Some competitions are fun and you find you have time for a bit chat with the refs and other folk you rarely see. Not this one! The EKF Kyu Grades Championship at Sheffield is manic and organised bedlam where I am kept so busy I can barely think straight, but it is for many the introduction into big time karate tournaments.

This year was yet again huge with many big categories, some of which had 60+ students chasing four medals. Personally I would split such large categories and make more kids happy. But I have never been a good business man.

For most of the day Dokan led the leader board medal table but ousted into second place at the end of the day by Shindo Kai, an association with 25 clubs and 1,000 members. So, really, our squad is doing exceptionally well from two clubs and around 150 members. Coming second of all the associations entering their elite students and being only one gold behind the leader is an achievement of massive proportions.

For six or seven of our squad it is their last Kyu grade championships as by next year they will be black belts. So I was delighted with my new low grades who entered and showed true potential, some of whom won multiple medals. Even those that won nothing went and gave it their very best shot. I was proud of them all as they conducted themselves beautifully throughout the day.

We finished the day with ten new national champions for 2015. 13 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 14 bronze medals thanks to some team victories. A good start to the year let us try to continue in the same manner.