West of England title is a first
The Paignton-based club – formerly known as Shinji Budo Kai – entered a squad in this year's Closed Judo Championships at Kingsbridge, and Fear shone in the junior U44kg class.
She won her first fight with a very quick and impressive turnover, allowing her to hold her partner down for the win.
Her next fight was even more impressive and lasted for only five seconds, when she threw her opponent with an Osoto-Otoshi throw that landed her squarely on her back scoring the maximum ippon, ending the contest in short order and putting Fear into the finals to fight for gold.
With another imposing performance, she continued to dominate her weight group and wasted no time in throwing her opponent to the ground and pinning her with a textbook yoko-shiho-gatame to take the championship.
This triumph continued Fear's undefeated record since entering the competition circuit.
Ronindo had six more competitors at Kingsbridge who between them produced three more trophy-winning performances for the club.
The medallists were Isabella Perks (U48kg silver), Matilda Hyland (U36kg bronze) and Yoran Sheppard (O50kg bronze).
The other squad members included Charlie Bond, Sophie Fisher and Billie Oakes-Monger.
The club have now reverted to their original name of Ronindo, and head coach Ray Brown explained: "We want to keep the history of the original judo club alive, but Judo Kai just didn't fit with what we are doing today, hence the change to a Budo Kai.
The full name Ronindo Budo Kai means the 'martial arts club of the roaming Samurai' and fits in really well with what we are doing and allows us to bring in other arts and skills such as aikido and reiki."
As well as in Totnes, judo and aikido classes are run in Paignton, Dartmouth, and Brixham, and all newcomers are welcome, as are experienced players.
To find out more about Ronindo Budo Kai, email ray@ronindo.co.uk, call 01803 551434 or visit www.ronindo.co.uk
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