Bolsover martial arts academy celebrates as 10 members qualify for World and European Championships

Bolsover Martial Arts and Tricking Academy Area 51 are celebrating as 10 of their competition team have qualified to compete in either the WAKO World Championships or European Championships

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A martial arts academy in Bolsover is celebrating after a number of its members bagged at spot at the World and European Championships.

Area 51 Martial Arts and Tricking Academy, based on The Bolsover Business Park, has seen 10 of its martial arts stars qualify to compete in either the WAKO World Championships or European Championships later this year.

Eight students from the competition team will head to Italy for the World Championships in October, while a further two will visit Greece for the European contest in November.

The club, which exists to benefit the community, also recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary and is now supporting efforts to help the students with their travel.

Jess Holmes, Area 51 senior coach, said: “We’re delighted that so many of our competition team have made it onto the GB squad and are representing Great Britain later in the year.

"It’s been a tough couple of years for the team, with competitions cancelled and having to train via Zoom. Things are going great for the team now, but the challenge has always been funding the competitions.

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"As with all sports, it’s the parents that have to find the money for their kids to travel the country, and world to represent their club, and also their country.”

The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations, otherwise known as WAKO, is the largest unified Kickboxing organisation in the world.

It is recognised as the governing body for kickboxing by both the Global Association of International Sports Federations and the International Olympic Committee.

Commenting on the success of the Bolsover team, WAKO GB Forms Coach Oliver Bonnington added: “It’s a pleasure working with the GB Forms team in preparation for them attending the international competitions as part of the GB Squad.

"The whole GB squad are committed to bringing home as many medals as we can”

As well as doing fundraising activies to help get the team to more competitions, both here in the UK and representing Great Britain, Area 51 has also set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to get support from the community.

For more information visit the Area 51 Facebook page or to donate click here.

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