Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Shotokan of England Karate Union Championships on Saturday, November 1st. This event marked the first time the Championships have been held since 2019. Several club members delivered outstanding performances during their first-ever competition: Chloe Maitland placed third in the 12yrs to 15yrs kyu grade kata. Kaden Fletcher secured second in the 12yrs to 15yrs kyu grade kumite. Matt Tricker achieved 3rd in the 16 years and above kyu grade kata. Stuart Van Cuylenburg competed in the 16 years and above kyu grade kata also achieving 3rd place. Jess Osman who had previously competed in the Junior Competitions, entered both the 12yrs to 15yrs black/brown belt kata and kumite categories. Jess secured first in kumite and second in kata. After progressing through a round-robin format, Amanda Osman took first place in the ladies black/brown belt kata with an excellent performance of kata Jitte and after some spirited fighting, also won first place in the ladies black/brown belt kumite. The club showed outstanding performance in both the men's black/brown belt kumite and kata events, which were the two largest events on the day. After many rounds, four club members reached the kumite semi-finals and two advanced in kata. During the first kumite semi-final, Connor Taylor-Barnes who scored an Ippon with a mawashi-geri jodan in the previous round narrowly beat Sensei Andy Shorkey with a score of 2-1; in the second fight Tom Porter secured a 2-0 win against Sensei Simon Barnes. The final was closely contested as well, with Tom winning 2-0. Dorn Teodorescu of Lovedean Karate Club won the men’s black/brown belt kata, with Andy Shorkey taking second; both performed kata Kanku Sho. Sensei Malc Jupp was placed third with Gojushiho-Dai. In the mixed team kata semi-finals, teams from Newport and Lovedean competed. Newport A took first place with kata Jiin, narrowly outscoring Lovedean A, while Newport B secured third place with the same kata. The men’s team kumite event is always the highlight of the competition. Teams from Newport Lovedean and Portsmouth lined up for the final event on the day. The three person teams compete against each other and the team with the most wins progress to the next round. The final was Newport A against Newport B with the A team winning 3-0 and being awarded the prestige Shotokan of England Karate Union team kumite shield.