A huge congratulations to Chetwynde Year 3 pupil Brook-Li for making it into the Kanzen Karate England Squad.

Talented Brook-Li’s 18-month Karate journey so far has been swift On her first grading she double graded to Red belt, skipping Orange belt. She has since graded two more times to Green belt and now Purple.

Karate has well over 100 years of history and she trains in two areas, Kata (set routine) and Kumite (fighting).

During Brook-Li’s weekly training at Barrow Budokan, her Senseis – Derek Shields and his daughter Natalie Woodburn – saw promise in her ability so they asked if she would like to attend trials for the England squad.

Brook-Li decided to go and she managed to get in both the Kata and Kumite squads to represent England. Selections were tough as they had to prove themselves in front of 3x World Champion Christine Pullan.

Brook-Li will now continue to train hard and enter her first national competition in September. Her long term goal is to get an invitation to the World Championships in Sweden 2025.