A group of very talented young people from a club based in Gloucester are following in the footsteps of the legendary Elvis Presley.

They’ve not got the vocals the great man had – who has? – so they’re not belting out tunes such as Hound Dog or All Shook Up, but instead, just like the King of Rock and Roll, they are massively into kenpo karate.

For those that don’t know, kenpo karate is a well-established martial art and the members of Kenbu Dojo, a club that has been in existence in Gloucester for the past 10 years, are very good at it indeed.

So good, in fact, that they have just won a fistful of medals at the Kenpo Karate European Championships.

Their instructor, Sinead Byrne, who runs the club, was also among the medals and she said: “We’re a local club who have done something phenomenal.”

They certainly have because the team of 23, ranging in age from six to adults, picked up 20 gold medals, 22 silver medals and 12 bronze medals.

The championships should have been held in the Netherlands but for Covid reasons it was run as a virtual competition, something Byrne insists does not lessen their achievement.

Kenbu Dojo were selected to represent Great Britain at the championships and Byrne said: "I have never been more proud of each of the students.

“They practised hard for this event and put their absolute best forward which showed in their results.

“Some of our team have additional needs and this tournament was the perfect platform for them to compete in a safe space and have a fair division to compete in.

“It was a great experience which has brought so much positivity to the club after a hard few years of lockdowns and restrictions." 

Jasmine Jackman walked away with four gold medals in the adult division while Sam Constantinou, competing in the youngest age category, won a gold and two silvers.

Albie Smith, Xander Stone, Grace Reeves, Finley Balodis, James Probert, Lucy Johnson and Eden Howells were all crowned European champions and Sinead Byrne was pretty successful, too, finishing second in all three of the top black belt divisions.

That was good enough to earn the 33-year-old a place at the European Championships in Malta in June when she will represent Great Britain alongside the aforementioned Albie Smith, Xander Stone, Finley Balodis, James Probert, Lucy Johnson and Jasmine Jackman, as well as fellow club members Leo Bishop, Gabriel Huckson and Archer Watson.

“That will be a big test to see how they hold up in a physical tournament,” said Byrne, who is an eight-times world champion.

The competition just gone was the first time Byrne had competed since 2009 – that was in Las Vegas – and she said with a laugh: “I’m a lot older and slower than I used to be!”

So what does she prefer, coaching or competing?

“I prefer coaching now,” she said. “I love helping the kids, it used to be all about me competing but now I feel like a mum to these kids.”

Byrne is originally from Dublin – she’s pretty much lost her Irish accent – and her club meets at Montpellier Hall by Gloucester Park and at the Gala Club in Longford.

Like so many sports clubs, Covid hit them hard.

“We’ve got 52 members at the moment and I recently started a ladies’ only club which has 12 members,” said Byrne, who is a full-time instructor.

“Two years ago we had 100 members but at the start of the year we only had 22. We grow the club by word of mouth.

“I look at everyone at the club as an individual, I just want to make a difference.”

Martial arts is obviously a very big part of Byrne’s life because her partner Marc Moor teaches ninja samurai martial art at the three Budo Warrior Schools he runs in Gloucester.

Byrne is obviously a fan of that, too, but it’s kenpo karate that is clearly her speciality.

“It was made famous by Elvis Presley,” she said. “He was a big karate fan, you could see when he was on stage performing he used to adopt the wide stance style. He used to have the kenpo emblem on his guitars too.”