News 2018

Posted 20th June 2018
Message from the President and New Board of the EKF

The New Board met for their first formal meeting on Sunday 17th June and set about the business of the EKF. We know some of you have been waiting for some news and we thank you for your patience.

It’s had been just two weeks since the AGM, where the members present were able to express some of their views and opinions. With this is mind, the Board set about implementing ideas to ensure that the EKF worked for all its members.

It was a long but productive six hour meeting. Full minutes will be produced in the coming week or so, but here is an overview of what members might expect to see in the coming weeks and months.

The EKF will completely re-structure its way of working. There will now be clearly defined departments, with a named director for each department. The departments will be

• Performance Director  (Mr Winston Williams and Mr Greg Francis)
• Finance Director  (Vice President Mr Paul Campbell)
• Company Secretary and Director of Communication (Mr Mark Symonds)
• Director of Policy and Compliance  (Mr Ivor Thomas)
• Director of Equality and Inclusion (Mr John De Bono)
• Director of Marketing and Sponsorship (Ms Eve Whittaker)
• Technical Director (Mr Chris Thompson)
• Tournament and Competition Director (Mr Paul Campbell, Ivor Thomas, Steve Coupland)

In addition there will be two independent departments of the Discipline and Legal Committee (DLC) and Child Protection and Safeguarding that will fall under the administration of the President’s office but have independence from the President.

All the departments will work together, but each will a degree of autonomy and have a team to ensure that they run smoothly to the benefit of those they seek to serve.

At this time lead directors are scoping their task, and looking at what is needed to make each department run smoothly.
The meeting also covered an array of issue, many of which came up at the AGM

• Unification: Work has already begun, and EKF has reached out to Sport England and the Sport & Recreation Alliance, with a view to meet in the coming weeks to find common ground and mutually agreeable ways of moving forward.
• Accounts: These are being fully audited as I write and work on these will be concluded in the next few weeks. Once they have been audited, they will be circulated to all HOA’s.
• Work is starting on the Articles of Association. This will be long and arduous task, but I would like to assure members that we stand by our pledge to return full democratic rights to the membership.
• Communication: Directors have committed to improve communication with the membership with a raft of ideas… not least opening up meeting times for the EKF to engage with members…..watch this space.
• In addition directors will be looking at EKF policies and protocols from Conflicts of Interest to Child Protection & Safeguarding to Athlete support to Coach Education.

VOLUNTEERS

The EKF works largely with the help of volunteers and the good will of its members. We are keen to expand this and afford opportunity to anyone that might be interested. We are now actively looking for volunteers who might wish to get involved with their EKF, assisting the organisations to meet its goals and targets.

At this time we specifically need volunteers to sit on the DLC. This is the disciplinary committee of the EKF that investigate and arbitrates when various conflicts or complaints might arise.

We also need people who have a solid and working knowledge of Child Protection and Safe Guarding. Ideally volunteers will have worked or be working in the field of CP & Safeguarding but if you have experience of the issues, then we would like to hear from you.

So, if you want to get involved with your EKF, then maybe volunteering might be for you…. We are keen to hear from you. Please note to volunteer, for most roles you will need to an EKF members (or be a parent of an EKF member), and in most cases be over 18 years of age.

In closing, we (the Board) know that the year ahead will be challenging and demanding. We hope the members will be patient with us whilst we try to deliver an EKF in which you can have confidence and belief.

We are open for business and more so we are open to you the members. Please feel free to contact us as you see fit. We know we will not get everything right and we will make mistakes, but we will not hide nor shirk our responsibilities.

Steve Coupland
EKF President

Posted 8th June 2018
British Karate Federation & Youth Olympic Games Update

With the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina now just five months away, Great Britain had its first confirmed qualifier this week and news that five other young athletes are to participate in the final stage of qualification at the Youth Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Croatia, at the end of this month.

Charlotte Hope topped the Youth Olympic qualification standings in the women’s -59kg category. Click here to view Charlotte's ranking.

Charlotte was a clear ranked number one with over 700 points clear of her Japanese rival who secured the 2nd automatic qualification berth. The official selection for TEAMGB takes place later this year with Charlotte being the first Great Britain athlete being nominated.

The following athletes have qualified a slot at the forthcoming Youth Olympic Qualification Tournament in Croatia later this month.

