First European Club Championship
Aikido pupils make mark in the First ETAN European Club Championship
A TRIO of junior martial artists from Harrogate Grammar School have been boosted by their performances at a European aikido competition held in The University Sports Hall, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September 2008.
Joe Bulmer, Craig Wilkie and Hannah Robson represented Harrogate Aikido Club at the championships, competing against older, more experienced fighters in the Czech Republic.
The students were joined by junior Philip O'Hara and three senior representatives from the club and they battled their way to a respectable fourth place finish in the nini dori discipline and a fourth and fifth place finish in kata.
Joe, 15, took silver in the mix team event and the Harrogate club brought home a club medal for taking part
Published Date: 24 October 2008
Junior National Success
Harrogate Aikido sweep the board in Junior event
THERE were medals galore for Harrogate Aikido Club at the Junior National Championships, the club bringing back eight golds, five silver and seven bronzes through their 24-squad squad.
In addition, the U-14s received the Best In Age Group Award.
"I would like to say well done to all my students for their hard work this year to keep our club one of the best in the UK" he said. "I actually think we could have won more medals but I'm proud of what we achieved on this occasion. "I look forward to even greater success next time".
Harrogate Advertiser : June 22, 2007
Aikido Northern Area Championships
AIKIDO CLUB WIPES THE BOARD IN AREA CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE Aikido Club at Rossett Sports Centre has been running successfully for the past seventeen years and at the Aikido Northern Area Championships held recently in Bradford, they came away with seven gold medals, three silver and the best newcomer category in the Under 16s.
Aikido is a fairly new concept in martial arts and was originally directed towards women. Founder Morihei Ueshiba (1883 – 1969) is history’s great martial artist and the Japanese name for this martial art literally means ‘the way of spiritual harmony’.
David Bryant, Rossett’s Aikido coach, said:
“Like tai chi, Aikido exercises emphasise harmony and grace of movement and, unlike some other forms of martial art, is non-aggressive. Although originally intended as exercise and spiritual fulfilment for women, sex, age nor fitness has proved to be a barrier for our club members. The youngest member of the club is five and the oldest member we ever had was72 years young.
“We currently have over 90 members and the club is going from strength to strength. Our members put in a lot of work to get to championship standard and I am delighted with our success this year.”
January 2005