News

Lois Stewart (nee McManus)

Christmas Ball 2011

Our Christmas Ball was held Saturday 19th November at the Old Place Lodge Hotel, Dunstable. It was a very enjoyable dinner followed by dancing and socialising till the early hours.

Awards for grading's and other achievements were presented, as follows:

JUNIOR SHODAN
Josh Perry - St Albans

SHODAN
Sam Walker - Stevenage
Thomasz Cwalinski - Birchwood
Bryn Griffiths - Potton

SANDAN
Kathleen  Darby - Stevenage

YONDAN
Graeme Main -St. Albans

GODAN

Richard Scoot - Sandy/Clifton/Potton

Instructor
Luke Stephens-Chandler - Stevenage

Peter Cox Karate Award
Sara Rand - Cottenham
Ted Docwra Spirit Cup

Luke Stephens-Chandler - Stevenage

Click here to see some photos of the night.

Dan Grading November 12th 2011

Congratulations to those that passed their grading.

INTERMEDIATE/DAN
Andre De-Roy - St. Albans
Adam  Culley  - Knebworth
Richard Ayres - Birchwood
Emily Allen - Birchwood
Sharon Smith - Potton
Christopher Tan - Hitchin

SHODAN
Stefan Subocz -Schram - Potton
William  Golding - Potton
Jenny Nutter - Birchwood
Sara Rand - Cottenham
Sean Flynn - Sandy and Potton
Michael Dodds - Stopsley Hitchin
Jean Reader - Birchwood

SANDAN

Kathleen  Darby - Stevenage

INTERMEDIATE/DAN

SHODAN

SANDAN

ESKA Championships 2011

Sunday October 30th

Click here to see photos of the event

Our competition was a successful as ever this year with 261 individual competitors and 24 teams.  Learnings were taken from last year and we were able to start with 6 areas, 2 of which were matted. This allowed us to be incredibly efficient in running the junior competition and finished the junior individual events by 11am. 

The ESKA annual competition always proves to be a great showcase for the talents of the students and helps others to see the standards they should striving towards.  I hope the instructors are as proud of our association as I was when watching the kata and freestyle finalists - you are certainly all doing a great job!

The Birchwood and Cottenham clubs placed the most times with 18 placings each, followed closely by the Stevenage club with 16 placings.   Sara Rand from Cottenham was the most successful adult competitor, coming first in 3 categories (Individual Kata, Team Kata and Individual Freestyle).  Jasmine Dodds (Stopsley) and Elise Buckwell (Stevenage) were the most successful junior competitors both coming first in 2 categories.

As ever, a lot of work is involved in making an event like this work and I’d like to thank the following people:  Sensei Michael Nursey for making the day possible; Sensei Rae Nursey for all her behind the scenes help and support, all of the judges and table officials for giving up their time; Luke Chandler for his non-stop MC talents; Sensei Angus Pearson for all his work in getting the large matted area up and running; Senseis John Gillespie and Jeff Rand for supplying kit; the photographers for capturing the day; and all of the competitors who make the day. 

I hope to see you all there next year and if you’re an ESKA student reading this and did not compete, you should be part of next year’s event!

Paul Grimsey

Summer Ball 2011

Friday 24th June was the night for our annual Summer Ball. Hosted once again in Dunstable at the Old Place lodge Hotel. An enjoyable dinner followed dancing the night away.

Awards for gradings and other achievements were presented, as follows:

Junior Shodan

Jasmine Dodds - Stopsley

Shodan

Andrew Quenet - Birchwood
Ian Cheale - Cottenham
Mark Fielding - Potton
Luke Santilli - Birchwood
Tracy Lester - Stevenage/Knebworth

Instructor

Andrew Quenet - Birchwood
Ian Cheale - Cottenham
Mark Fielding - Potton
Tracy Lester - Stevenage/Knebworth

Click here to see more photos of the night.

Mini Olympics May 22nd 2011

ESKA'S 2nd Mini Olympics was held on the 22nd May 2011 with over 160 students attending.. This gave all in the Association a chance at trying something different in the Martial Arts. Eska Club Instructors taught the students The Bo, Nunchucks, Self Defence, Bag work. Kata Bunkai and Freestyle. By looking at the faces of all of the students in the pictures they had a brilliant time - parents commented on having had a great time watching and some were so impressed, they mentioned that they would like to take part in next years event.. Sensei Nursey did a good job blowing the whistle. So watch out for the Mini Olympics next year 2012.

To see more photos click here!

Dan Grading May 14th 2011

Congratulations to those that passed their grading.

