Maidenhead’s Bea Parry, Otto Parry and Magnus Read flew the flag for Maidenhead’s Kazoku Ju Jitsu at the Southend International Championships in Southend-on-Sea, Saturday 7th May.
The Championships, back for the first time in three years after the pandemic, are one of the major events on the British ju-jitsu scene and were attended by students and senseis from across the British Isles, Europe and even the US.
Kazoku’s small but crack junior squad came away with two medals – Gold in Random Attacks for Bea, who is an orange belt, and Bronze in Random Attacks for Magnus, an orange-stripe belt. The club has a long history of producing champions at national and international events, and this year’s squad did us proud.
Head coach, Sensei Dan Verghese, a third-degree black belt, said “I’m so proud of our junior team members, some of whom have been with us from a very young age, returning after all the lockdowns and pandemic disruption. Their dedication to training is paying off on the national stage.”
Dan acted as a tournament official on the day, which started with a fun training course for all the participants, taught by the UK and Europe’s most eminent ju-jitsu experts, before the competition in the afternoon.