VALE START THE NEW SEASON ON TOP FORM

AFTER ONE EVENT, VALE HAVE 12 GOLDS, 8 SILVERS & 13 BRONZE MEDALS.

The first WKL Tournament of every season is traditionally the biggest, however with this event being held on a Saturday, and the venue changed at the last minute, numbers perhaps suffered and although almost 350 entries is not quiet by any standards, it was 'less busy' than usual.

The work being done in our dojo is definitely paying dividends as the Vale Squad won an impressive 12 Gold medals, 8 Silvers and 13 Bronzes at the Season Opener which took place in Neath Sports Centre on Saturday May 13th.
Six gold's ahead of our nearest rivals, the IKAW from Ireland. 

Vale had a clean sweep of medals in the U14 Special & Para Kata with Bradley James taking Gold, Jared Butcher Silver and Connor Ashill Bronze.
Lucas Widdrington took Silver in the 14+ category.
Mark and Ella were our only Parent & Child entry, but did us proud with a Bronze medal.

There was a surprise victory by Vale Tora in the newly established U14 Team Kata with Nathan, Greg and Talia taking top spot! Amelie, Elle-Mai and Heidi, the Vale Dragons took bronze.

Chiara Baker was on top form winning not only the U14 Kata Gold medal, but also the Kumite Gold medal!
She also took a bronze in the U-16 Shotokan event, with the strength of the very good 15 year-olds there, too much to overcome at the moment.

Vale have a wealth of potential and talent in the Under 8s and U10's!

Angel Manayani is only six years old, but will take some beating this season!
She took Gold in the U8 Girls Kata, with fellow six-year-olds Mayzi Lee and Nevaeh Williams taking Bronzes.
Amelie Fisher took Silver in the U10 Novice Kata with fine performances. Jack Eustace took Bronze.
In the U8 Boys we took Silver and Bronze courtesy of Max Riddick and 5 year old Jakob Bartush.

Max then went all the way in the Kumite, beating team-mate Liam Pugh in an all-Vale final.
There were three further Vale medals in the U10's with Talia Efstathiou taking Silver in the U10 Advanced Kata, Elle-Mai Lee taking Bronze in the U10 Girls Kumite and Lloyd Beer taking Silver in the U10 Boys Kumite. Elle-Mai, Lloyd and Jack Rowles later went on to win an U10 Team Kumite Bronze medal.

Ella Lyons was our only medallist in the U12 categories, with a Bronze won in the U12 Advanced kata.
The U16 Boys kumite saw an all-Vale final!
Christopher Slack only returned to competitive Karate at last season's finale when he seized Gold in the U14s at his first attempt.
Moving up to the U16'S he came up against team-mate Josh Davies who has a stack of titles to his name. Josh's experience gave him the edge, but what a team we have! Unfortunately no other U16 team's entered so the boys couldn't show what they could do together!

Leah Copeland last season's champion of Champions in both Kata and Kumite is concentrating on coaching this season, so didn't compete (except for the Vale adult Kumite team) however we had Sarah Morgan and Alexandra Slack in the Ladies kata and both took medals with Alex earning Bronze and Sarah adding the Ladies Gold to the Ladies Veteran Gold she had won a little earlier!

Tom Gardner hasn't competed since he was a teenager. Now in his early thirties with his own young son training, he entered the Mens +75Kg Kumite and showed he still 'has it' and took the Gold medal.
Sam Cana from the Ken Bu Kan, was injured in the other part of the draw. so was withdrawn. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Carl Peckham has been plagued by injury for many years. His Karate however is absolutely top drawer. Only seconds into his Veteran mens Kumite event, he suffered injury to his shoulder, and coupled with the rust that many years away from there tatami inflict, he couldn't progress and took a Bronze medal. Tom, Carl and Leah took on Talbot Karate in the Adult Kumite team event and both Tom and Carl benefitted form the extra mat-time to work towards being back to their best.
Leah was on form and the team added another Gold to the tally.

The second WKL takes place in Wrexham on 16th July.
 

A GREAT RED NOSE DAY!

What a Night!
On the evening of Red nose Day 2017, Ninety of our members  set about the challenge of completing 30,000 Punches and kicks in less than an hour in raising money for good causes!

Also a photo opportunity to celebrate our Welsh Karate League success this season!

After about 40 minutes the challenge was achieved, with no less than 37,700 strikes competed! A great event, thoroughly enjoyed by all!!

CLICK IMAGE BELOW FOR SLIDESHOW
 

VALE FINISH AT THE TOP AFTER THE CLOSEST OF WKL SEASONS!

The Welsh Karate League season came to a dramatic end in Merthyr on March 12th after the closest of seasons! 
For the first time in the WKL's history, the 'top club' trophy was undecided going onto the last event, however after a battle Royal with Mandie Read's mighty All Style Karate Alliance Association, Vale Karate secured the 'Club' top spot for the fifth consecutive season with a total of sixty-six Gold medals ahead of AKA's sixty-three, virtue of winning 13 gold medals at the finale!

