KARATE students from Ards and North Down have recorded impressive results in recent weeks.
On Sunday, September 15, at the GB Open in Birmingham, Ben Ritchie followed up his British gold in June with a silver medal in the kata (patterns) event. He then added to his medal tally with an other silver in the individual kumite (sparring) event.
The following Saturday at the Kanzen International Karate Tournament in Dundee, more medals were won.
The pick of the Mizukara karate competitor trio was Helena Stitt who followed on her June British Open championship performance by winning both the individual kata and individual kumite. She was then snapped as a guest to fight for the Scottish girls rotation team and added a silver medal to her collection.
Helena’s brother Harrison gave his best kumite performance to date, fighting his way to bronze, his first international kumite medal.
In the adult ladies section Amy Adair continued her progress against world class fighters. She won bronze in her European kumite tour category and followed this up with a silver medal in her Shobu Ippon individual kumite event.
Coach David Brashaw said it is ‘fantastic’ to see the students pushing themselves to new levels of achievement at international competitions.
“As athletes from Northern Ireland, we receive little funding and despite this the performances of these students are simply outstanding,” he said.
“Amy in particular is representing Northern Ireland at the IKU World Championships in Argentina in October and has had to self-fund. We are always very grateful for any local sponsors that value what we do.”
Next up for the Mizukara karate students is the Cross-Border Championships on Sunday. This will be followed by kata squad training on Sunday, October 20.
If anyone would like to know more about karate, plyometric fitness classes, and self-defence or relaxing/ health recovery Tai Chi for adults, contact David on 07760 337578 or check out our website www.mizukara.co.uk
Photo: Ben Ritchie, Harrison Stitt, Helena Stitt and Sensei Amy Adair.
