Karate kids pick up haul of medals at championships

A South Tyneside karate instructor made sure his young proteges did not return empty-handed from two international championships in Japan and the UK.

- by Gazette Reporter

Sensei Blane Stamps, who leads Yamaguchi Goju-Kai Karate's Gateshead dojo, saw his students Faith Cooley and Nathan Bell win a clutch of medals.

Ten-year-old Faith won a gold and two bronze medals at the British Karate Federation International Open at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield. She also won gold in Pairs Kata with Iona Cooper, 11, from Jarrow, from Yamaguchi Goju-Kai Karate's South Tyneside dojo, based at Perth Green CA in Jarrow and led by Shihan Mark Purcell.

Faith also won bronze in 10-11 Girls Kata and in Team Kumite, with Iona and Eva Barts from Yamaguchi Goju-Kai Karate's dojo in Grays, Essex.