ANOTHER busy month ends for Cowdenbeath karate club with success in England and members able to enjoy one of the UK's top elite training weekends in Yorkshire under the stewardships of World karate champions Paul Newby and Matt Price. 1

Some 18 members of Cowdenbeath Karate Club travelled for three days of intense training followed by a fighting eliminator for next year's 10K Karate challenge in London for the UK's biggest cash prize event for national karate champions .

The club were able to go to the camp due to the fantastic donation given to the club from the local "4Winds Trust" which afforded this fantastic opportunity for the local students to develop their karate and experience this tremendous event.

In the 10K eliminator, club Instructor Allan Goodwin, won the fight-off's, with club instructor Ben Smith a close second and Allan will now represent Cowdenbeath Karate Club at next years event along with current women's champion Melissa Maxwell .

The club also sent a group of fighters down to Darlington to compete in the North East Championships and again enjoyed great success.

The team events brought medal success to the local club with Allan Goodwin, Ben Smith, Elize Bauld, Mia Aitken, Calvin Keenan, Luke Shields, William Preston, Grant Robertson , Emma Duncan , Cole Webster and Robyn Ironside all winning silver medals in their respective teams.

In the individuals Mia Aitken gave a superb fighting performance to win silver despite it only being her third tournament.

Grant Robertson can consider himself unlucky to win only bronze with a hard and spirited display in all his bouts. The club's top fighter, however, was young Elize Bauld, who blitzed through all her rounds to win another gold medal a just reward for the many hours of training she puts in every week at the club.

Also at the end of August three members of the Cowdenbeath club will join up with a UK select squad to travel to Cyprus for an international training and tournament event.

Ben Smith, Melissa Maxwell and Elize Bauld will represent Cowdenbeath and SK 2000 Scotland at this event and are now training hard to be ready to compete in this top level competition.

The club is very busy at present teaching basic shotokan karate and high level sport karate for all ages and abilities . New members are always welcome at their gym at Cowdenbeath Martial Arts Centre, Broad Street Cowdenbeath . The clubs also runs MMA/Kickboxing /fitness classes in their gym for adults under the guidance and instruction of Neil Maxwell one of Scotland's best coaches with a vast experience of martial arts behind him.