Men
Jed Thompson (England) -61kg
Daniel Hewitt (Wales) -68kg
Brandon Carr (England) +68kg

Women
Amiee Pollard (Scotland) -53kg
Lauren Salisbury (England) +59kg

These athletes were the highest ranked GBR athletes in the 2018 Olympic Standings and qualified a quota slot at the qualification tournament provided they met the strict criteria set by the organising committee, each nation is only awarded 1 quota slot in each weight category for this qualification tournament.

The competition format is over two days, a separate competition on each day with the top 2 athletes in each weight category on each of the days qualifying a quota slot at the Youth Olympic Games.

British Karate Federation President Roger Williams stated “These athletes have done Great Britain and their home countries proud, congratulations must go to them, their coaches and associations. British Karate have embarked on this Olympic journey and the Youth Olympic Games are a very important part of developing Olympians for the future. There has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get the British Karate Federation “up to speed” in meeting the requirements of Olympic participation and that work now continues through for Tokyo 2020”.

Posted 7th June 2018
Palace recognition for new board member Greg Francis BEM

New Board member Greg Francis BEM JP with his wife Shahin at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party yesterday in recognition of his British Empire Medal awarded by Her Majesty the Queen for services to Law Enforcement, Public Duties as a Magistrate, Voluntary work and contribution to Karate".

Greg said, "It was a beautiful day and wonderful recognition of commitment and achievements in my public and private life. Most importantly the Award helps raise the profile and credibility of the Martial Art we know and love".

'The President and Board of the EKF extend their congratulations and pride in the deserved achievement of Karate-ka and fellow board member, Greg Francis…. This is a richly deserved award that recognises the hard work endeavours of Greg across a broad range of activities and we can be pleased and assured to have a person of such high calibre working for the members of the EKF.'

Steve Coupland
President EKF

Posted 1st June 2018
Support for Youth Kata Squad

With thanks to Hays Travel for their donation, the EKF Board will use some of the money to purchase tracksuits for the National Youth Kata squad who are competing at the Helsinki Open - Finland in August. The board would like to wish the squad the best of luck at these championships.

Posted 31st May 2018
Safe Guarding Course

The EKF ran a pilot Safeguarding training for coaches and volunteers in May 2018. The course was very well received with some great feedback. The next one will be available in September in the Leicester area. This is the only course recognised and accredited by the EKF and will be rolled out at a number of regional venues in due course. All key messages are covered and it been created bespoke to our karate membership the cost of attending will be £40 per head

Please express your interest via the registrations email by 30 July 2918 and we will publish further information soon.

Posted 21st May 2018
EKF Child Protection Policy

We have updated out Child Protection policy - please read it here.

Posted 2nd May 2018
Resignation of EKF Treasurer

It is with regret that I have to announce the resignation of Mike O’Brien, the EKF Treasurer. Mike has been forced to resign due to health problems and will be finishing at the end of work today.

I, personally, will be sorry to see Mike go as he and I have been good friends for a long time. However, his health is the most important thing and, on behalf of the EKF I would like to wish Mike the very best for the future and thank him for everything he has done over the past few years.

We are very fortunate to have had Andreas Michaelides offer to take over the treasurer’s position, at least until the AGM. Andreas is an accountant and Mike has offered to be at the end of the phone to answer any questions and to help with a smooth transition.

Mike Billman

Posted 27th April 2018
WKF Statutes - Resolution

Click here to find the resolution of the WKF Executive Committee regarding activities that are incompatible with the membership in the World Karate Federation and participation in WKF events, including Olympic Games.

Parallel with this resolution, the WKF has with immediate effect revised its Statutes (subject to ratification by congress) to remove the last hindrance for athletes with Olympic aspirations - meaning that double affiliation with dissenting karate organizations is not a hindrance for qualifying. This is in line with my message given at the Congress during the 2017 World Championships in Tenerife that the World Karate Federation wishes to ensure that the Olympic dream is available to all able karate athletes around the world. The only requirement is that the aspiring athlete must take out membership in their respective national federation affiliated with WKF to participate in the qualifying process.

However, the WKF will still maintain its right to protect the safety and health of its athletes demanding that WKF athletes do not participate in open karate competitions that do not conform to WKF safety standards and are not WADA compliant.

