Budo Juku Kickboxing club started in 1992 and quickly grew in popularity. Instructor Arthur Meek used his boxing experience mixed with his Wado Ryu fighting methods to form a club that was perhaps more casual in its approach to class structure than Karate but still maintained the highest standard of discipline. Students who don’t wish to take grades or practice Kata can take on the more direct form of fighting training in the form of regular partner drills, pad and bag work as well as sparring.

    In 1998 Arthur took his first handful of students to a kickboxing event in Camberley, Surrey and the Budo Juku club has been competing regularly ever since.

    In 2004 the Bridgwater club held its first ‘home show’ with no less than twelve local fighters, male and female, competing against all comers. It was a huge success and was a catalyst for other shows to follow and many more students to take up the sport. Like Arthur in his younger days several Karate competitors have cross-trained in Kickboxing and made their way into the full contact ring.

    From the first training session it normally takes up to twelve months of regular training before a novice can step into the ring for his or her first bout. Not everybody has the ambition to compete in the ring and so there are many students who train without doing so, but there is no escaping the regular sparring practice that is significant to any Martial Art. A typical training session will consist of regular boxing and kicking drills to emphasize the importance of enhancing technique. Light sparring is nearly always a part of the training session helping develop the confidence and practical ability of each student. Depending on the progress of each individual the level of contact during sparring will increase until mutual heavy sparring can become the norm. This can take many months under close scrutiny of instructors. A typical training class will often end with a run around the nearby park.

    In 2005 it was necessary to form an advance class separate from the beginners to allow all students to advance in their own right. Wednesday is now a thriving class of students who have all either been in the ring or are about to do so and therefore train to a higher level. Tuesday is a beginner’s to intermediate level where novices are brought through safely. There is a Sunday class that is open to all members.

Joseph Bale with a high kick

Ashley Gouge attacking   

    Over the past few years the ladies in the kickboxing class have proved they are as talented as the men in what is often considered a male dominated sport. The first girls from the Bridgwater club were April Cross and Amy Jeffry to step into full contact and since then Ashley Gouge, Karen Meek, Kirsty James, Sandra Dodson, Leah Paisey and Kayleigh England have all climbed through the ropes.

    In 2008 others lining up to follow in their wake are Karen Buckingham and Amanda Williams who have already fought in semi contact bouts.

Kirsty James

Karen Meek

Leah Paisey in action

Mixed Martial Arts

    In the year 2000 one of the Kickboxing members, Aaron Depledge, demonstrated his Judo groundwork to club instructor Arthur Meek who was immediately impressed and wanted to learn. Since then Arthur has spent many hours rolling the floor and learning from various sources the technical skill of grappling and submission wrestling.

    Aaron went on to compete in several strike and grapple tournaments winning his first contest in London defeating a young Jess Laudin, now a UFC fighter, in the final.

    Other students too have developed the liking for Mixed Martial Arts and Arthur’s experience in the fight game has helped them realise their potential either in the ring or the cage.

    In a way Wado Ryu Karate was already a mixed martial art in its conception with its founder Hironori Ohtsuka. He was already an accomplished Jiu Jitsu teacher before he took up Karate. In Wado Ryu advanced technique you will often witness takedowns, armlocks, strangles etc to finish or restrain an opponent, a testimony to this fact. But Karate was only ever considered a controlled striking sport. Now there is the phenomenon that is sweeping the world in the form of MMA from all disciplines