Earlier this month the TKF Squad coaches invited several TKF Squad members to Leeds to attend the JKS England squad trials. This meant that the squad members had the chance to potentially further their development on the competition circuit, compete at a higher level, and possibly even represent JKS England at international competitions.

TKF had four squad members who would be trialling for the first time in front of JKS Squad Coaches Matt Price, Ashley Scott Heald and Ben Richardson while four other squad members re trialled after previously competing on the JKS Squad last year. It was a tough day with our kumite squad members trialling in the morning and then the kata followed the kumite in the afternoon. This consisted of tough fitness drills and specific training drills before having to perform in front of the JKS Coaches.

After a long day of tough training, TKF are pleased to announce that we have some new JKS England Squad representatives who join the current JKS Squad members for the year. The JKS Squad had introduced a new system of A and B Squad which works very similar to the TKF A and B Squad where A and B squad members had to attend specific competitions. Both will be competing at high standard competition but the A squad will competing at competitions such as the English National Championships, the British Championships and more notably the Club Commonwealth Championships.

This is always a fantastic way for our competitors to continue their pathway towards the highest standard of competition. In simple terms, the JKS England Squad is the next step up from the TKF Squad as this squad is our association squad which allows competitors to gain experience from high level coaches. It also exposes them to possibly the highest-level competitions in the country. The next ladder up is the EKF Squad, which is where you have English National squad which is the national governing body for England, and is the only pathway towards the best International competitions in the world and more importantly the Olympics.

A big well done goes to the following who were successfully selected for the JKS Squad;
James Leveridge – Kata
Matthew Yardy – Kata
Katie Middleton – Kata
Ellie-Rose Fyfe – Kata and Kumite
Martyna Marjeska – Kumite
TJ Greene – Kumite
Cody Gedge – Kumite
Henry Pegge – Kumite