INT/DAN
Jean Reader - Birchwood
Jenny Nutter - Birchwood
Simon Howard - Potton
Michael Dodds - Stopsley

JUNIOR SHODAN
Josh Perry - St Albans
Rory Clark - Stevenage

ADULT SHODAN
Sam Walker - Stevenage
Thomasz Cwalinski - Birchwood
Bryn Griffiths - Potton

Intermediate Dan

Junior Shodan

Shodan

Xmas Ball 2010

Saturday 27th November 2010 was the night for our annual Christmas Ball. Hosted in Dunstable at the Old Place lodge Hotel, we once again celebrated with a lovely dinner and dance.

Awards for gradings and other achievements were presented, as follows:

Junior Shodan

Rose Steggles - St Albans

Shodan

Luke Stephens-Chandler  - Stevenage
Andy Smith - Potton

Nidan
James  Kirkpatrick - Stevenage/Hitchin

Sandan
Glenn Hildyard - Knebworth
Farah  Malik - Knebworth

Yondan

Wayne James - Stopsley

Godan

John Gillespie - Birchwood

Paul Grimsey - Hitchin

Owen Ramsden - Knebworth

Rokudan

Gavin Paul - Stevenage

Peter Cox Karate Award
Luke Santilli - Birchwood

Ted Docwra Spirit Cup

John Gillespie - Birchwood

Congratulations to all of them.

Click here to see more photos of the night.

Dan Gradings November 13th 2010

Congratulations to those that passed their grading on Saturday. This was one of the largest grading groups to happen on the same day.

Dan Grade Junior
Jasmine Dodds -Stopsley/Hitchin

Intermediate Dan Adults
Thomasz Cwalinski - Birchwood
Sara  Rand - Cottenham
Jack Morrison-Betts - Hitchin

Dan Grade Adult
Andrew Quenet - Birchwood
Ian Cheale - Cottenham
Mark Fielding - Potton
Luke Santilli - Birchwood
Tracy Lester - Knebworth/Stevenage

Nidan Adult
James  Kirkpatrick - Stevenage/Hitchin

Sandan Adult
Glenn Hildyard - Knebworth
Farah  Malik - Knebworth

Intermediate Dan & Junior Shodan:

Dan grade adults and Nidan

Sandans

ESKA Championship Competition 2010

Sunday 31st October 2010 saw the annual ESKA Championships held at Stevenage Leisure Centre.  In total there were 301 entrances from 178 competitors, 50 events providing 100 medals, 100 trophies and a participation certificate for everyone who competed.

Although unable watch all of the events I did notice an extremely high standard of kata and freestyle, in-between making sure the areas ran as smoothly as possible.  This highlights what a strong team of instructors we have at ESKA and high levels of dedication, spirit and technique amongst the students.

The Stevenage club placed most times with 26 placings, followed closely by Hertford with 21 placings.  Sensei John Gillespie from the Birchwood (Hatfield) club was the most successful adult competitor, coming first in the black belt kata category and 3 kumite categories.  He also came second in the team kumite.  The most successful junior competitor was Len Radley from the Hertford club placing in 3 categories with a 1st in kata and a 2nd and a 3rd in kumite.  Special mention must go to Richard Scoot who took part in no less than 8 events (both kata and kumite), placed in 7 of them and won the team kumite!

Unfortunately we only had one matted area for freestyle and this is something we are looking to improve upon next year.

My personal thanks go out to Sensei Michael Nursey for making the whole day possible.  Sensei Rae Nursey for creating the drawsheets, which is at least a 3-4 hour job.  Sensei John Gillespie for bringing all of the freestyle equipment.  Luke Chandler for being MC.  All judges for giving up their time and effort on the day.  Some judges were even competing in the adult events and I thank them for judging when they could have been preparing to compete.  The judging requires a lot of concentration and can be quite draining over extended periods.  I would like to thank Sensei Nick Lower and Sensei Gavin Paul for judging the freestyle almost continuously for well over 4 hours.  A big thank you also to all of the table officials and additional helpers in making the areas run smoothly throughout the day, this is a vital component of any competition and without them the whole event would have fallen apart.  Lastly I’d like to thank all the competitors for their hard work in training for the competition and also the parents/spectators for their support.  If I have missed anybody out please accept my apologies as it was a very long day!

Let’s hope we are as good, if not better next year.

Paul Grimsey

“…. the team that is intent only on winning will usually fail to do so, while the team that enters the contest in order to enjoy the sport without worrying too much about winning or losing will frequently emerge victorious.” 
Gichin Funakshi, Karate-Do My Way of Life

Click here for some photos of the day.

Summer Ball 2010

Friday 2^nd July 2010 was once again the night of our annual Summer Ball at "The Old Palace Lodge Hotel", in Dunstable, Buckinghamshire.

Sensei Nursey along with Sensei Lower presented the awards as follows:

Shodan
Christian Sloan (Stevenage / Knebworth)
Shannen Fuller (Baldock)

Assistant Instructor
Tracy Lester (Stevenage / Knebworth)

Congratulations to all of them.

Click here to see a few photos of the evening.

