St. Johns Primary School in Sevenoaks were recently donated a prize which was sold at an auction by one of their parents.
It was a training session with Jordan Thomas for 20 children at the Copper Box Arena within the Olympic Park in London to learn Karate. The session was led entirely by Jordan followed by a Q&A session which the children found truly inspirational.
At St Johns they try to expose the children to as many sporting opportunities as they can. Last year they won the Kent schools games Gymanstics competition and finished runners up in the Hockey. They have also retained their Gold Sport Kitemark for the 3rd consecutive year and currently offer 12 sports clubs as extra curricular during the week.
Our day out with Jordan
The following account of their day was written by Elliot Milton and Xavier Wagstaff from year 6.
“On Tuesday 26th September, 20 pupils from Year six in St. John’s CE Primary School went to the Copper Box Arena to see Jordan Thomas, the current karate world champion, to meet and take part in a karate session.
As we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by Jordan and went straight into a warm-up. Exhausted and fatigued, panting and aching, we then learnt how to speak Japanese (Sensei = teacher, Kiai = Spirit Yell, Yoi = Ready Position, Osu = Respect, Ichi = one, Ni = Two, San = Three, Shi = Four, Go = Five). Now, because of Jordan Thomas, we can all decipher basic Japanese words.
Apart from learning Japanese, we were also taught karate. We learnt how to front kick, side kick, punch and block attacks coming to the head or chest. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was breath-taking (quite literally).
The most inspirational part of our experience had to be the question and answer session with Jordan himself. We were able to ask him many questions about his personal life and professional career. To learn that Jordan had almost self-funded his entire karate career, as well as recover from a multitude of injuries and setbacks was truly inspirational.
To conclude, it was an exhilarating experience and we enjoyed every single moment.”