​We are very proud to release our first club photo

​This weekend 5 of our students represented CIKA England at the EKF National Championships at the Leicester Arena. The best athletes from around the country came together for a fantastic weekend of top notch karate which was inspiring to be a part of.
 
We finished with 3 medals from 5 competitors and we would like to say congratulations to our 5 athletes who competed valiantly.
 
Considering this is their first taste of competing at this level, as we are new to (and proud to be a part of) the EKF, a big part of this weekend was for them to feel worthy competitors. While we had complete faith in them, worked to reassure them that they are ‘of standard’, actually getting in and mixing it up with the best is sometimes the only way to convince the mind.
 
For example, Daniel didn’t progress to the 2nd round and was upset that things didn’t go as well as he would of liked to… while we completely understand this, later in the day when his opponent faced current world champion in the pool final Daniel realized just how good his opponent was and we was able to take motivation from a few moments in the bout and he realized at this level there are such small margins in it and he’s not as far off as he first thought. Daniel left inspired and motivated to train hard, work on the details and come back stronger for it! For this we are very proud of him, that is exactly how we should respond to a loss. There is no shame in being disappointed but as long as we learn from it and use it as a catalyst for progression then a loss can in fact be better for your long term development and future successes.
 
Then at the other end, Poppy and Lewis showed not only do they belong but that they are completely up there with the best in the country. Poppy made the kumite final and narrowly missed out on gold. Knowing Poppy she will now be hungrier than ever for that Gold next year! She also made it to the 4th round in kata and took bronze. A little more experience at this level sharpening up the 2 weaker of her competition kata and getting all 5 to the same level, there is every chance she could go all the way.
 
For Lewis, nerves were his biggest battle and he was as nervous as we have ever seen him before kata. So much so his bow in process before his kata went all wrong and the judges had already made their minds up before his kata had even began (rightly so in all fairness). That being said coach Pete said he believes he would have won the round otherwise and his opponent made it all the way to the final, so that is a massive positive to take away.
 
Gee and Charlie where both upmost professionals on the day and did really well performance wise. With more experience under their belts the potential for them to go far in events like this is very high indeed. Lots of mat time needed with quality opponents so they can build self-belief and strategical awareness is the order of the day for their progress.
 
Many thanks to all for your kind words of encouragement and praise before, during and after the event, on behalf of Liverpool Karate Academy and all our athletes.

​On Sunday 2nd April, Junior Lefevre Sensei was over from Belgium and took an excellent CIKA England Kumite Squad session (See the Video Section of the website for a few clips) before the rest of day opened up to all and a number of other sessions where run.
 
At the end of the session the first CIKA England Squad Selected Athletes where named and awarded with their badges. There is a 2nd selection/training session at the end of this month also but for now we are very proud to announce the following Liverpool Karate Academy Members of the CIKA England Kumite Squad;
 
Archie Brown
Charlie Baker
Gee Hallacy
Lewis Hunt
Daniel Jevons
Heidi Stanton
Poppy Stanton
Pete Watson
 
We would also like to announce that Pete Watson was asked to Captain the CIKA England Senior Kumite Squad, a role gratefully accepted and one he is very much looking forward too.