(front L-R): Ethan Hulse, Richard reygan, Iqra Ishtiaq, Mark Craven, Maayir Khan, Kai Sweeting, Elizabeth Wright
A Karate centre in Greater Manchester under the leadership of a British-Asian Sensei is creating history by winning several coveted world titles.
Recently, the Dojo Team returned with an amazing 109 Medals from the DOJO athletes competing in Italy in many age and height related divisions.
Sensei Ansari, the man behind the medal hauls, said: ‘While its difficult to win any World Championships medal, its worth noting not just the amount of medals won, but how we won them, i.e. 54 Golds means we remained un-beaten in 54 events, then 32 Silvers and only 23 Bronze indicates that indeed our athletes work very hard in their training sessions and remained focussed throughout the tournament and during its preparation phase.’
With the recession still affecting most local businesses, sponsorship support was very poor for the Team DOJO. Rochdale Township, First Bus, Tiday Tax and Naz Jewelers were among the sponsors. Lee Jolliffe, Diane Reygan, Jenny Wright provided the volunteer support.
The UWC was held in Carrara Fierre (north of Pisa, Italy) and was made up of more than 33 World Federations from more than 90 countries world-wide that attracted over 4000 entries in various martial arts disciplines across all ages. Team Dojo ranged from 7yrs – 43yrs who all competed in many different events in Traditional Karate, Weapons and All Styles sections of the Championships.
While everyone performed very well, best performances were from Jack Jolliffe (Team Captain), Kai Sweeting, Saif Rana, Jamie Ellis, Rick Ward. Stars of the Championships were little Richard Reygan and Mark Craven (both aged 7yrs) who joined the Dojo at age 3yrs in the Tiger Tots program and to go and win at the WORLD CHAMPS in just 4yrs was amazing to see.
Sensei Ansari mentioned ‘It was really nice to see little Richard and Mark do so well winning kids much older than their own ages. A few members have moved up in belt level, so they had a bit of a shock when competing at a higher standard but still won. Some fights were really heavy on contact compared what we are used to here in the UK. It was great to see the sportsmanship our squad showed everyone. Many coaches and judges from other countries praised the performance of Team DOJO. Some of our youngsters competed in older age categories and held their heads high to come away with medals against some really strong older opponents.’
‘While we work very hard to raise the talent among our Team, unfortunately they do not have the finances to fulfil their potential that would otherwise allow them to go to more Championships. If there is any business who would like to sponsor Team DOJO then please contact us on 07974 723365 to help support our very talented squad.’
Anyone interested in starting Martial Arts training and would like more info, should contact Sensei Irfan Ansari on 07974 723365 or visit www.thedojo.net