Four members of the same family are now black belts in karate after a successful end-of-year grading session.

The Ippon Kobudo and Shotokan Karate Club held their final grading of 2023 with around 30 students meeting at the Queenborough Dojo to be put through their paces under the watchful eyes of chief examiner sensei John Bower and assistant examiners Stephanie Cornford, Poppy Watson and Emily Worthington.

All of the students were graded on three categories, Kihon basic moves, Kumite partner work and Kata, which is a set of pre-arranged moves.

The stars of the day were the Ullrich family from Sittingburne, as all four members have now achieved their black belts.

Son Daniel was the first to join the club back in 2017, followed closely by his sister Amelia and then his dad and mum.

Both Daniel and mum Taisia have achieved 2nd Dan status whilst Amelia and her dad Patryk both achieved their 1st Dan at the recent grading.

Mum Taisia said: “My son was five or six and joined just for exercise first, karate if good for exercise, my daughter then joined, followed by my husband and then later on myself. I was taking the kids to train so I thought I might as well join in as well.

“We had seen through the kids that it was such good exercise and it’s a really good club to join as a family, we can do it at the same time, it’s fun for them and us and it keeps us healthy too and a brilliant club to be with.”

Sensei Bower said: “That’s the beauty of karate, the whole family can do it together.

“It’s been a pleasure to have them all as part of my club and an honour to see Daniel and Amelia grow not only in size but confidence and stature.”

While helping her son achieve his black belt, Taisia picked up a lot of knowledge and so has managed to progress quickly - quicker than her husband.

“He wasn’t very happy,” she joked. “There was the silent treatment for a bit, but he soon got over it and is catching up now!

“The black belt is a nice recognition of the skill but for us it is more about the exercise and getting to do something together. The grading is brilliant, something to strive for, but it wasn’t an end point, just something to eventually get to. For me it is more about family time and exercise and it is nice to be there with other people too, it’s been a nice thing to do as a group.”

All of the students put up an excellent performance at the recent grading and all managed to progress to their next belt.

Poppy Donnelly and Coner Bird were both presented with a certificate for top attendance. Student-of-the-year went to Stephanie Cornford for her dedication and outstanding performance in 2023.

Sensei Bower awarded Tyler Millen with his 1st Dan black belt after he put up a fantastic performance in all three categories.

*The club meets on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at Castle Connections Hall in Queenborough. If you’re a beginner or have previous experience in karate and fancy getting back involved, you are welcome to attend and train. You can find the club on Facebook.