26.06.2024
Mirza grades to 2nd kyu!
Since his stint with CKA last summer, Mirza has kept up his excellent training regimen at the University of Manchester. The hard work showed when he graded to 2nd kyu under Sensei Richard Poole, CKA chief instructor and KUGB 7th Dan, on 26th June.
Mirza had sharp kihon, spirited kumite and gave an emotive performance of Bassai dai to secure the grade with ease. Success was celebrated in the beer garden of The Empress!
16.06.2024
Yeesha gets her orange belt!
Yeesha Chan joined CKA as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. She has been training hard and recently took her very first karate grading. Fortunately all her work has paid off, and she graded to 9th kyu (orange belt!) with strong performances in all three parts of the grading: kihon (basic technique), kumite (fighting) and kata (set form).
09.06.2024
Christoph Hess grades to 2nd dan!
Christoph Hess passed his Nidan grading with flying colours in Manchester on Sunday 9th June.
Christoph has trained tirelessly, holding the club’s strongest training record for the last 6 months. Following a pre-grading warm up session at the Rhyl & Prestatyn club in North Wales, and some hiking around the Welsh mountains with Sensei Richard, he travelled on to Manchester where he performed kihon, kumite and kata under the scrutiny of grading examiners Senseis Frank and Jimmy Brennan, both 8th dan.
Congratulations to Christoph on this fantastic achievement.
25.11.2023
Cambridge Karate Academy's newest 2nd Dan - Hervé Vandekerckhove
After a 19 year gap since passing Shodan in France, Hervé put in the training to bring his kata up to standard.
His kumite was never in doubt following his numerous individual titles and World and European kumite silver medals whilst representing KUGB England internationally. In the grading he demonstrated an exciting range kumite techniques against a giant component. However when he won his first ever kata medal at KUGB Central regions in March we knew he was serious about grading. During the grading he performed a spectacular Kanku Sho, which was powerful and dynamic. Strong kihon and a striking Jion ensured a successful outcome.
The course and dan grading were taken in Chelmsford by 8th dans Sensei Brennan and Harford. There was a 60% pass rate on the day.
Cambridge Karate Academy's chief instructor Richard Poole was impressed with Hervé's grading performance which justified all his hard work to overcome significant surgery on his knee. It was also good to see three of CKA’s finest training on the course - Richard, Hervé and Amy Oliver.
10.06.2023
Celebrating Sensei Richard’s 20 years of teaching karate in Cambridge
On Saturday 10th June, 60 karateka descended on Cambridge to surprise Sensei Richard and thank him for his incredible contribution to karate over the last 2 decades. They came from as far as Brazil, California, Boston, Singapore via Kansas, Romania, Swizerland, Germany, Italy and Spain as well as from all over the UK. Sensei Richard entered the dojo expecting a class of 10 to 15, to find over 30 of his kohai from eras past walking through the door. Soon the dojo was full to bursting and we proceeded to our local park for some karate in the sunshine…
The class outside in the sunshine was followed by pre-dinner drinks in the Prince Regent pub. Everyone looked spectacular in their dinner jackets, blues blazers, dresses and heels!
A sumptuous 3 course dinner was provided at the beautifully refurbished University Arms Hotel. The atmosphere was incredible - so many people reuniting after years away, delighted to see each other again. The legendary Paul Smith gave an entertaining but truly heartfelt speech, describing the many qualities that make Sensei Richard so highly regarded and so loved by his students. Finally, Sensei Richard and Tegwen treated the room to a karate quiz and the awarding of chocolate medals. The night progressed to the Regal and the most energetic went on to dance into the early hours at Revs!
25.03.2023
CKA triumph at the KUGB Central Region Championships!
The fabulous 5 set off to compete at the KUGB Central Region Championships in Repton, Derby.
First up was team kata. Tegwen, Herve and Christoph gave a solid performance of Jion against strong competition to win a place in the final. Yes that isn't a typo Herve was a full blooded team kata member!