Wednesday 7th July 2010

Dan Gradings May 22nd 2010

Congratulations to those that passed their grading on Saturday. Particularly as it was the hottest day of the year so far!

INTERMEDIATE
Andrew  Quenet - Birchwood
Luke Santilli - Hertford
Amanda  Veitch - Baldock
Tracy Lester - Stevenage/Knebworth
Ian Cheale - Cottenham
Mark Fielding - Potton

DAN GRADES
Junior
Rose Steggles - St. Albans

Adults
Luke Stephens-Chandler  - Stevenage
Andy Smith - Potton

ESKA Mini Olympics May 16th 2010

To see more photos click here!

On Sunday the 16th May over 170 ESKA Karateka took part in the first ESKA Mini Olympics instructors course at the Stevenage Honbu.
Students were able to try various martial arts including, Self Defence, Freestyle, Pad Work, Jo/Bo Weapons, Nunchucku's, Judo and Kata Bunkai.
The course lasted just over two hours and everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the days different disciplines.
A great big thank you must go to everyone for taking part in the course and to the fantastic club instructors who gave up their time to promote the event and run the different areas. All of the students who took part received a well deserved certificate of taking part in the biggest course ESKA has run for some years.
Thank you once again to everyone for making the course so successful.
Oss
Sensei Richard Scoot
ESKA Course organiser

AMA International 27th – 28th February 2010

Results

1st:  John Gillespie – Male Veterans Kata
2nd:  Paul Raymond – Male Veterans Kata
3rd:  James Kirkpatrick – Weapons Kata
3rd:  Sara Rand – Girls Kata 14-15yrs 3rd – 1st Kyu
3rd:  Emma Gillespie – Female Veterans Kata

ESKA took it’s largest ever contingent to the AMA International Open Karate Championships in Sheffield.  Representing ESKA were:

Paul Raymond (Stevenage) - kata
John Gillespie (Birchwood) - kata
Richard Scoot (Potton/Sandy) - kumite
Jeff Rand (Cambridge) - kata
Sebastian Ryglewski (Birchwood) – kata and kumite
Aneta Feibig (Birchwood) – kata and kumite
James Kirkpatrick (Stevenage) – kata
Emma Gillespie (Birchwood) - kata
Sara Rand (Cambridge) - kata
Stefan Subocz Schram (Potton/Sandy) - kumite
Bryn Griffiths (Potton/Sandy) - kumite
Will Golding (Potton/Sandy) - kumite
Lewis Griffith (Potton/Sandy) - kumite
Luke Santili (Hertford) - kata
Andrew Quenet (Birchwood) - kata
Tyler Lester (Knebworth) - kata
Alex Little (Hitchin) - kata
Chris Tan (Hitchin) - kata
Ben Tan (Hitchin) - kata
Alex Campbell (Hitchin) – kata

For most people this was their first competition outside of ESKA and gave valuable experience as well as seeing how other styles perform.

Xmas Ball 2009

Saturday 28th November 2009 was the night of our annual Xmas ball and Ball. But not only that, it was an event to mark ESKA's 30th year!

Luke did a presentation showing some highlights of photos and video of those 30 years. We had many special guests to help us celebrate including Anthony Hamilton and his wife Linda. Anthony and Lewis Hamilton trained many years with ESKA at Stevenage club and were awarded their Shodans.

Along with the presentations to those who have achieved their Dan certificates, many Club Sensei's were awarded a special Samurai award, for those who have run a club for over five years.

Junior Shodan

Katie Irwin - Hertford

Emily Ringe - Ware / Knebworth

Shodan

Suzi Cudby - Birchwood
Paul Clements - Knebworth
Matt Allen - Knebworth
Warren Bone - Knebworth

Nidan
Jenny Hanson (Ware / Knebworth)

Sandan

Jeff Rand - Cottenham / Cambridge

Vicky Byford - Sandy / Potton

Yondan

John Higgins - Stevenage

Angus Pearson - Stevenage

Tony Stones - Stevenage

Rokudan

Nick Lower - Stevenage

Peter Cox Karate Award
Katie Irwin - Hertford

Ted Docwra Spirit Cup

Jeff Rand - Cottenham / Cambridge

Congratulations to all of them.

Photos click here

08 December 2009

Dan Grading Results November 2009

Congratulations go to the following on completing their Dan Gradings.... well done all;

.

Intermediate Dan Grade

Andy Smith - Sandy / Potton

Nidan Dan Grade

Jenny Hanson - Ware / Knebworth

Dan Grading Results - 14th November 2009

Congratulations go to the following on completing their Dan Gradings.... well done all;

Intermediate Dan Grade
Luke Stephens-Chandler - Stevenage

Guy Rutherford - Baldock

Shodan Dan Grade
Christian Sloan - Knebworth / Ware
Shannen Fuller - Baldock

Sandan Dan Grade
Jeff Rand - Cambridge / Cottenham

Vicky Byford - Sandy / Potton