A team of students from Jamie Woodland’s Black Belt Academy recently took part in a national competition held In Thornbury.

Among the team were juniors and adults, and many of the students were taking part in their first tournament. During the day, the members were demonstrating their skills in a variety of categories, including team and individual patterns/forms, weapons demonstrations and sparring (fighting). As the day progressed, many of the Academy competitors from Radstock showed great skill, determination and focus, and this was rewarded with podium places and numerous wins.

The overall tally at the end of the day was over fifty trophies coming back to the club, including wins in individual events, team events and even a grand champion being awarded to one team member for most wins across multiple events on the day.

Club instructor, Jamie Woodland, said: “I am so proud of everyone that competed – they all showed great skill, focus and discipline, as well as demonstrating a great deal of respect to judges and opposition. The students have trained hard in multiple classes each week leading up to the event, as well as extra training at weekends, and the results of that dedication are there to see. This has been our most successful competition since we began in 2001, showing that our school continues to develop and go from strength to strength.”