Bath Shotokan Karate Club

A great attendance from the Bath club at the kata squad training session in Repton on 12th April with Sensei Frank Brennan. Nealy four hours of training with excellent kumite drills and five katas studied in detail

Congratulations to the Bath club's newest black belt, Ethan Park, who passed his 1st Dan under Sensei Brennan on the last day of the recent Torbay course.

Last Thursday night Bath Karate Club held its March Kyu grading. Congratulations to the below students who passed their gradings and a big thank you to Sensei Rob Welsh for making the trip to Bath to take the training and grading.

Hugo Cook 8th Kyu
Luca Parry 8th Kyu
Sam Matoviski 8th Kyu
Clare Birch 8th Kyu
Wolf Whalley 8th Kyu
Chole Burden 5th Kyu
Emma Thompson 2nd Kyu
Harry Sanders 2nd Kyu
Amy Beattie 2nd Kyu

The Bath club recently had the honour of hosting Sensei John Bruce for an excellent training session working on basics and understanding how they develop power and technique.

At our training session last Thursday, we awarded the 2025 Club Members of the Year trophies. Congratulations to Emma Thompson for competitor of the year and Peter Ashby for overall student of the year.

Training has started again for 2026. We are back in our normal dojo on the usual days and times.

This is going to be a busy year for the club and its members. The events page has been updated on our website and includes the club kyu gradings (March, July, November), regional course in Exeter (February), other competitions and the national courses, gradings and championships. The full KUGB calendar has more events and details, so please refer to that too. (Please also note that you can subscribe to the KUGB calendar so you don’t miss out on anything – there’s a link at the bottom of the KUGB Events page.)

Here are some of our karateka sporting their new club jackets.

As 2025 draws to an end, we want to recognise the members of the Bath Club who are part of the KUGB Central Region Kata Squad and have maintained their commitment throughout the year.
Being selected for the squad is just the beginning – staying on it requires discipline. Our squad members – Ron, Kieran, Mark, Craig & Julian – have committed to attend all training sessions, showing up consistently, regardless of the demands on their time.
The Central Region Kata Squad, led and instructed by Sensei Frank Brennan (8th Dan), KUGB senior instructor and coach to the KUGB National Squad, demands a level of fitness, focus and discipline that goes beyond regular club practice. Our members have risen to that challenge, refining their karate, particularly kata, and aiming to uphold the standards we aspire to in our club and as members of the KUGB.

The Central Region Kata Squad squad meets roughly seven times a year at dojos across the Midlands. It is open to all KUGB members (with a current KUGB Licence), who are 3rd Kyu and above, and at least 12 years of age. Each event begins with a 90-minute all grades’ training session, open to all KUGB members and grades with Sensei Brennan. The all grades’ session (open to everyone) is strongly recommended for any club members who wish to train with Sensei regularly, have the opportunity to improve all aspects of their karate, and prepare for gradings. The squad training session follows, but is only open to those selected onto the squad at the first session of the year.
If you wish to know more, please talk to any of the club’s squad members. The first squad session of 2026, incorporating squad selection, will take place on January 25th in Grantham.

Last Thursday night Bath Karate Club held its last grading of the year and we would like to thank Sensei Rob Welsh who made the trip to Bath with Lin Welsh to carry out a training session and our grading.

Congratulations to the below students who graded and also we would like to thank all the club members who turned up to train and support their fellow students.

Clare Birch – 9th Kyu
Jude Kemp – 9th Kyu
Sam Matoviski– 9th Kyu
Wolf Whalley – 9th Kyu
Luca Parry – 9th Kyu
Florence Watson – 6th Kyu
Chloe Burden – 5th Kyu
Jake Williams – 5th Kyu
Ollie Childs – 5th Kyu
Lucas Mitchell – 4th Kyu
Amy Beattie – 3rd Kyu
Emma Thompson – 3rd Kyu
Harry Sanders – 3rd Kyu

Congratulations to Roy Sanders, who successfully achieved his 2nd Dan grading, last Saturday in Chelmsford, under the watchful eyes of Sensei Jimmy Brennan and Sensei Frank Brennan.

Roy’s journey to this achievement has been marked by resilience, perseverance and focus, demonstrating the mental strength that defines a martial artist.

Well done, Roy, from all the club’s instructors.