Bristol Karate Academy

While many were resting last weekend, Bristol Karate Academy’s JKS England squad members certainly weren’t.

The British Karate Federation’s 4 Nations Championships took place over Easter weekend. And with the event taking place at Edinburgh’s Heriot Watt University, Good Friday became a travel day, in order to start well rested on the Saturday. It certainly worked for our Academy members who, over the two days, picked up an impressive tally of a British Championships and 13 medals in total!

Day 1 (Under 12s and Veterans)

Day 1 saw the Under 14s and Over 35s events take place, with an early JKS England gold coming from Benjamin Griffiths, who won the 10-11 Male Kata event. Benjamin’s performances were confident and assured, showing the progress he’s made over the last 12 months on the tatami.

Benjamin doubled his tally shortly afterwards, by teaming up with Harrogate’s Jonty Price to become British Champions in the 10-11 years Male Pairs Kata. Well done boys!

Nephele Metsiou has been continuing to impress with her performances over the last 18 months. This continued with another two BKF medals in Edinburgh, as she picked up a bronze in the Under 14s Female Kata event and a second bronze in Under 14s Female Pairs Kata, alongside Eleanor Price.

The good news continued, with Gold for Tim Griffiths in Male Veteran Kata, beating both former British and Commonwealth champions along the way.

Dan Salter entered the Super Veteran (50 years+) event for the first time on Saturday and made an instant impact on the category. He reached the final against last year’s champion, narrowly missing out on a gold to claim a fantastic silver.

In last year’s BKF International, Tim and Dan picked up gold in Veteran Pairs Kata in Sheffield. The duo made it two from two, winning the semi final with the kata ‘Sochin’ and the final with ‘Enpi’.

Day 2 (Cadets, Juniors and Seniors)

The Cadet (14-15 years), Junior (16-17 years) and Senior (18+) categories took place, with several medal prospects from Academy competitors.

In the Cadet events, Lucie and Olive teamed up with JKS England squad mate, Zarana Gilthorpe to take gold in the Female Cadet and Junior Team Kata event. The Bristol duo picked up a second medal – this time, silver – in the Pairs Kata event, being pipped by team mate Zarana to the gold medal.

Olive completed the set of British medals, as she joined Imogen, Rowan and Zarana in the Female Cadet Team Kumite to pick up bronze.

Off the back of his English Junior title last week, George Tarr was looking to add to his tally of wins. He did this alongside Tim Griffiths and Jason Lam, who picked up a brace of golds as a team: one in the International team kata classification and a second in Senior Male Team Kata, beating the JKS Scotland team in the final.

George and Tim rounded off the Academy medal tally with gold in Senior Male Pairs Kata. The win came in a final against their JKS England squad mates, Anthony and Luke, with JKS Scotland picking up bronze.

Congratulations and thank you

A huge congratulations to our Academy members for representing JKS England so well over the weekend and for supporting each other right from the off. Thank you to our parents and supporters for cheering us on and for giving up your weekend in support of our athletes. And finally, thank you to the JKS England squad coaches for supporting the whole team over a long two days.

Results summary:

GOLD for Tim Griffiths in Male Veteran Kata
GOLD for Tim Griffiths and George Tarr in International Team Kata, with Jason Lam
GOLD for Tim Griffiths and George Tarr in Male Senior Team Kata, with Jason Lam
GOLD for Tim Griffiths and George Tarr in Male Senior Pairs Kata
GOLD for Tim Griffiths and Dan Salter in Male Veteran Pairs Kata
GOLD for Benjamin Griffiths in Male 10-11 years Kata
GOLD for Benjamin Griffiths in Male 10-11 years Pairs Kata, with Jonty Price
GOLD for Lucie Tarr and Olive Davies in Cadet and Junior Team Kata, with Zarana Gilthorpe
SILVER for Dan Salter in Male Super Veteran Kata
SILVER for Lucie Tarr and Olive Davies in Female Cadet Pairs Kata
BRONZE for Nephele Metsiou in Female Under 14 Kata
BRONZE for Nephele Metsiou in Female Under 14 Pairs Kata, with Eleanor Price
BRONZE for Olive Davies in Female Cadet Team Kumite, with Imogen, Rowan and Zarana

Bristol Karate Academy members representing JKS England at the BKF 4 Nations Championships: Evert Collard, Olive Davies, Benjamin Griffiths, Tim Griffiths, Nephele Metsiou, Dan Salter, George Tarr and Lucie Tarr.

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