Our two candidates were successful on the day. Sensei Steve Eastwood, on his birthday, gained his black belt 2nd dan and young Eva gained her 1st dan.
It’s an incredible achievement for both of them. Our new syllabus makes achieving black belt much harder than ever before and only outstanding karateka will succeed. There’s now more advanced pair and combination techniques plus flow drills and the groundwork kata. This is additional to the usual array of advanced katas and fighting.
Black belt Thomas Eastwood did an excellent job helping Steve and Eva with their pair techniques, groundwork kata and fighting.
The shia (three two minutes fights) were tough. We fight full contact but with control to the face, groin and knees so it’s not for the faint-hearted. And it’s not just punching and kicking. We have throws, locks and groundwork fighting in our syllabus and this was evident in the shia on the day.
It’s an incredible achievement for Sensei Steve who fought back from two injuries, in recent years, that could of easily ended his karate journey. It’s a testament to his fitness and mindset that he was able to withstand the two hour long grading.
It’s also an incredible achievement for Eva who has only just turned fourteen. Remarkably, she only started karate four years ago! She trains six times a week, is a perfectionist and it shows.
Eva is the club’s first female black belt and will be an inspiration to every woman and girl who joins us. If she’s this good now, she could be world class in a few years time.
Our grading panel consisted of Senseis Terry Monsfield, Stephen O’Brien, Lea Johnston and Richard Clark-Varma. Also joining us were black belts Terry McCann and Thomas Eastwood.
For more photos, check out our gallery….