There was a also an even closer battle in the race for third place with Cardiff Shotokan, Kansei and the Ken Bu Kan all on 24 Golds, however Cardiff secured third spot with more silver medals won.
Vale Karate had further cause for celebration as Leah Copeland, as well as winning both Ladies Kata and Kumite Categories, also landed the Overall Individual Champion of Champions award!

Gold medals won in Merthyr:
Bradley James U14 Special & Para Kata
Amelie Fisher U8 Girls Kata
Jack Eustace U8 Boys Kata
Nathan Shepherd U10 Novice Kata
Ellie-Jayne Farrugia U12 Girls Advanced Kata
Griff Hughes U12 Boys Advanced Kata
Rhydian Pullin U12 Boys Advanced Kumite
Danica Apologista U14 Girls Advanced Kata
Alysha Lee U14 Girls Kumite
Christopher Slack U14 Boys Advanced Kumite
Leah Copeland Ladies Kata
Sarah Morgan Ladies Veteran Kata
Leah Copeland Ladies Kumite

Silver medals
Jared Butcher U14 Special & Para Kata
Elle-Mai Lee U8 Girls Kata
Alexandre Piguet U10 Novice Kata
Gregory James U10 Advanced Kata
Ella Forsyth U14 Girls Kumite
Josh Davies U16 Boys Kumite
Rhydian, Kimi, Edward U12 Team Kumite

Bronze medals
Connor Ashill U14 Special & Para Kata
Lucas Widdrington 14+ Special & Para Kata
Mark & Ella Parent & Child Kata
Danica, Ella & Ellie-Jayne Junior team Kata
Amelie Fisher U8 Girls Kumite
Lloyd Beer U8 Boys Kata
Emillie Thompson U10 Girls Kumite
Nathan Shepherd U10 Boys Kumite
Gracie Sheldon U12 Girls Novice Kata
Amy Curry U14 Girls Novice Kata
Chiara Baker U14 Girls Advanced Kata
Lauren Moran U14 Girls Kumite
Greg, Annie, Nathan Vale Vultures U10 Team Kumite

VALE KARATE FINAL RESULTS:
CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS
Vale Karate Champion Club
Leah Copeland Overall Individual Champion of Champions
Bradley James U14 Special & Para kata
Nathan Shepherd U10 Novice Kata
Gregory James U10 Advanced Kata
Griff Hughes U12 Boys Advanced Kata
Chiara Baker U14 Girls Advanced Kata
Alysha Lee U14 Girls Kumite
Josh Davies U16 Bys Kumite
Leah Copeland Ladies Kata
Leah Copeland Ladies Kumite

2nd & 3rd place Trophy winners
Connor Ashill U14 Special Needs
Vale Warriors Junior Team kata
Chiara Baker Junior Shotokan Kata
Amelie Fisher U8 Girls Kata
Angel Manayani U8 Girls Kata
Amelie Fisher U8 Girls Kumite
Elle-Mai Lee U8 Girls Kumite
Jack Eustace U8 Boys Kata
Daisy Vann U10 Novice Kata
Talia Efstathiou U10 Novice Kata
Nathan Shepherd U10 Boys Kumite
Ellie-Jayne Farrugia U12 Advanced Kata
Danica Apologista U14 Girls Advanced Kata
Ella Forsyth U14 Girls Kumite
Sarah Morgan Ladies Veteran Kata
Vale Vultures U10 Team Kumite
Vale U12 Team Kumite
Vale Adult team kumite

CLICK IMAGE BELOW FOR CAROUSEL

VALE KARATE WINTER 2016 GRADING

The Winter grading was the first to take place at our new home dojo at Barry Leisure Centre. The grading took place over the weekend of 10th & 11th December and although over 80 took the grading, they did so in small groups, in order for Sensei's Rob and Leah to fully examine each and every student.
It was immediately apparent that the standard of our Children from Red Belt (8th Kyu) to Purple Belt (5th Kyu) has risen in the environment of our new dojo, the attention to detail that we can now devote to each class  has delivered exactly what we were looking for!
Several student have now taken advantage of the private sessions we can now deliver and that too had a bearing on the overall standard. 

Examining small groups has also given us a clear vision of what is needed overall in order to continue raising standards and identified individuals who need more attention.

Congratulations to all students who passed, in particular to our twelve new Brown Belts and six new Black Belts.
Also a special word of congratulation to Sensei Leah who passed her 3rd Dan with flying colours!
A Big Thank You to Doru and Kee who came along to oppose Leah in her ten minutes of continuous and vigorous Kumite which brought the grading to a successful close.

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