2 New Cornish Black Belts Crowned After Impressing Visiting Oxford Instructors
A huge congratulations to Eva Pounder and Ethan Callaghan for successfully passing their Black Belt grading this past weekend.
Friday 12th September 2026 marked the beginning of a weekend that would change the lives of two young karateka forever. Eva, 13, and Ethan, 15, are both students at Sennen Karate Club and have been working towards this moment for the past five years.
Ahead of them was a two-day grading, involving seven hours of intense scrutiny from a panel of Black Belts. The panel included 8th Dan and Deputy Head of Style Elaine Jaycock, 6th Dan and Sennen Karate Instructor Luke Jackson, 5th Dan Denzil Searle and 3rd Dan John George.
As if that wasn’t enough, both students arrived an hour before their grading began to fit in some last-minute training, showing just how determined they were to do well.
Friday evening saw our normal classes running alongside the grading. John George took the classes while Elaine conducted the grading. It was great to see our students have the opportunity to learn from someone new, with John visiting us from Oxford. The students showed a great level of respect and worked extremely hard. They thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and learnt a great deal, which was fantastic to see.
Meanwhile, Eva and Ethan were working extremely hard to impress Elaine. The main focus of Friday evening’s grading was the basics. From basic punching to simple stepping and movement, everything was being closely looked at and assessed.
The basics are the fundamental building blocks of everything we do. They are practised from the very start of a student’s karate journey and must be performed correctly, as mistakes in the basics will often carry through into the more advanced techniques.
Towards the end of the evening, after giving a huge amount of effort, it was time for the written assessment part of the grading. This tests the students’ knowledge of the style, teaching, the human body and a variety of scenarios they may need to deal with. They were given 10–15 minutes to complete it.
On Saturday morning, Eva and Ethan were understandably still tired from the previous evening’s efforts, but they knew they had to maintain the same level for a few more hours. Elaine continued working through the syllabus, looking at more advanced techniques, paired drills, katas and sparring.
Eventually, the grading came to an end. To the relief of Eva and Ethan, there was nothing more they could do. Their fate was now in the hands of the grading panel, and they would find out the result in just a few moments.
A special mention must also go to Lucas Carroll, James and Alice, who attended the grading and worked extremely hard. James and Alice were hoping to achieve their Blue Belts, while Lucas was there primarily to experience a Black Belt grading, having achieved his Brown Belt six months ago.
The Results
After a short discussion, it was clear that both Eva and Ethan had done enough to pass their grading, having impressed the grading panel with their standard and effort over the two days. They also both passed their written assessments with flying colours.
James and Alice both successfully passed their Blue Belt gradings, while Lucas was awarded three Black Tags for his effort and performance.
All that was left was to tell them their fate.
As they waited nervously for the results to be announced, family and friends gathered around. Elaine addressed all of the students, telling them how well they had done and explaining that, despite their young age, their new grades brought with them additional responsibility. They would now be expected to set an example to the other students both in and outside the dojo.
One by one, each student was given the good news. Their relief and excitement were clear as they found out that all their hard work had paid off.
It was a proud moment for all involved. A big thanks to John and Elaine for travelling down from Oxford and grading our students, it is always really good to see you both and even though some of our younger students may find you a bit scary they all appreciate you spending the time to teach them and they learn so much from you.
It was now time to head to the Old Success pub to celebrate…