‘Over the moon’ - North East karate duo named British champions for the third time
Two North East youngsters have retained their British karate titles.
Ten-year-old Joshua Parkin, from Whitburn, and 11-year-old Charley Foster, from Redhouse, have become British karate champions for the third time after competing in the WUKF British Open Championships on Saturday, March 21.
Having competed and won in the same competition last year, the pair were keen on holding onto their titles ahead of the tournament which features competitors from across Europe.
Joshua and Charley started the competition with pair kata, where they secured bronze medals in a very tight category on points.
Following that, Joshua went onto win gold in the individual kata and gold in the team kumite, which made him a 2x British champion.
Charley then secured gold in her individual kata group and silver in her team kumite as she secured her champion status.
Ryan Carr, Joshua’s dad, has revealed that the scale of the tournaments don’t phase Joshua.
He said: “Myself and Kirsty, Joshua’s mam, are over the moon at his achievements but it doesn’t even phase him as to him it is just another medal - which is mental.
“I think he has almost 200 medals from over the course of the last five years of him doing karate. He doesn’t really realise the magnitude of what he has done and what he was won.
“He doesn’t get nervous, he just goes into the tournaments and just does his karate.
“We love seeing both Joshua and Charley do their thing - for them both being black belts and seeing what they’ve achieved in a short space of time is impressive.
“Sometimes the tournaments are livestreamed on YouTube so if I can’t make it, I can watch Joshua at home and it is fantastic to watch him on the tele doing his karate.”
Following the WUKF British Open Championships Brian and Kelly Foster, Charley’s parents, have expressed their joy at her reigning her British karate crown.
They commented: “Charley’s dedication in this sport is going from strength-to -strength and we can't wait to see what the future holds for her.”
Both Joshua and Charley attend the Dokan Karate Club, which trains seven days a week in Fulwell, Cleadon and Redhouse.
The pair have also both recently achieved their black belts and have been away competing in a tournament in Malta.
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