TEN members of the Oxford Sport & Traditional Martial Arts School have been selected to represent the South West of England in an inter-region karate competition next month.

The selected members, whose ages range from ten to the club’s most experienced competitor and senior coach, Lee Willis have since been participating in additional training sessions every week.

Following karate’s recent inclusion as an Olympic sport, the competition, to be held in Leicester will feature four regional teams to showcase how karate will feature in the 2020 Games, with athletes coming out to music and being displayed on large TV screens around the arena.

Paul Wood, the club’s chief instructor, whose eldest daughter Chloe is one of the selected students, said: “The level of karate competition is the highest it’s ever been in the UK at present.

“To have such a large number of students from our club make up the regional team is fantastic.”