Here is another update from Joseph, our gold-winning para karate athlete. Thank you for the regular updates and best of luck for the rest of 2025 – from all at the DHF.
The 1st few months of 2025 have been rather slow on the competing front, which can be the norm with karate. Many regional competitions don’t yet offer Para categories, although the bigger national competitions are slowly becoming more accessible. The start of the year kicked off positively, when I secured a silver for England at the British Karate Federation Grand Slam in Durham in January.
Now that Spring is here, I am registered for several national competitions representing my club, Abel Karate in April and May. Namely, the English Karate Federation National Championships in Sheffield, the Southern England Karate Open in Kent, and the EKF E1 Series in Manchester.
Disappointingly I haven’t been selected for the European Senior Championships in Armenia in May, with the EKF significantly reducing the number of athletes attending this year. However, I am hoping to again represent England at the World Karate Federation Para Karate Cup in Croatia in June, dependent upon the criteria changes to the age categories.
Training for me is of great importance, and I have really been focusing on improving and fine-tuning technique in my katas, as the precision and discipline required is often a challenge for disabled athletes. You can see some of this in action in my pics – me training with my 1:1 coach Sam and taking part in a kata course with my karate association. April is a particularly busy month, as aside from 2 competitions, I am doing an intense 4-day karate course with my association, followed by a grading for my next belt.
My core training continues with weekly 1:1 training, 2 sessions with my club, and monthly training with the National Para Squad in the Midlands. ‘Homework’ from my 1:1 coach helps with my daily practice at home. This is particularly important for learning new katas and improving my performance development.
I am so grateful to The Dylan Howells Foundation for their continuing support. As ever, I look forward sharing my progress and remain committed as ever to giving my best as an individual athlete and in helping to raise the profile of Para Karate.
Joseph Clifton, April 2025
