Japan beckons for JKS Tallaght

2024 is off to a great start for JKS Tallaght with the news that three of its students have been selected for the JKS World Karate Championship to be held in Japan in July this year.

Eamon O’Callaghan (14), Yasmine Lynott (16) and Xheims Qepi (13) learned of their selection for the JKS Ireland squad recently and are excited about the prospect of representing Ireland on the world stage in the sport they love and in the birthplace of Karate.

All three students have been studying karate since they were young and have secured their place on the Irish Squad by demonstrating their skill levels in kata and kumite at the JKS Ireland Squad sessions which were held every month in 2023.

To qualify for selection all three had to also have achieved at least Brown Belt standard in their grading examinations.

Eamon achieved his 1st degree Shodan Black Belt last May under Kagawa Shihan 9th Dan JKS, while Yasmine and Xheims achieved their 3rd Kyu Brown Belts in December when examined by Dermot O’Keeffe Sensei, 7th Dan JKS.

The next few months will see their training sessions focused on excelling at the World Championships with the trio attending regular classes with their Sensei, Philip Kennedy 3rd Dan JKS as well as regular JKS Ireland Squad sessions where they will get to train with other members of the 20 strong squad selected from JKS Ireland clubs nationally.

JKS Tallaght are embarking on a major fundraising campaign for these young athletes as there is no government funding or grants available to them to attend the event.

All costs must be paid by themselves and a trip to Japan no matter how short is an expensive endeavour.

“We are aiming to raise €9000 to get them to Japan” Philip Sensei said.

“We are organising fund raising at club level to include Spot-the-Balls, Raffles, and various other events.

We are hoping the community will get behind these young athletes and support their fundraising so they can compete at the World Championship.

“Karate is their passion and they have trained really hard to reach World Championship level.

“This would be the pinnacle of their young lives, a once in a lifetime chance to compete in a World event, representing their country in the sport they love and in the birthplace of karate.

“If anyone would like to help us out in our fundraising, I would ask them to contact us directly.

“We would be incredibly grateful for any assistance in this mammoth task because it will be so worth it for them.”