England karate competitors will be training in Ripon this week, as they make their final preparations for next month’s Commonwealth Karate Championships in Birmingham.
The team will be training under national team coach, Ady Gray, at his school, The Karate Dojo.
Seventeen athletes will take part in the event, where they will practice their kata skills.
Kata is the Japanese word for ‘form’ and sees athletes recite choreographed patterns of martial arts movements.
Mr Gray said:
“This training camp will put the finishing touches to the athletes’ preparations for the Commonwealth Karate Championships on September 6 and 7.
“As the England head coach, it will be great to bring my athletes and coaching team together and show them what our city has to offer and what a great venue Ripon is for our final preparations.”
Following the training camp, the athletes will head to Birmingham to take part in the Commonwealth Karate Championships.
They will competing in the event for national teams on September 6 and 7, which is followed by a club competition between September 8 and 11.
In its 10th edition, competitors from around the Commonwealth will be coming to the city, which recently hosted the Commonwealth Games.
Thursday’s training event will be open to the public and people will be able to take part in a training session with the team.
Mr Gray hopes that the camp will lead to greater exposure for the sport, both in Ripon and beyond.
He pointed to the fact that karate is already a popular sport, saying that his dojo sees people at “all stages [and] ages.”
However, he admitted that karate did not have the money it needed to reach the attention of more people. The sport made its debut at the Olympics in Tokyo last year. Mr Gray added:
“We’ve got to get that exposure.”
He now hopes that the separate championships will lead to karate being included as an official part of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
Originally published in The Stray Ferret