Our annual Student of the Year awards took place on Sunday 4th December at Kearsley Academy. Each Sensei nominated a couple of students who have worked hard throughout the year and deserve to receive a personal award and enjoy a 2 hour training session with top Instructors. The turn out was enormous. Thank you to all the Instructors who helped sign in and set up, we wouldn’t be able to run these events so smoothly without your help. It is a team effort and ours is the BEST team! Even better than Manchester City!

This year’s guest was Chief Instructor of Martial Arts East - Danny Jordan-Land Sensei 5th Dan. Danny Sensei is a fantastic Instructor with exceptionally good karate. We are proud to have formed a partnership alongside Danny Sensei and his excellent group over in Norwich. Danny Sensei is a professional Instructor with so much to offer and we look forward to working with him again throughout 2023 and beyond. Danny Sensei led the start of the session which included a thorough warm up to prepare the body for the session ahead. The group was then spilt into Black belts and kyu grades with both Paul Sensei and Danny Sensei spending time with each group.

Danny Sensei took the black belts first through a series of challenging footwork and kumite drills. The students looked like they worked hard but thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We have so many Black Belts staying with us these days and continuing their karate journey. Keeping inspired to learn once you have achieved ‘the big one’ is a hurdle a few sadly don’t overcome. It is refreshing to see so many talented black belts, young and not so young, who are more enthusiastic than ever grow both in skill and mindset. You are all so welcoming, open and willing to work hard for any guest we bring in. We are lucky and grateful to have you.  

Paul Sensei took the Kyu grades through speed and reaction drills followed by Kanazawa style Jiyu Ippon Kumite drills. This offered them something new and different to learn, that they can now take back to their classes and implement into their kumite. An afternoon very well spent indeed. There were bags of extraordinary talent among this group too. It is exciting to see that the future is as bright, if not brighter than the present!     

We then took a short break to prepare for this year’s demonstrations. Outgoing winners perform a Kata in front of this year’s nominees, the instructor team and parents watching. It is a daunting task for anyone as there is so many people to perform in front of. Only 1 winner was chosen in 2021 - Aaron Jefferson from the Haslingden Dojo. Aaron is a very talented and committed karateka who has continued to train hard and lead by example throughout 2022. He has kept his standards high and continued to challenge himself. Aaron chose to perform Kata Kakuyoku Shodan (An Asai-Ryu Kata) to show us something different. He learned this Kata specifically for his SOTY performance and it was excellent. We all enjoyed watching you, well done Aaron, you did us proud.

Senior Competitors Grace Baron Sensei, Izzy Baron and Jaime Pratley are all travelling to Italy this week to enter the WKF Venice Cup. Grace is competing in the senior championships on Wednesday and both Jaime and Izzy are competing at the weekend in the Youth Cup. We asked them to take this opportunity to perform their Katas in front of this huge audience as part of their preparations and all three jumped at the chance despite getting very little notice.

Grace and Izzy performed Kata ‘Gojoshiho Dai’ and Jaime performed Kata ‘Unsu’. Their performances were just outstanding, and we will post them on our social media group (Red Tiger Karate Group on Facebook and Instagram) this week. It is our hope that watching these youngsters perform at the very highest level will be just the inspiration our next generation of superstars need. Karate like this is achieved at a cost though. It is hard work and sacrifice; it is training in the dojo day after day when you could be doing other ‘teenager’ stuff. It is strength training, it is performance analysis, it is constant and never-ending practise for marginal improvement. It is going to comps and getting knocked down ten times and getting back up eleven.  

They are paving the way and we want others to follow in 2023!  

The second half of the course recommenced after the demonstrations and Danny Sensei led the lower grades with some speed and reaction drills with Paul Sensei teaching Kata Kankusho to the higher grades. We then finished off with some fun relay races each Instructor tried to lead their own team to victory!

On the day I thought that the winners were Team Beckwith but I stand corrected as it was a tie between them and Team Baron! With no VAR available, the only way to settle this will be a rematch at the 2023 SOTY awards! So get practising your Squat Maegeri’s, Punches and Burpees!    

We finished the session by thanking all who took part and the parents for their support. It was so nice to see everyone in one room again and have a catch up with a few.

