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2024 IN NUMBERS
By Admin
27 December 2024 11:17 am


Record after record after record! Bristol Karate Academy members have made 2024 another record breaking year, even when compared to the highs of 2023!
 
It’s time to look back at some of our highlights. So grab a leftover mince pie and festive tipple, and let’s relive what has been a year to remember…

MORE TRAINING

In 2024 we’ve offered more days of training than ever before in our 46 year history! Members have kicked and punched their way through 258 days of karate over the last 12 months – a whole seven days more than last year.

We’ve offered 24 free sessions of karate throughout the year, starting with our annual ‘kangeiko’ cold weather training in January, where our members braved the elements each morning to take part in a daily run, followed by an hour of karate.

We’ve also had over 20 hours of elite squad and kumite development training – a record number.

Our kumite development sessions (for members orange belt upwards) will continue to run in 2025, so if you’d like to get started – or to continue to build your skill – then book in on the last Sunday of each month and join us!

We’re able to offer more training because there’s plenty of demand for it. On our busiest day of the year, 61 of you donned your do-gis and joined us at the dojo. Keep up the hard work everyone!

MORE GRADING PASSES

All your hard training has resulted in 175 kyu and mon grade passes, beating last year’s gargantuan number by two! Amongst those passes, 130 were for 9th to 1st kyu – another record.

We’ve also been delighted to see four members passing dan (black belt) gradings, with Evert achieving his black belt (1st Dan) in July, Dan Sensei reaching 4th Dan in August, Alistair promoted to 2nd Dan in November and finally Juan levelling up to 3rd Dan midway through December. A club 1, 2, 3, 4 level up!

MORE SEMINARS

In 2024, we hosted five special seminars – one more than our previous record.
 
We had a fantastic start to the year, welcoming JKS England Grand Champion Thea Priest, who showed us some of the skills that led to her so many titles over the last few years.
 
What a privilege it was to host WKF Premier League Champion and JKS World Champion, Watanabe Sensei, all the way from Japan! Thanks once again to JKS England, who unlock doors for us to be able to host such prestigious guest instructors.
 
We also held three seminars with senior JKS instructors: Steve Carless Sensei, Matt Price Sensei and – Head of JKS England – Alan Campbell Sensei.

We’re exceptional grateful not only to all of our guest instructors for teaching us but also to our members and guests for supporting our events.

As you'd expect, planning is in full flow for making sure the South West gets plenty more opportunities to train with talented guests in the year ahead. We look forward to confirming dates and details in the coming weeks.

MORE JKS NATIONAL SQUAD MEMBERS

2024 saw our number of JKS England squad members increase from four to seven!
 
We were delighted to see Dan Salter, Juan Rodrigues and Nephele Metsiou all join the squad, alongside our four established members.

Each of our squad members saw success during the year, which brings us on to our medal count…

MORE MEDALS (A LOT MORE)

This year, you smashed it out of the park at tournaments! Academy members racked up a staggering 89 medals – an incredible 161% increase above our previous annual record of 34 medals.
 
We were delighted to see our medal count include 27 golds! In amongst these we’re proud to have amassed 2 EKF English titles, 5 BKF British/British International titles and 3 WKGB Welsh titles. An astonishing set of achievements!
 
At every single tournament we attended in 2024 – whether with one member or a whole squad– we took away at least one placing, which shows the remarkable hard work that our members have put in throughout the last few years.
 
Results don’t come without lots of hard work and it can be easy to forget the trials and tribulations that we all go through that lead to success. So if the medals aren’t yet coming your way, keep the faith and keep up the hard work. We’re right behind you.

We look forward to welcoming more of our members into our tournament day squads! Look out for the opportunities and join us, whether you’re a regular at tournaments or you'll be taking part in your first event! Each journey starts with a single step.

AND FINALLY...

What an incredible collection of achievements! But there have been so many more that are much harder to quantify from so many of you, so we’d like to celebrate you too!
 
From turning up to your first ever lesson to getting over the fear of learning a new skill or kata, you have astounded us with your bravery and resilience from the 1st January to today. Take a step back and be proud of the huge leaps forward you’ve made in 2024!
 
But let’s not stop there. As we embark on our 2025 journey together, now is the time to set your goals for the year ahead. Let us know! We are determined to make sure we help you achieve them.
 
We’d like to thank you all for putting so much effort into your own training and also to supporting others throughout the year. Together we are building something special. Let’s keep building the kind of Academy that can make us all proud in 2025.