Kin Ryu Judo News

  This weekend saw the Masters and Minors competing to become British Champion. In the Masters, Josh Boxell got the team off to an excellent start taking gold in the M1 U81kg group. The golds kept coming as Clare Bowie took gold in the F5 u70kg and Elvis Wakabe in the U73kg kyu grade section.  In a superb final Simon Mersh took silver in the U90kg kyu grade and Gavin Archibald completed the medal podium with bronze in the U90kg M5.  At the British U13's our athletes Ralphie Hill, James Peckham, Isaac Sanger and Kiera Dengate were also fighting hard and showed incredible resilience as Isaac, Ralphie and Kiera all made it through to the medal fights. Isaac and Kiera finished in 5th place but Ralphie took the bronze, his 1st national medal.  Well done dragons!  

  The dragons were on fire this weekend at the 2023 English Championships. The event is the gatway to qualifying for the 2023/24 England Squad and as always the team brought their A game. In the U13 Minors, the club was represented by Ralphie Hill, James Peckham, Isaac Sanger and Kiera Dengate. Our young team fought their way through the early rounds with all making it to medal fights.   Final results were Ralphie gold, Isaac silver, James and Kiera both finishing just outside the medals in 5th.  In the U15 Pre Cadet our team was represented by Sienna Robottom, Viadotas Pulokas and Nikolaos Goudinakis. All 3 were superb with both Sienna and Viadotas winning bronze medals and Nikolaos taking a superb gold medal, an incredible achievement after only retunring to the sport just 6 months earlier. The final group to compete was our U18 cadets. The club was represented by Zara Howe, Charlotte Crawford, Lucy Robinson, Olivia Barfoot-Saunt, Ajin Rubakaran, Sebbie Robottom, S...

  Congratulations to our three new teenage 1st Dan's Lucy Robinson, Samuel Tang and Peter Crawford. All three have been training hard at Kin Ryu since they were young and its an honour to be able to award them with their black belts. Above Sam being awarded his black belt by coach Richard Williams Peter being awarded his blackbelt by coach Clare Bowie. Lucy receiving her black belt. 

  Superb performance from Bradley today at the British Adaptive Championships. 3 long fights but he pushed through to win a superb silver medal. Kiera was also asked to fight to give another player some contests and put in a really thoughtful performance, tailoring her judo to her opponents level. Very proud of you both well done team!

  What an evening for our club. We are so proud to be able to present our head club coach Martin Rivers with his 6th Dan, an amazing achievement for a lifetime dedicated to this sport. It was made even more special that his grade could be presented by his lifetime coach and mentor Mick Leigh, 9th Dan. Martin has been at Kin Ryu since he was a 10 yr old boy, just enjoying the sport and over that time he has excelled in all areas that the sport can offer as a player, kata champion, coach, international referee, official, senior examiner, mentor and friend. Congratulations Martin this is truely deserved and everyone at the club is proud of you!

  It's not just the Kin Ryu athletes who are performing at the highest level, our officials have had a superb year as well. Kin Ryu head coaches and referees Martin and Lisa Rivers continuing their International careers with numerous tournaments this year. Martin has continued on the European tour, refereeing at the European Open in Estonia, and Junior European Cups in Portugal and Great Britain where he refereed some of Europes top athletes.  For Lisa this year has seen her travel further afield as she continues on the IJF World tour. Over the past 6 months she has refereed the Grand Slams in Paris, Turkey and Mongolia, Grand Prix in Egypt and most recently the 2023 European Games in Poland.   With events still to come for both Martin and Lisa in North Macedonia, Croatia, Netherlands, Abu Dhabi and France, 2023 is looking like their busiest year yet!

  Michael Leigh, 89 from   Crawley   has lived in the town since 1965 and over the subsequent decades he has taught Judo to thousands of children and adults in and around Crawley, some of whom have gone on to represent their Country. Michael founded Kin Ryu Judo Club in 1976 and handed the club over some years ago to coaches he had taught from novice up to black belt. The club still thrives at K2 and Michael is their President. He is also President of Judo’s Southern Area (Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Kent and the Channel Islands) and a Vice President of British Judo. This month Michael will have two important milestones to celebrate. On May 25, he will be 90 years old and he has just received the news that the International Judo Federation has awarded him his 9th Dan. Only five other Brits hold this incredibly high grade, given to an individual who meets many criteria following a lifetime of devotion and excellence in the sport. The holder of a 9th Dan wears a plain red be...