We started our presentations by rewarding our Instructors with their certificates for teaching throughout 2022. Teresa Withington Sensei and Mike Baron Sensei reached the 10 year milestone. Absolutely amazing commitment from two of our most experienced Instructors. Leesa and Mike Sensei have also been teaching for a whopping 27 years. Inspirational commitment. Thank you. We also awarded Mike Beckwith Sensei who recently passed his Godan with a well deserved plaque in recognition of this achievement.

So Student of the Year is always an extra special day for a chosen few. We decided to freshen it up a little this year and change up the categories. To accompany the traditional ‘Student of the Year Trophy’ we added: the ‘Most Improved Student’ and the ‘Instructors Choice award’ where we secretly balloted our Instructors to nominate their number 1 from a shortlist.

Here is the ‘secret’ shortlist, so congratulations to those who made it this time:

·         Grace Wilson

·         Isabelle Lawrie

·         Courteney Alty

·         Liam Dolan

·         Liam Conway

·         James Sherlock

·         Darren Williams

·         Millie Porter

·         Lydia Palmer

·         Isaac Whittaker

 We are delighted to announce that the winner was Liam Dolan from Bury with 10 votes. The runner up had 6 votes so it was quite a majority. It comes as no surprise that Liam was chosen because the progress he has made in 2022 is immeasurable. The standard he has reached is quite extraordinary and it is all down to his own determination and drive to be better. He works SO hard, every time he trains. He is SO committed. You can always guarantee he will be at class, early and putting a shift in every time he trains. Only those who have known Liam for a long time will appreciate the difference in this young man from his early karate days to now. He has undergone a complete transformation. We could tell it meant such a lot to him and his whole family. I will have to share his video of his Jordan Henderson celebration or the Kevin De Bruyne as I prefer to call it haha! He was over the moon and genuinely shocked because he doesn’t quite believe in himself the way he should. They way we all do. He is starting to, but is not quite there yet. Hopefully this will provide a boost to his confidence. You are amazing at karate and will keep getting better and better because you put in the work. Both Liam and Thomas are a credit to Mum and Dad and without their guidance, love and support the boys wouldn’t be able to achieve what they have so far. Well done Liam.      

The second award was for the Most Improved Student chosen by our Chief Instructor. Jayden Clarke from Cheadle Hulme was chosen and is a very worthy winner. He is in the dojo almost every night of the week and really enjoys his karate. He is dream to teach; dedicated, attentive, he is equally talented in all areas and always give you 100% every time he trains. He is Cadet Leader in the Handforth class and the students absolutely love him, as they do in all classes he attends. This is because he is lovely to everyone, kind and patient with beginners and can push and support advanced students. Jayden really has to work hard at his karate, there is no shortage of natural ability there but he has reached such a high standard because he has worked SO hard to get there. Years and years of sacrifice and hard training, taking advantage of every opportunity that comes his way. He isn’t afraid to get out of his comfort zone to improve, by attending squads and external competitions. He has a great appetite for learning and corrects anything you ask him to, when you ask him to and it stays corrected.

He earned his Shodan just after lockdown and I am sure it won’t be long before he will be ready to try for his Nidan because he has made so much progress in the last 18 months. Jayden needs to start believing that he is one of the best, because he really is. I am sure one of the large trophies at this event was a goal for Jayden, but one he never really thought he would be actually achieve. We now you have. And you FULLY deserve it. The big cheer for you from everyone says so. You can do so much more good with your karate and we believe in you and are proud to have you as a SOTY. Zena has played her part as do all the parents of these outstanding students and she is pretty brilliant at karate herself! Jayden couldn’t do it without your support and the support of his Dad so a big pat on the back to you both. I hope you like driving because you do enough of it carting Jayden to the various dojo’s he trains at. The connection between you is so lovely and to see you bursting with pride for Jayden was the best!

 The Student of the Year 2022-2023 was chosen and awarded by our Chief Instructor. This award went to Loui D’Attorre from Bolton. What a year, what a student, what a journey. We have known from the very beginning that Loui has enormous potential and could be very special indeed. We instantly recognise Loui’s raw ability, his extraordinary focus and the support system he has in place. All we needed him to do was work hard. We see plenty of students passing through our doors with potential but sadly (for a variety of reasons) is never fulfilled. Our hopes remain high for Loui because as exceptional as he is, we know there is more to come. He can be one the best karateka’s the Club has ever produced and a decorated competitor on the competition circuit. He can go through the dan grades and we can turn these bronzes and silvers into Golds. We know it can be done, we can get you there and we know you have everything it takes.