The individual kata followed. Tegwen’s spirited Sochin and Fatemeh’s cool Gojushiho Sho earned them both places in the semi-final of the Female Dan grade kata. Tegwen made it to the final with Fatemeh just narrowly missing getting through.
In the Male Dan grade kata Christoph performed a strong Jion to achieve a place in the semi-finals. Unfortunately a further rendition was not enough to get to the finals in this very competitive category.
Tim Chisholm made a great showing at his very first competition, getting through to the finals of the Kyu grade kata with a fine Heian Godan. The kumite then started off and Tim continued to impress by fighting his way to a bronze medal!
Herve, returning to competition after several years off with injury, tore through the rounds giving his opponents much to ponder following his numerous very successful ashi bari's , one gloriously followed with kekato geri, to win his place in the semi-finals of the Male Dan grade kumite. The Male Team Kumite (with CKA represented by Herve, Christoph and Tim) gave plenty of room for time on the mat, with a round robin that went through several circles. Sadly CKA did not come out victorious despite many valliant efforts.
Tegwen & Fatemeh were then up in the Female Dan grade Kumite. Fatemeh fought first and despite several spirited attacks, was beaten. Tegwen won her elimination fights by utilising her speedy gyakatsuki, earning a place in the final. The Female Team Kumite then took place and disaster struck. Fielding a 2 women team (Tegwen & Fatemeh), Tegwen was injured and had to immediately withdraw from the competition, leaving the team to pick up bronze.
Fatemeh stepped in to save the day, and before the finals had been incorporated into the Team Kata to ensure it could go ahead. Fatemeh, Herve and Christoph then performed a solid sochin to earn CKA 3rd place in Adult Team Kata. Tim smashed the Kyu grade kata final with his strongest performance of Heian Godan to date, taking a well deserved gold! And Herve finished off the Male Individual Kumite semi-final and final fights comfortably, to take home the title!
Results
Gold - Male individual dan grade kumite (Herve)
Gold - Male individual kyu grade kata (Tim)
Silver - Female individual dan grade kumite (Tegwen)
Bronze - Male individual kyu grade kumite (Tim)
Bronze - Female individual dan grade kata (Tegwen)
Bronze - Adult team kata (Herve, Christoph, Tegwen & Fatemeh)
Bronze - Female team kumite (Tegwen & Fatemeh)
10.12.2022
CKA Kyu grading!
Congratulations to Natsumi, Tim, Liming and David, who all graded today under the critical eye of Sensei Richard.
All have trained hard over the last couple of months in preparation, completing a mock grading last Sunday with Fatemeh Sensei and attending the pre-grading session today.
ESKA Championships - Winterthur, Switzerland
02.12.2022 - 04.12.2022
This December, Sensei Richard travelled to Winterthur, Switzerland, to fulfil his roles as President of the European Shotokan Karate-do Association and as an international referee.
The 3 day champs was a huge success with Portugal crowned the winning nation and the last technique of the championships a stunning ura-mawashigeri jodan!
Sensei Tegwen was also present, helping to coordinate the excellent Swiss medical team.
Thanks to Senseis Fatemeh and Ismael for keeping CKA classes up running back in Cambridge!
Photo credits to ESKA
05.11.2022
Success for Charly at the KUGB Student Nationals
On Saturday 5th November, Charly Hölker became Cambridge Karate Academy’s first ever competitor, when he travelled to Grantham to participate in the KUGB National Championships.
Charly powered through the rounds of Heian eliminations to secure a place in the finals. Here he performed a strong Heian Yondan and deservedly took the Gold medal.
Charly also competed with great spirit in the kumite, winning his elimination fights decisively with a series of well timed jodan kizame tsukis. At the semi finals Charly and his opponent were well matched, with Charly narrowly losing on a split decision following extra time, earning himself a bronze medal.