Little did 7 year old Bonnielou know that within a few years she would go onto become a gold medal holder! With her commitment to training 3 times a week for 2-3 hours each time, the journey down to Mo-ichido in Surrey under Sensei Colin Parker, it was clear that she was going for ‘all or nothing’. 

This remarkable 13 years olds biggest wins are World Kumite Team Champion (scoring 10 of the 12 points) 2023, Individual Kumite World Vice Champion 2023, Individual Kumite European Vice Champion 2022 and of course she is also the3 times Great British Kumite Champion for 3 years running, 2021, 2022, 2023.

This years 4 day competition in Dundee Scotland, allowed her club to take 9 athletes, out of which, 4 came back as World Champions. With approx. 2000 athletes in the competition from 32 different countries, they all knew it was going to be hard work!

Living and attending a local Dartford School, Bonnielou rarely misses a training session in Surrey.

This show of commitment is what made Dartford Lions Club support Bonnielou last year as she set off for competitions in America and Italy last year where she returned with 2 Bronze World Medals and her Silver European Medal. 

In addition to congratulating Bonnielou on behalf of Dartford Lions Club, President Lion Avtar Sandhu MBE said “Having an opportunity to support a local young lady in fulfilling her dream in martial arts is a very rare opportunity. Bonnielou has been remarkable throughout, her passion for fitness is outstanding. Earlier in the year she carried out a basic demonstration for our members, this in addition with the untold amount of medals she brought along to show demonstrated her willingness to win gold. I am sure Bonnielou will continue to keep winning for our club and Dartford as a whole – Well Done!”

Commenting after her recent win, Bonnielou said, “I want to thank my Sensei Colin for believing in me when I didn’t always believe in myself and for never giving up on me. He told me he would make me a world champion when I first joined him in January, I didn’t believe it back then but he saw potential in me and refused to give up on me. I feel like nothing will stop me now and I finally believe in myself. Without the support of Dartford Lions Club, I couldn’t have gone to America or Italy and I would never have been able to gain the experience I needed of these elite competitions and come back with a gold and silver this year. I will forever be thankful to the Lions Club for helping me on my journey, I wouldn’t have these titles without their funding and support.”