2022 has been an unforgettable year for Loui earning his biggest achievement to date – his Shodan Black Belt. It is hard to believe he has only just got his black belt in November because it feels like he has performing at a high level for such a long time. He is one of our most successful competitors taking home a decent haul of medals this year, despite competing against experienced Black Belts at the majority of competitions. He is an accomplished competitor whose state of calm often reminds me of the champ himself Ellis Pindoria-Stott. Both lads are so laid back before they go on the mat and then show incredible fighting skills and exceptional Katas.

Loui has built strong foundations through his Kihon training and there are no weak areas in his karate. He is extremely powerful for his age, but is careful with it. You won’t see him going around hurting people because it’s not in his nature. He is a lovely young man who is brilliant with our beginners at the Tottington class. Louis sets a great example to our younger students with his exemplary behaviour and the high standard of his karate. He looked very shocked at being selected by Paul Sensei because he has no idea just how good he is and how highly we think of him. I hope you are feeling very proud of yourself Loui. Keep those feet on the ground the same as you always have and keep working hard. Hopefully this will boost your confidence and your growth will continue. We have to say a big thank you to Ralph and Loui’s Mum who give him all these great opportunities and continue to encourage and support him with his Karate. He couldn’t do it without you and it is touching to see just how proud he makes you.   

 Congratulations to everyone who took part. Below is a list of students who received awards on the day. Well done to you all:  

Adam Abdalla

Adam Belshaw

Alex Bathurst

Alex Moriarty

Alexander McLean

Alexander Modelski

Amalys De Bezenac Messer

Andy Matanle

Annabel Jones-White

Anthony Cristoforo

Anthony Dawson

Arthur Purdy

Ava Staton

Aymeric De Bezenac Messer

Barbara Celinska

Bodhi Lomax

Bradley Kendall

Caitlin Lowe

Carlo Steen

Catherine Johnson

Charlotte Griffiths

Chris Lysaght

Christine O' Leary

Claire Chaffer

Clarissa Lyons

Connor Beckwith

Courteney Alty

Daniel Kirkman

Daniel Price

Danika Wood

Elizabeth Vurchio

Ellis Fishwick

Emily Thompson

Emma Paisley Begg

Esmay Davies

Esme Smith

Evan Belfield

Evie Dorney

Evie Gregory

Ezra Smith

Frankie Torrisi

Freya Roberts

Gina Farrance

Glen Lumsden

Grace Wilson

Harmani Solanki

Helen Cowley

Holly Percival

Isaac Shakos

Isaac Whittaker

Isabella Baron

Isabella Fernandes

Isabella Lawrie

Isobel Robertson

Jack Dugdale

Jack Whittingham

Jackson Idle

Jackson Idle

Jacob Bucknall-Ryder

Jacob Townend

Jade Garner

Jaden Bincham

Jaime Pratley

Jake Quinn

James Cooke

James Kelly

James Powell

James Rigby

James Sherlock

Jane Murison

Jannah Haque

Jayden Clarke

Joshua Mangnall

Kathryn Kirkup

Kirsten Wood

Kyle Girault

Lara Abdalla

Lauren Everett

Layla Davies

Leighton Hallam

Liam Conway

Liam Dolan

Linda Whipp

Lola Fellone

Lola Girault

Loui D'Attorre

Lucas Farmer

Luke Wilson

Lydia Palmer

Maisie Rimmington

Mark Jepson

Mason Kenny

Matthew Affleck

Matthew Fernandes

McKenzie Lamont

Micah Musgrove

Michelle Quinn

Millie Porter

Milo Goodwin

Molly Whipp

Nathan Williams

Niamh Killeen

Noah Purvis

Noah Vernon

Oliver Bates

Oliver Whittaker

Paul Evans

Reuben Taylor

Richard Goodwin

Richard Holden

Sarah Evans

Scout Lumsden

Sehal Khan

Sonja Hoglund

Sophie Lever

Theo Rimmington

Thomas Walsh

Tom Wynne

William Bincham

William Derrick

Willow Potts

Xander Matanle