A martial arts club took more than 20 medals home after competiting in an event which saw more than 200 competitors taking part Kuon Ji JuJitsu in Oswaldtwistle sent a team down to Llanelli in South Wales in April to take part in the Welsh JuJitsu Nationals.
The team of 14 whose ages ranged from 8 up to 17, and included five youngsters making their competition debuts, had been training hard for this competition and made their mark. The Kuon Ji Team came home with 11 Golds, 10 Silvers and four Bronze medals.
Head Coach at Kuon Ji, Max Robinson said: “This is the third year we have competed at the Welsh Nationals, and every year our athletes have performed better. As a club Kuon Ji is certainly now recognised wherever we go, with many coaches from other clubs coming over to comment at how good our fighters are, which is a huge compliment.”
All of the youngsters did well, especially the five under 12’s who made their competition debuts, with three of them coming away with Golds. The club had several fighters who took home Double Golds, as there are always two competition categories to enter, A Sports JuJitsu and a Ne Waza (Grappling) competition.
Two of their experienced girls Tilly Holden and Sophia Miller, who are both part of the GB National Youth Team, stormed to victory in both of their categories with wins in under one minute in all of their fights. Fellow GB Youth Team member, Theo Vallentin also took Double Gold with a calm and collected performance throughout the day.
Two of their young debutants, Freddie Haslope and Frankie Barcroft both took Double Golds in their weight categories. The team train regularly at special squad sessions as well as their normal club sessions.
The full list of medal winners are:
- Theo Vallentin, 17, two Golds
- Tilly Holden, 15, two Golds
- Sophia Miller, 12, two Golds
- Frankie Barcroft, 10, two Golds (debut entry)
- Freddie Haslope, 9, two Golds (debut entry)
- Spencer Brandon, 15, Gold
- Ruby Mullen, 10, Gold (debut entry)
- Taylor Brandon, 12, two Silver
- Alice Haslope, 13, two Silver
- Gabriella Hyatt, 13, two Silver
- Evie Brighton, 12, two Silver (debut entry)
- Olivia Arnfield, 12, one Silver and two Bronze (debut entry)
- Olly Vallentin, 14, one Silver
- Zac Robinson, 24, two Bronze (Seniors)
The club’s next outing will be to the GB Nationals in Walsall on June 29 where their team will once again be competing.
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