A Successful Year for Kata in the Northern Home Counties

The 2024 Kata Tournament concluded a fantastic year of kata in the Northern Home Counties Area.

The 2024 Northern Home Counties (NHC) Kata Tournament, a Level 1 event, was held at Pinewood Judo Club on December 1st. Over 20 individual judoka, variously combined into 25 kata pairs, to compete in eight kata categories.

The highest number of entries was for the Katame-no-kata (kata of control) category, where five different kata pairs gave high-quality technical performances in their efforts to secure the prized gold medal.

As well as judoka from the NHC Area, the event attracted entries from across the BJA. Robert Milne and Andrew Gardiner journeyed the furthest, travelling over seven hours from Scotland to participate.

Their long trip was worthwhile, and they returned home with medals in Nage-no-kata (gold) and Katame-no-kata (bronze). Other entrants were drawn from the Western, Eastern and Southern Areas and the standard was uniformly high.

Also of note, Southern Area judoka and recently appointed Senior Kata Examiner, Val Kelly, took home an impressive haul of seven medals, including one gold.

The event was officiated by a team of judges holding either National Kata Judge or Senior Kata Examiner status, with some of the judges having attended and/or participated at the recent IJF Kata World Championships in Las Vegas.

This year, using two mat areas made for a very efficient day – leaving time for feedback to those contestants who requested it.

The Tournament represented a fabulous conclusion to the NHC kata programme delivered by Kata Commission member and National Kata Judge, Paul Jordan.

Under Paul’s leadership, 2024 has seen 6 kata courses delivered in the NHC, with 136 judoka benefiting from his coaching.

The dates of the NHC kata courses for 2025 are already published and can be found on the BJA calendar.

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