Darwen karate club steps up to chilly challenge (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen karate club steps up to chilly challenge

12:08pm Tuesday 5th January 2010 in

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A KARATE club chopped the weather down to size — by training barefoot on the snow covered moors around Darwen Tower.

Tower Shukokai Karate Club said the Kangeiko, meaning winter training, was to ‘forge the spirit by enduring the extremes of the weather’.

Club members practiced karate drills, in traditional white wrapover unforms and barefeet, under the shadow of the Jubilee Tower, from which they take their name.

Chief instructor Andy Allwood said: “We did it last year when temperatures fell to around -5 Celcius, so this year, at about -1 and with little wind, it was quite pleasurable!”

Assistant instructor Martyn Skipper added: “Our club has been in Darwen for over 20 years, and includes the Jubilee Tower in our logo, so it seems natural to undertake the Kangeiko beneath the Tower.”

It was the second time the Kangeiko had taken place, and the clubs says it will become an annual event.