British Judo are delighted to announce that several people from the judo community have been awarded high Dan grades for their services to the sport.

Karen Briggs MBE – Promoted to 8th Dan

Yorkshire’s Karen Briggs is a four time World champion and five time European champion. In a stellar career Karen won two gold medals for England at the Commonwealth Games where she carried the flag.

Karen worked for the Sumitomo Bank and the national squad in Japan for nine months. Whilst in Japan Karen was also five time All Japan Champion Fukuoka. Karen was an Honorary Blue from Herriot Watt University and also received an Honorary Doctorate from Hull University in 2013.

She was awarded the MBE in 1990.

Joyce Heron – Promoted to 7th Dan

British Judo’s Education and Training Manager Joyce Heron has contributed to the sport in the UK in variety of different ways.

As a judoka Joyce represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games and came third at both the World and European Championships as well as holding multiple Commonwealth tournament titles.

Joyce remained involved in the sport after retiring, first as a Development Officer, coaching players at all levels, tutoring and assessing coaches, and then as Education and Training Manager developing coach education programmes and developing initiatives aimed at increasing participation through the provision of a positive judo experience.

Dawn Netherwood – Promoted to 7th Dan

Former World champion and multiple international medallist Dawn Netherwood was a British national champion on no fewer than 15 occasions.

Dawn now lives in France but is still very much involved in judo, preparing judoka for high level international competitions.

Dave Horton-Jones – Promoted to 7th Dan

Dave has been a member of the BJA for 50 years, 40 of which he was a coach and active competitor. During his time serving in the RAF he was middleweight champion for 18 years and was also the unbeaten Combined Services Masters champion.

He continued his involvement within the armed forces guiding the RAF team to numerous Combined Services titles including the highly prestigious American/Canadian Open International.

Dave is currently National Promotions and Gradings Manager for British Judo where he is responsible for all grading activities and is the technical author for the Mon and Kyu grade diary and syllabus. Dave is also a Level 1 to 3 coach Tutor and Assessor as well as a Senior examiner and Kata examiner.