STUDENTS from Dorchester’s Fudoshin Ju-Jitsu Club brought back four trophies from the Dragon Tang Soo Do Open Championship held at Thornbury, Bristol.

Jodie Marshall got the team off to a winning start. She took first place in her weapons division, impressing the judges with her power during her Jo staff pattern.

Josh Clark also did well in his weapons division, taking second place with his nunchaku routine, following it up with a further second place in the unarmed patterns competition.

In the sparring, Clark worked his way through the preliminary rounds before facing Tae West from the Martial Arts Network, in the final.

This was not the first time these two fighters had met, as each trains regularly at Nick Bale’s Martial Arts Academy, in Trinity Street, Dorchester on Saturday mornings. Unsurprisingly, despite their different fighting arts, this proved a close fought match.

During extra time, under the next point wins rule, West clinched first place, leaving Clark to pick up his third second place trophy of the tournament.

Despite failing to win a trophy, Max Wright earned the respect of the judges for his sportsmanship, even going so far as to lend his feet protectors to a fellow competitor in his sparring division, who didn't have the correct equipment.

Instructor Sensei Nick Maton said: “I’m really proud of all of them. “This was their first competition and they’ve been training hard for the last six months.

“In all, there were over 200 competitors from over a dozen different martial arts clubs, including students of all the main styles. “The standard was very high and they all did fantastically well."

Junior Ju-Jitsu classes run in Dorchester on Monday and Thursday nights at the Judo Club, Sawmills Lane and on Tuesday night at the Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre. Further details can be obtained by calling 07593830671 or emailing worldfudoshin@btinternet.com.

Alternatively you can visit the website britishfudoshin.co.uk