Valerie Dale – 6th Dan

Senior instructor

I started karate almost 25 years ago after meeting Robin and getting fed up with  being left alone 3 times a week so I thought I’d give this karate thing a go and as they say the rest is history.  As my job has always involved travelling I am very lucky to have trained and graded under some exceptional Sensei’s all over the country, my strongest memories are of entering the dojos at the Red Triangle, Marshall Street and Leeds as an anxious 1^st Kyu preparing for my 1^st Dan grading…and they definitely prepared me well !

I have competed at both Regional and National levels and although I have been placed and have a number of medals, I never won one of those lovely trophies that I coveted.  I am a qualified KUGB Assessor and Judge and I hope to take my Referees exam in the near future, so that I can continue to support KUGB competitions and besides, we need some Girl Power Referees and Judges.

My most difficult challenge has been to continue training through 2 x Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair operations on my left knee, which has never been quite right since I injured it in 1995, and through 2 pregnancies with Georgina and then the twins Tom and Charlotte whilst working full time.

My most proudest karate moments are when both Robin and I took our 4^th Dan together (thankfully we both passed otherwise that would have been #AWKWARD), helping to organise two European Shotokan Karate-Do Association Championships held in Crawley in 2008 and 2015 and seeing Tom and Charlotte develop and do well in their karate.