Sakura Karate

Sensei Emmy Knight

Association Instructor

Emmy Knight has been training in Wado Karate for 14 years and holds the grade of 3rd Dan.

Emmy has trained and competed all over the world since age 9 and has amassed over 150 medals and trophies.

She is the Chief Instructor of Shadow Karate Squad and Little Lions Karate Club.

Wado Experience

Emmy began Karate aged 3 years old training at home with her Mom Becky and later at the Sakura Little Ninja’s class (Little Lions) in 2008 where she instantly showed her competitiveness. 18 months later she entered her first competition, the Mushindo Wadokai Championships, where she performed Pinan Nidan and won a bronze medal.

Emmy continued her training at Sakura and her competition success at local and National competitions. In 2010, aged 7 she began training at Way to Excellence courses with Sakagami Sensei 8th Dan as the youngest student to complete the 4 hour training course. In 2014 she competed in her first Wadokai European Championships and performed brilliant kata to win a Gold and Silver medal marking the beginning of her international career. In 2015 she began training with Sakagami Sensei privately in preparation for the Wadokai World Championships to be held in Japan in August the same year. Sakagami Sensei asked for special permission from the president of JKF for Emmy to enter the championships due to being only 12 years old, the required age being a minimum of 14 years. Emmy went on to perform Kushanku, Wanshu and Chinto Kata over the weekend of the championships and won a fantastic bronze medal. She also trained with Okumachi Sensei 7th Dan in the Tokyo Dojo during the trip to Japan along with her team mates from Wadokai England.

Emmy was awarded her JKF (Japanese Karate Federation) 1st Dan in June 2015, her JKF 2nd Dan in 2017 and her 3rd Dan in 2019. During the past 12 years she has trained with many different instructors in many dojo around the world and gained a great knowledge of Wado karate which she now uses to coach students at Sakura. Her competition success continued in 2015 with numerous local and national wins and in October she won another gold and silver medal at the Wadokai European championships held in Hungary. Emmy was the Aiwakai National Kata champion in 2015, 2016 and 2017 she also won numerous other medals in kumite and team kata/kumite. In 2016 Emmy won a staggering 36 medals and trophies in individual, pairs, team Kata and individual, team Kumite disciplines showing her amazing versatility. Along with training towards her 2nd Dan in 2017 she also managed to win bronze medals at the EKF and British championships in Kumite, Double gold in the Sakagami cup in Dublin for Kata & Kumite, 5th place in both disciplines in the Gothenburg Open and finished the year as the Wadokai European champion in kumite winning all 7 fights over the weekend. Emmy also won a silver medal in the same competition held in Sardinia for Kata and a silver for team kumite. Emmy has trained in Shotokan Karate and in 2018 began competing using Shotokan Kata winning 3rd place at her first competition.

Present Day

Since 2016, Emmy has been the Sakura performance coach. She is now a fully qualified Sakura instructor with DBS and 1st AID. Emmy is a self employed professional Karate coach and now runs her own Karate clubs - Shadow Karate Squad and Little Lions Karate Club.

Emmy has been an amazing ambassador for the Association since she began competing in 2009 and continues to be an inspiration to all Sakura students.

Education & Hobbies

Emmy was home educated by her mom from 2011 to 2017 where she passed her GCSE mathematics 3 years early, she continued her academic education at Walsall College studying Sport and Personal training.

Away from Sakura Emmy enjoys gaming & music and loves all animals. From an early age she studied Piano, musical theory, Ballet, Tap and Street dance.

Karate Achievements

2009

Sakura Inter-Club Championships – Kata Gold, Kumite Silver

Sakura Most Promising Student Award

2010

Mushindo Wadokai Championships – Kata bronze

West Bromwich Championships – Kata Silver, Kumite Silver

WAKF National Championships – Kumite Silver

Sakura Inter-Club Championships – Kata Gold, Kumite Silver, Pairs Kumite Silver

Sakura Junior Dedication Award

2011

Hon Yoso Kai Championships – Kata Bronze

Mushindo Wadokai Championships – Kata bronze

WAKF National Championships – Kumite Silver

Sakura Inter-Club Championships – Kata Gold, Kumite Gold, Pairs Kata Gold

2012

Sakura Inter-Club Championships – Kata Gold, Kumite Silver

Sakura 5 year Dedication Award

2013

Sakura Inter-Club Championships – Kata Silver, Kumite Gold

2014

Mushindo Wadokai Championships – Kata bronze

WAKF National Championships – Kumite Silver

Simon Coope Championships – Kata Bronze

Wado Kata Championships – Bronze

Wadokai European Championships – Hungary – Kata Gold & Silver

2015

Hartlepool Wadokai Championships – Kata Bronze

Mushindo Wadokai Championships – Kata bronze, Pairs Kata Silver

Hei Jo Shin Championships – Kata Bronze

UK Open Championships – Kata bronze, Kumite Bronze

JKF 1st Dan

Wadokai World Championships – Nagoya, Japan – Kata Bronze

USA Open Championships – Kata Bronze

Wadokai England Championships – Kata Silver, Team Kata Silver

Wadokai European Championships – Kata Gold, Silver

WKU Championships – Kata Bronze, Kumite Bronze

Sakura Best Competitor Award

Sakura Black Belt Award

2016

Mushindo Wadokai Championships – Wado Ind 12-13 Kata Gold, Ind 14-15 Silver, Pairs Silver, Team Silver, Open Ind 12-13 Bronze, Pairs Bronze, Team Bronze

GB Open Kata League – 16+ Kata Bronze

SIKC Championships – Kumite Bronze

North East Open Championships – Kata Silver, Kumite Bronze, Team Kumite Silver

WAKF National Championships – Kata Gold, Team Kata Silver, Team Kumite Bronze

UK Open Championships – 12-13 Kumite Gold, 14-15 Kumite Bronze, 12-13 Kata Silver, 14-15 Kata Bronze, Team Kata Bronze

Wadokai European Championships – Belgium – Kata Gold, Silver, Bronze

CEWKA Championships – 12-13 Kata Silver, 14-15 Pairs Kata Bronze, 16+ Pairs Kata Silver

Nissan Open Championships – Kata Silver, Kumite Gold

Wadokai England Championships – 12-13 Kata Gold, 14-15 Kata Gold, 16+ Team Kata Gold, 15 & Under Team Kata Silver, Team Kumite Bronze

Sakura Best Competitor Award

Sakura Dedication Award

2017