Dylan McCloskey 2nd Dan

Hello All,

I thought a post was relevant on the recent success of Dylan McCloskey. AKA. Dilly Willy Fo Shizzle. Ma Baby. The wee man. Badger. The list goes on of the names that he has been given since he joined the club when he was 5.

- A very young 5th Kyu Dylan McCloskey

I have had the pleasure of both teaching Dylan and regularly training along side him on the upcoming to big competitions in which he travels across with the team to either support us and watch the competition or to compete in himself.

Dylan obtained his 1st Dan at the tender age of 9 in Cowdenbeth, Scotland, it was here that I realised the importance of his training to himself and his family. He provides me with such pride on occasions such as this, that it made me hard to contain my excitement and nerves on the day of his 1st Dan as there is nothing more rewarding than one of your students achieving something so highly sought after.

Instead of being deterred after this success, Dylan continued to train to such a high standard that he was chosen as captain of the Northern Ireland Junior Squad for the last 2 years consecutively. Having competed at the 43rd KUGB National Championships and scoring a total of 3 Ippons one after another in 3 different fights (the same number of Ippons that I scored that day also) he narrowly missed out on the finals at this competition, only to come back stronger at the Liverpool Youth Championships in June 2013 to bring home a 3rd Place. Dylan is currently placed in the 10-11 years category 3rd Kyu and Above which means during these competitions he was the youngest person in his category and judging by my reaction coaching him at the sidelines he was competing brilliantly on the day.

- A picture labelled "Dylan doing nothing" during a Sensei Brennan course at Brother Club Fudoshin

In November 2013 Dylan's continuous success was noticed at the Coleraine Sports Awards where he was awarded Junior Sports Man of the Year and his name is now forever carved in the Coleraine Leisure Centre Sports Award board, being one of the youngest winner of the award ever.

Later on that month Dylan started to prepare for his 2nd Dan grading which would take place one week after his 11th Birthday in March 2014. Whilst training 4-5 times a week with Sensei Terry, Sensei Andrew and myself Dylan was drowned in competition also, competing in the first ever Karate Northern Ireland Championships in which he won Kata, Kumite and Team Kata showing that he is indeed the best in Northern Ireland at his age in what he does.
He then went on to win the ZSNI National Championships and Kata Competitor of the Year on this date.

Dylan's true dedication came to show during the final weeks in preparation for his 2nd Dan grading when he agreed to give up his beloved PS3 and go to bed early and train efficiently until after he had graded.

He was sad to note that I would not be present on the day of his grading as I would only be a nervous wreck anyway and basically no use, so Sensei Terry travelled over with Laura Diamond and John Mullan who were attempting their 1st Dan Black Belts.

- Dylan 12.04.2014 Northern Ireland Mini Grandslam Double Champion

I was covering Sensei Terry's class on the Saturday of Dylan's grading, and all of my students could see the expression on my face and my body language was that of pure fear. I would rather take my 3rd Dan grading 10 times in the one day than to have Dylan take his 2nd Dan.

I was ecstatic, crying ecstatic at 6pm that night when I got the phone call from him screaming that he did pass his 2nd Dan and was now the youngest in Ireland to do so. It was not the title that mattered to him, Dylan is not one to do things for himself, on the upcoming to his grading he was more worried about disappointing myself and Andrew than achieving this for himself, but he did it regardless and has now came to realise that it was all for him at the end of the day.

With such high expectations for this years KUGB National Championships and Liverpool Youth Championships Dylan is now concentrating fully on competing until he is eligable to grade for his 3rd Dan in 2024.

I would like to make a special mention to Dylan's family, Wully, Sonia, Reece and his blood sisters Lauren and Tasha for their continuous support through the years, attending every event and supporting him in every way possible. His success would not be achievable if you were not a big part of the journey.


My student, my friend, my brother, Dylan, this blogpost is for you to express my pride and hope for the biggest future in Northern Ireland Karate possible.

 

- Myself and Dylan

Yasmin :)
3rd Dan

Holly Sterling Course 22.03.2014

Hello All,

From deadlines to rehearsals, I have been extremely busy! The university year is nearly over!
Apart from my final exam being held on sidekick Louise's birthday life is good in the eyes of Yaz.

Firstly, Thank you to all those who trained under Sensei Holly Sterling 4th Dan KUGB on Saturday 22nd March. It was a great turn out in Coleraine West Community Centre and everyone was very impressed with the teachings of Sensei Holly, AGAIN! - The importance of our time spent with Sensei Holly is, as Shotokan Karate teachings is predominately male territory, we like our students to experience different teachings and to show that females are just as informative as males in Karate, just less common to be at a standard of Holly who is an all rounder

All rounder - Shows excellence in all three of main training areas of Shotokan Karate - Kata, Kumite and Kihon (basics, not the kata)

This is Holly's third visit to Northern Ireland and her reports have always been very positive about the students in the club! - Even Zachary and Andrew requested special permission to secretly train in the Female Class - a request that I quickly denied them access too #girlpower

Holly is a long standing KUGB Team member in both Kata and Kumite, two time KUGB Grand Champion she is a regular on the ESKA and WSKA podiums in both of her consecutive events.

Having been in the final for both kata and kumite in WSKA in Liverpool and in ESKA in Portugal in 2013, it is a great opportunity for our students to have her as a guest in Northern Ireland.

Do not be fooled by her petiteness, having fought her in Serbia in 2012 Holly can pack a solid punch and can move very swifty on the matt. My favourite moment of Holly's was during the KUGB National Championships in Birmingham in May of last year where she ipponed her opponent with a swift jodan block and front leg jodan mwashi-geri combination blocking her fast opponents renowned jodan gazami-zsuki, the slap of the technique was heard by everyone in the stadium and caused a sweep of silence whlist she was awarded the ippon and fight. An uproar of applause then broke for KUGB England's golden girl.

Holly was then asked to participate in our 10th Anniversary fight night (which I received no complaints from- go me) In which she performed two katas - Empi and Ni-Ju-Sho-ho.

The night went very smoothly with very happy students and parents showing their appreciations for the teachings within the club.

Well done to all those students who participated and we cannot wait to reveal our plans for the demonstration next year.

And a special thanks to our guest of honor and my dear friend Holly Sterling, your club is lucky to have you 24/7 to enjoy your teachings on a regular basis, you will always be a friend to Zanshin and we cannot wait to have you over again.  


#BRILLIANT

Ps. Yes she is better than me.


Yasmin :)
3rd Dan