The Dragon Tang Soo Do Championships came to Bradley Stoke Community School on Saturday 19th March, with around ten clubs taking part, including those from Bristol, Portishead and Bournemouth.

It was a successful event for members of Bradley Stoke Dragon Tang Soo Do Club, which saw three of its adult members and four juniors come away with trophies and medals.

Fighters are split into age, height and belt grades, with separate classes for males and females and they compete in the disciplines of sparring (fighting), forms (patterns) and weapons.

Additional categories include team forms, team sparring and a black belt challenge, the latter being restricted to black belts up to 3rd dan or blue belts (called cho dan bo, junior and senior) who are in training to become black belts.

Georgia Powell, 12, a student at Bradley Stoke Community School, entered as a cho dan bo grade, and was crowned the black belt challenge champion after defeating 23 opponents in a knock out style competition.

During the day, Georgia won gold in forms, gold in weapons, and bronze in sparring. She also picked up a silver for team sparring, in which she was joined by junior team members Natasha Statham, Zailan Johnson and Max Halliday. She also teamed up with Natasha and Zailan to win gold in the team form.

Zailan, 7, an orange tag belt, won gold in forms and sparring. His sister Lexi Johnson, 12, who is an orange belt and trains at the Winterbourne club as well as Bradley Stoke, also competed, scooping herself a gold in sparring, a gold in team sparring and a bronze in forms.

Max, 9, an orange belt, won silver in sparring, while Natasha, who is a cho dan bo, won silver in forms, silver in weapons and gold in sparring, earning her the crown of junior female grand champion.

More: Club’s adult members share in success »

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Years of hard training have paid off for three members of Bradley Stoke Jiu Jitsu Club who recently became the first in their club to pass their black belt 1st Dan grading.

Chris Wills, Matt Brunt and Peter Williams all started as beginners at the club and are trained by chief instructor, Renshi Trevor King 5th Dan.

Bradley Stoke Jiu Jitsu Club train in Jukoshin Ryu – a style with an emphasis on practical, realistic self defence – taught in 55 countries worldwide. The style incorporates a variety of techniques including throws, locks, pressure points, kicks, grappling and weapons. Through membership of the WEBBS martial arts organisation, club members have participated in many events, including club trips to Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Trevor commented:

“The guys have trained hard, twice a week for five years, and I am delighted that they have reached this important milestone. This bodes very well for the club as their commitment is a great example for our up-and-coming younger members.”

The club runs thriving children’s classes and an active adult class at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. Adult classes take place on Wednesdays (7pm-9pm) and Friday (8pm-9.30pm), with children’s classes on Fridays (under-10s: 6pm-7pm; age 10+: 7pm-8pm).

Photo (l-r): Black belt achievers Chris Wills, Matt Brunt and Peter Williams.

• For more information, visit www.marujiujitsu.com or the Bradley Stoke Jiu Jitsu Club page on Facebook.

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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St Mary’s Old Boys U16 Team became Bristol Junior Combination cup champions on Sunday as they beat Wells 38-0 to lift the trophy in the stands of Clifton RFC.

A successful game of rugby saw them use the long and short ball to great effect, adding several tries in the second half against a stubborn Wells side who failed to score all game.

St Mary’s and Clifton had been tipped to meet in the final, but they clashed in the semi-final instead, giving Wells an easy run through.

At the end of the tournament it was the Green and Blacks who lifted the cup, with three different teams in attendance to witness their jubilation.

Confidence is high in the St Mary’s Under 16 team, who will be looking to continue their cup form in the league.

Martial arts: Martial Lifestyle

Many young and old martial arts students took to the floor at Meadowbrook Primary School on Saturday night, taking part in Martial Lifestyle’s end of year fight night. Fighters from beginners to internationals were watched by a large crowd that filled the main hall.

More local sport: Martial arts and running »

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