Bob Mitchell, headmaster of Mounts Bay Senior School and Matthew Walton, currently in the middle of his GCSE exams at Liskeard School, both achieved the grade of Shodan, 1st degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, at the SEKU grading in Looe on Sunday, June 4. The grading exam, before a panel of the top three instructors from the organisation, followed three hours of intense training for black and brown belts from all over the south of England. Bob and Matthew have both been training with the club for many years and it is a fine reward for all their efforts.

Matthew now joins the rest of his family who are all black belts. His parents, Paul and Ann Marie, 3rd and 2nd Dan respectively, have run the club in Liskeard for nearly 10 years. The success of their latest two students was made more poignant because the organisation of the course in Looe was the last official duty they performed before handing the club over to new instructors. Donald and Julie McIntosh, 3rd and 2nd Dan respectively, have run the successful Stoke Climsland Club for a very long time and plan to run Lux Park Karate Club in parallel. Donald was the first instructor from SEKU to run a club in Cornwall and has always been considered the senior instructor in the area.

The 'Walton' family is leaving the area due to work commitments and would like to take this opportunity to thank all their students past and present for the support they have given over the years. "Whilst we will miss the club we are very happy to leave it in the safe hands of the new instructors and look forward to meeting many of our old students at the various competitions and training courses around the country in the future," they said.