With the support of the St John’s Student Opportunities Fund, Charlotte Fife was able to attend the Karate BUCS National competition.
As a third-year student studying mechanical engineering, I made the decision to join another Team Durham sport, already heavily invested as an avid kayaker; being on the executive committee for the canoe club, I decided to join the Durham University Karate Club. Karate is a sport that I used to do prior to university that tapered off due to accessibility and the pandemic – I decided to restart at Durham where I could go, meet new people, and enjoy the sport for the sporting reasons. It was definitely the right decision. Immediately embraced by the club, I integrated well and continued my training.
Early in the new year, I was offered a place to compete for Durham University at BUCs Nationals, at the end of February in three events: kumite (regulated sparring) both individually and women’s team and women’s individual kata (a routine of movements).
I was excited and honoured to represent Durham in another sport but to also be a part of such a brilliant squad.
The St John’s Student Opportunity Fund allowed me to be there financially, by paying my BUCS entries which, when doing three events, quickly adds up! With the support of St John’s, in the upcoming months I could focus on my degree, my training and all my coursework that happened to be due both before and after the BUCS National Weekend.
When the competition commenced it was a surreal moment – I hadn’t competed as a black belt in the senior division before, and I was proud of my overall growth which was the main reason I restarted the sport. My biggest surprise was making it to the 3rd round of kata, the furthest Durham has got in senior kata in the past few years; with over 60 competitors to be in the top 25% having not competed since 2018, I was very proud and the support from my squad made it even better. To contrast, kumite is not my strongest front however it was incredible to participate and to watch our squad win points and progress through stages. Overall, the whole weekend was a lovely environment: full of laughs, competition, and progression. It was an incredible opportunity to have been given and supported by St John’s.
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