Eric Miller with his trophy for second in his division at the National Full Contact Karate Nationals with his coach Bob Fryer.
Eric Miller with his trophy for second in his division at the National Full Contact Karate Nationals with his coach Bob Fryer.
Woodville's Full Contact Karate Club had success at the nationals.
The club has been operating for 38 years and seven of its latest proteges maintained the tradition of representing the club every year at the nationals.
This is thanks to the dedication of coach Bob Fryer who said the wholeteam went well and a second place for Eric Miller was the icing on the cake. Miller had three fights, winning the first two to get to the finals and just missing out on the top trophy.
Adult fighter Sally Lett, fighting for the first time in the nationals, won her first fight after the two-minute round ended drawn and having to fight another two minutes.
This may have affected her for the second fight as she just missed out, again going to a referees' decision.
There were 75 children in the kata competition, notoriously hard to win because of its precision. Woodville had three entries who later went on to fight.
In the fight rounds there were a similar number of competitors and all seven acquitted themselves well and would be all the better for their experience, Fryer said.
There is no rest for his fighters though. A visitor who has just been to Japan to learn the latest techniques, is running a coaching session tomorrow.
