Tenby Leisure Centre was the venue for the seventh West Wales Wadoryu Karate Association (Pembroke Dock and Carew) Summer Camp on July 3, 4 and 5.

The event was organised by Sensei Graham Thomas 5th Dan, with the support of Sensei Martin Morgan 3rd Dan, Sensei Paul Rogers 2nd Dan, Sensei Tony D'Arcy 1st Dan, Sensei Keith Roberts 1st Dan and Sensei Stephen Walters 1st Dan.

Students from the tender age of five years took part in the three-day event, proving Karate can be for the young as well as the older person.

Friday night started with course registration, where there was a licence check, form filling and issue of the course of tee-shirts.

Friday night saw the first of three Sensei Martin runs - only half-hour run this time! This was what he called his warm-up run. Seniors, upon their return, joined the juniors, whose warm-up was a game of football, with Sensei Tony D'Arcy as referee. Next came the sprint races, where students and instructors were split into age categories.

The night also saw the first lesson of the course, where all students were taught blocking, punching and kicking combinations, with the emphasis on the use of the hips. Senior students were taught a Shotokan Kata Kanku Sho and Kyokushinkai Kata Seechin.

8.30 am on Saturday saw everybody assemble for the attendance call - not all were present, for what ever reason three or four were missing, they were late! So, around the centre 10 times, bet they will not be late on Sunday! 9 am came and Sensei Morgan assembled all seniors for a course run - only 40 minutes this time, before they returned to join the juniors who had a football game.

Next came the sprints. All students were split into age sections, where they raced against each other until a winner was found.

Students were instructed in speed and reflex training, where not being quick enough resulted in penalties - press-ups... with quite a few being done from juniors and seniors alike. Next came Practice in Body Movement (leaving it until the last second to evade from the intended punch or kick). After a short break, students were split into grade order, with the groups taking instruction in Wadoryu Syllabus from the course instructors.

After a short lunch break, it was straight into the Kyu grading. Students presented themselves to the panel where they were put through their grading syllabus, carrying out basics (single movements), combinations (series of movements), Kata (forms/patterns), blocks and counters, as instructed by the panel.

Next came the black belt grading, two candidates attempting sho-dan (1st Dan), presented themselves to the course panel for their grading. They spent an exhausting challenging hour-and-a-half being tested on all aspects of the Wadoryu syllabus.

The last day arrived, everyone assembled for the attendance call, all present and correct, and on time (no penalties!). Seniors off, onto a longer run this time, up and down sand dunes! Martin what have you got planned for next year - training in the sea perhaps? Juniors off for a run round the leisure centre, and basketball, before all students and instructors congregated for the last sprint race of the course. After a short break, senior students held up focus pads and body shields, while the students raced round the circuit punching and kicking to find the fastest student.

The last two sessions consisted of pair work, self-defence and knife defence, with Sensei Morgan and Rogers, and on to training for the forthcoming individual and team Kata competition.

Next came the Kata competition.

Individual Kata (forms) results: 1. James Davies; 2. Kobey Thomas; 3. Kyle Jennings; 4. Liam Cressey.

1. Tom Williams; 2. Alex Fleming; 3. Sophie Thompson; 4. Ben Whiting.

1. Thomas Boswell; 2. Lucy Omnet; 3. David Casteo; 4. Bryan Davis.

1. Shaniece Raimann; 2. Niamh Pugh; 3. Jay Stewart; 4. Abi Goodrick-Latham.

1. Ryan Edwards; 2. Kama Thomas-Williams; 3. Ffion Cadogan; 4. Peter Orchard.

1. David Pugh; 2. Serena May; 3. John Cressey; 4. Lynn Christopher.

Team Kata (three-man team) results: 1. Grace Thompson, Sophie Thompson and Tom Williams; 2. Angel Cooper, Alex Fleming, Ben Whiting; 3. Luke Davies, James Davies and Steven Brown; 4. Kyle Jennings, Kobey Thomas and Alex Boswell.

1. Bryan Davis, Adam Cressey and Tom Williams; 2. Angharad Boswell, Lucy Omnet and Michael Bowen; 3. Shaniece Raimann, Abi Goodrick-Latham and Niamh Pugh; 4. Samantha Bowen, Jay Stewart and Daniel Thomas.

1. David Pugh, Ian Thomas and John Cressey; 2. Rhys Parsell, Ffion Cadogan and Ryan Edwards; 3. Elliot John, Kama Thomas-Williams and Peter Orchard; 4. Lynn Christopher, Serena May and Simon Morgan.

Circuit race (juniors): 1. Samantha Bowen; 2. Thomas Williams; 3. Kama Thomas-Williams.

Grading results: Promoted 9th Kyu - Lewis Boswell, Liam Cressey, Joseph Sivaprakasam, Sophie Thompson, Grace Thompson, Ben Whiting and Alex Fleming.

Promoted 8th Kyu: Luke Davies, Stephen Brown, James Davies, Callum Ninnis, Ryan Ninnis and Thomas Williams.

Promoted 7th Kyu: Alex Boswell, Kyle Jennings and Kobey Thomas.

Promoted 6th Kyu: Curtis Jennings and Liam Thomas.

Promoted 5th Kyu: Ryan Christopher, Lucy Omnet, Shaniece Raimann, Daniel Thomas and Lynn Christopher.

Promoted 4th Kyu: Angharad Boswell and Thomas Boswell.

Promoted 3rd Kyu: Samantha Bowen and Niamh Pugh.

Promoted 2nd Kyu: Peter Orchard, Kama Thomas-Williams, Kirsty McKeand and Serena May.

Promoted 1st Kyu: Elliot John, David Pugh and Ian Thomas.

Black belt grading: Ffion Cadogan graded Shodan (1st Dan) black belt; Ryan Edwards graded Shodan (1st Dan) black belt.

Running/sprinting competition: Five and six years - 1. Kobey Thomas, Alex Boswell; 3. Liam Cressey.

Seven, eight and nine-year-olds: 1. Liam Thomas; 2. Lucy Oment; 3. Abby Goodrick.

10-13-year-olds: 1. Daniel Thomas; 2. Elliot John; 3. Thomas Boswell.

Seniors: 1. Ian Thomas; 2. Rhys Parsell; 3. David Pugh.

Best junior student 2009: Thomas Williams; runner-up - Sophie Thompson.

Best intermediate student 2009: Ryan Edwards; runner-up - Ffion Cadogan.

Best senior student 2009: David Pugh; runner-up - Rhys Parsell.

With everything done, it was down to the Phoenix, Pembroke Dock, for a much earned end of course get-together, where 120 family, friends and karate ka enjoyed a buffet and a drink or two.

A special thank you must go to Jazzy and his team at Tenby Leisure Centre, who looked after everyone so well.

Anyone interested in Karate, please contact 01646 684716.