year in Para Kata events and we’re really proud of the resilience he’s been showing when we know that stepping out onto the tatami is a big challenge.

The last kata gold for the team came from Tim Griffiths, in the Male Kata 40 years+ division. The final, against French National Champion Jerome Daguet, was a battle of the Gojushihos. Tim’s Gojushiho Sho came out on top on this occasion, giving the two competitors one win each over the past two years.

The final gold came in kumite. Luke Mashford put in some excellent performances to pick up the under 4’8” 10-11 years kumite title. Luke showed a variety of excellent techniques along the way, including a Houdini-style result-changing ura mawashi geri in the early rounds.

While we’re delighted to have so many medallists, we’re incredibly proud of the whole team, who all delivered assured performances, no matter the result.

Thank you to Stennett Harvey and his team for running an excellent event, with eight tatamis running smoothly throughout the day. And a massive thank you to our superb team of supporters who were there once again, backing the team throughout the whole day. It truly makes all the difference.

Our medallists:

GOLD for Nephele Metsiou and Lucie Tarr in Pairs Kata, 13-15 years

GOLD for Luke Mashford in Male Kumite, 10-11 years, under 4’8”

GOLD for Tim Griffiths in Male Kata, 40 years+

GOLD for Cameron Mitchell in Para Kata physically impaired (K40)

SILVER for Liam Mashford (with Harrison Frear and Ethan Chippindale) in Male Junior Team Kumite

SILVER for Liam Mashford and George Tarr (with Zach Ruizo) in Team Kata, 16 years+

SILVER for Dan Salter in Mixed Kata, 35 years+

SILVER for Nephele Metsiou in Female Cadet Kata

BRONZE for Liam Mashford and George Tarr in Pairs Kata, 16 years+

BRONZE for Evert Collard, Olive Davies and Dan Salter in Team Kata, 16 years+

BRONZE for Nephele Metsiou and Lucie Tarr (with Anastasia State) in Team Kata, 13-15 years

BRONZE for Benjamin Griffiths and Luke Mashford (with Jonty Price) in Team Kata, 10-12 years

BRONZE for Benjamin Griffiths in Male Kata, 10-11 years

BRONZE for Luke Mashford in Male Kata, 10-11 years

BRONZE for Dan Salter in Male Kata, 40 years+

Full team: Evert Collard, Olive Davies, Alison Griffiths (Team Manager), Benjamin Griffiths, Tim Griffiths (competitor and coach), Tobias Griffiths, Oli Hulbert, Liam Mashford, Luke Mashford, Nephele Metsiou, Cameron Mitchell, Monaghan Mitchell, Dan Salter (competitor and coach) George Tarr, Lucie Tarr and Finn Westcott.

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