Wakefield martial arts club wins big in Florida at world championships

12 members of Team KMA travelled to Orlando, Florida to represent England at the WKC world championships.

A Wakefield martial arts club is celebrating big wins at a world championship in Florida, coming home with eight gold medals.

Kai Ju Martial Arts gave it their all at the WKC World Championships in October, an annual martial arts competition featuring competitors from all over the world.

The club, currently based in Thornes, travelled to the USA for the huge competition and battled it out to win eight gold medals, seven silver and 11 bronze.

Catering for all ages – the youngest member being just two and the oldest 68 – the club already has 300 members and is preparing to relocate to a bigger, more central base in Wakefield that will allow them to continue to offer the world class martial arts experience.

Team KMA is Kai Ju Martial Arts' competition squad made up of 26 elite fighters, ranging from the age 10 to 47, who travel to compete in various local, regional, national and international competitions.

At the end of October, 12 members of Team KMA travelled to Orlando, Florida to represent England at the WKC world championships.

In order to represent England they had to achieve a podium place at the English National Championships back in March 2023.

Team KMA’s Samantha Popman, said: “Team KMA works hard all year.

"Each competitor that competes at the World Championships is paid for through our fund raising efforts so we have to work super hard at fundraising.

"As well as training several times a week at the club the elite fighters are required to undertake running workouts, skipping workouts and strength training workouts outside of regular training.

" In the 10 weeks leading up to the world championships we take part in a gruelling 10 week training program designed by one of the coaches, Nichola Thatcher.

"It's hard work and the team is often exhausted but by the time we come to fight we are fit and ready to go and it shows in our 2023 World Championship medal result.

"We have now come to end of our competition season but the hard work doesn't stop.

"We are already actively training for next year's competition season. Especially nationals in March as we hope to take a much bigger squad to the World Championships next year which will be held in Portugal.”