In just over a weeks time, our first ever team of students and instructor Sinead are off to compete at the European Kenpo Karate Championships in Malta. From June 2nd to 5th 2022 Held by IKKA Europe and supported by @VisitMalta
Originally the team had been training to travel to Holland to compete in the 2021 European championships, but due to covid the event got cancelled. We had two choices, quit and call it a day or continue training and enter the following year. As you can see most chose the latter and we even picked up a few new team members!
It has been a fantastic year of learning and team work to get to this point. The extra training required has not been easy, and required a lot of commitment from each and every member. But each rose to the challenge and pushed each other to keep going and stay positive.
We had a fantastic Demonstration night and Fundraising evening in Gloucester at the end of April, where the team got to show their hard work off to an audience of approx 150 people! They did not disappoint and each showed true heart and determination in their performances. Spectators on the night had so much positive feedback on each of the students. But mostly it was noted how lovely they were as a team, always looking out for each other and cheering their team mates on.
Our extra member of the team, who lives abroad, couldn't be there on the night, but through the miracle of technology we were able to show her routines live to the spectators. Which was very special indeed.
Special mention has to go to Jay who stepped in when the team lost a vital member, and we needed help to re-work all our self defence routines. Without him the team would have really struggled. So a huge thank you to him from each of the team members. We wish you were travelling with us!
We are now on the last week of counting down to the event and we are as ready as we will ever be! Our bags are beginning to be packed and we cannot wait to make new friends, train with instructors from across Europe. All while representing Great Britain at this years event.
Instructor Sinead Byrne, who is no newcomer to competition has been quoted as saying "This trip is all about the adventure, I am excited for my students to experience how fantastic it is to attend one of these high level events. Sure we all want to win a medal, but we know we are going to make friends, memories and stories that will last a lifetime. I am super proud of each of the kids on the team and cannot wait to compete alongside them, as I come out of competition retirement to try my hand one more time, ten years on since my last! Let's do this!!"
We wish all the team the best of luck in Malta and know they will do amazing. Keep an eye on our social media pages over the next week as we will provide regular updates. Especially on our instagram page @kenbudojo and some photos on our Facebook pages.
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