Two martial arts instructors from Romsey have secured places on the elite British National Aikido Squad and will be competing for Great Britain in the 2007 International Tournament being held in Ohio, USA, in August.

Nicole Anson 3rd dan and Alex Guerandel 1st dan (pictured), who run Aikido Shoshinkan (formerly Aikido Romsey) at Mountbatten School were over the moon with their selection.

The tournament involves set demonstrations of Aikido techniques (kata) and fighting (Randori) events.

"It is the culmination of over 18 months of hard work on our part and it is great to have this recognised." said Alex. "This is our first International competition since opening the dojo in Romsey and so it is a great cachet for us to have."

"Only 12 squad places were awarded this year based on the ability, skill and commitment of the athletes. Three of the 12 places were taken by Hampshire Aikidoka (aikido practitioners), which says a lot for quality of Aikido taught in the county. These 12 are the best of the best and were selected from a team 35 aspirants, the remainder of whom will be also competing in the US as team members."

Anson and Guerandel are no strangers to international competition and have represented Great Britain in Japan, Australia and the UK.

"This will be my sixth cap' for Great Britain and Alex's third," says Nicole. "Travelling all over the country for squad training and competitions can be expensive. With squad selection comes a small bursary from the British Aikido Association to help with travel etc. and we are applying for a Sports Bursary from Hampshire County Council but we are mostly self-funding and are always on the look out for sponsorships."

If you are interested in taking up Aikido please contact Alex on 07970 814892 / alex@guerandel.com, or drop into a class at Mountbatten School on Tuesday evenings (8-10pm).