HUDDERSFIELD’S Kane Academy martial arts team landed medals against some top-ranked competitors from across Europe.
Niall Howard and Tom Keaton won silver medals and Mark Daw a bronze in an English Open Tournament at Leicester.
There were teams from Sweden, France, Poland and Italy as well as from all over England, and instructor Rebecca Kane, whose gym is at Lockwood Scar, was delighted with the medal haul.
She is the first female in this area to teach mixed martial arts (competitors fight both standing and on the ground and opponents have to be made to tap out or be knocked out to score a win) and Howard won his silver in the Under 18s section, while Daw took bronze in the tough men’s 76kg division.
Keaton’s silver came in the hotly-contested men’s 80kg full-contact kickboxing division of the event, which was under the banner of the WTKA (World Traditional Karate Association) organisation. It was run in several rings for traditional karate and kickboxing, while the mixed martial arts was in a boxing ring.
The Kane Academy’s successful trio have been training with Rebecca only since September, when she took on the Lockwood gym, which has a dojo area (matted for martial arts) and other specific sections for grappling and kickboxing.
