Karate success for Tang sisters at World Championships
Two sisters from Tang enjoyed major success in karate competitions at the recent WUKF World Championships in Dundee, Scotland, coming home with a silver and two bronze medals.
Laura and Emma Glancy, who are both members of the Athlone-based Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu St Mary's Karate Club, faced the best in the world in the kata and weapons categories at the championships held in July. month.
Emma, who is 14, won a silver in her kata, with Laura (17) taking bronze in her kata category, and bronze in her short weapon category. Both girls earned their black belts in 2022.
Earlier this week a presentation function was held in St Mary's Hall, Athlone to mark the achievements of the sisters, who are both students of Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, with Emma moving into 3 third year, and Laura shortly progressing into fifth year.
The pair joined the karate club in 2016 with their father Jonathan, and brother James, and train three times a week with Sensei Patrick Beaumont and his instructors, learning kata, kumite, and kobudo (weapons).
The girls are an inspiration to all the other members of the club, especially the children coming behind them who saw their hard work and dedication pay off at WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) World Championships in Dundee.
The Athlone-based Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu St Mary's Karate Club has up to 80 members, ranging in age from just five to mid-60s, and is the creation of Sensei Beaumont, an 8th Dan Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu USKK. Sensei Beaumont has over 37 years of experience training in karate and has trained under such great masters as Soke Nagamine, Hanshi Philip Koeppel, Hanshi Doug Perry and many others.
He formed the dojo in St Mary's Hall, Athlone back in 1986, and now there are a group of dojos in the surrounding counties filled with students who have chosen to follow the teaching of Sensei Beaumont.
Karate has been practiced in the Hombu dojo and affiliated dojos in a traditional way over the last three decades, focusing on the needs of the student and the importance of preserving the ‘old ways’ resulting in an organisation that can truly boast quality instructors and students.