Regards,

Antonio Espinós

Posted 11th April 2018
BKF Operation Flow Chart

In order to bring some clarity to the karate community please see BKF Flow Chart depicting how the BKF World class programme will operate - the flow chart also depicts how the Medal Support. Plan operates as a separate entity.

Click here to read.

Posted 11th April 2018
WKF information on Tokyo 2020 qualification & categories combination

NIPPON BUDOKAN: IDEAL STAGE FOR KARATE'S OLYMPIC DREAMS Martial artists around the world have one thing in common: they all know where the Martial Arts Mecca is. The Nippon Budokan in Tokyo is considered the ‘heart’ of these disciplines and the main destination for martial arts practitioners and enthusiasts.

To read more click here

Link to qualification here

Posted 4th April 2018
EKF AGM 2018

The English karate Federation is holding its AGM on Saturday 2 June 2018. Notification has been emailed to all Heads Of Association.
The meeting venue is: The Holiday Inn, Hinckley Rd, Walsgrave, Coventry CV2 2HP

Posted 1st March 2018
Thank you to Hays Travel

The President of the EKF and the board would like to thank Hays Travel Ltd for their generous donation of £13,000 and greatly appreciate this kind gesture.

The EKF look forward to working closely with Hays Travel in the future www.haystravel.co.uk

Posted 1st February 2018
Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 - Olympic Charter/Rule 50 - Sport Equipment

Karate will be participating for the first time this year in an Olympic event, with the occasion of the Youth Olympic Games of Buenos Aires 2018.

As you may already know, in the case of Olympic events, participants must comply with the different rules defined on the Olympic Charter.

Read more ...

Posted 18th January 2018
2017 In Review: A record-breaking year for Karate

2017 will go down in the history of the martial art as a landmark year since never before have Karate events presented such a massive attendance of competitors. The growing popularity of the sport among youngsters and the development of the sport presentation of major tournaments have also been the main features of the discipline in 2017, according to the World Karate Federation.

Read more on the WKF website

Posted 17th January 2018
EKF KYU Grade Championships January 2018

It was a packed weekend of karate at the EKFs Kyu Grade Championships in Leicester Arena. There was great support with nearly 1100 entries from 52 club/associations. There’s some great talent coming through which bodes well for competition karate.

Veras Karate Academy came top of the medal table this year closely followed by Khalsa karate and Bushido Karate Association.

Thank you to Bobby Morton and his team, Chief referee Dale Gamble and all his officials who worked very hard all weekend. Once again Susan Dixon took some fantastic photos which are on the EKF Website and Facebook, anyone wishing to use this photos for their own use please credit Susan Dixon and where possible, to make a donation to www.samuelscharitiy.co.uk

Look forward to seeing everyone at the EKF Nationals in April

Results
Click here to view.

Medal statistics
Click here to view.

Posted 3rd January 2018
EKF President, Mike Billman, was recently honoured with the award of Kudan (9th Dan)

Mike was attending a Black Belt Xmas Dinner when he was called forward by Dave Inman, the EKF & WKF Medical Commission Member, to receive this award.

Gursharan Sahota, the Federation Head of TISKA, was unable to make the presentation as he was abroad on a family holiday, and had asked Dave Inman to stand in for him.

Mike Billman has been involved in karate since the late ‘60’s, grading under Sensei’s Kanazawa, Enoeda, Kato, and Asano, with his last certificate of 8th Dan being presented by the World Karate Federation nine years ago.

He has worked tirelessly for the English Karate Federation, is Vice President of the British Karate Federation, Chairman of the European Karate Federation Technical Commission, and is the Secretary of the World Karate Federation Technical Commission. He is also regularly chosen to attend the European and World Sports Commission meetings.

He was also a founder member of the 3 person group headed by Wolfgang Weigert (Germany) that worked for 15 years to get Para Karate accepted into the World Championships.

Who can ever forget the lights dimming during the finals in Paris 2012 and Mike Billman walking Ray Morcomb, the visually impaired Australian athlete, across the arena and onto the raised tatami for him to demonstrate Unsu in front of a crowd of 17,000 spectators. Ray received a 5 minute standing ovation, and para-karate was then accepted into the WKF programme.

Congratulations to Mike on his well-deserved award.