Freda Roberts.
Freda began training in Loreto College in the summer of 1983. She came to the martial arts with a solid foundation of flexibility and posture from her early days as a ballerina.
Freda began competing on the competition circuit in the various IKKI interclub championships of the 1980’s supplemented by Pat White’s “Best of the Best” competitions which were ran around the same time. She attended many competitions in the early days and almost always competed in the male section as in a lot of cases there was no female division to enter. While not always winning this was to make her a stronger competitor. However it is testament to her true pedigree that she did in fact often place on the podium and win these divisions during an era when males dominated the art. Freda made history in 1990 by becoming the first ever woman to test for 3rd Kyu brown belt in High Street Kenpo Karate Club under the illustrious grading panel of Master Maurice Mahon with Shay Paget and Barney Coleman. In September 1992 she graded to black belt in Loreto College Crumlin under Instructors Alan Corrigan and Tommy Flynn and again with special attendee’s Maurice Mahon, Shay Paget and Barney Coleman. Back on the competition scene she had become a fierce competitor and won countless national titles ranging from All Ireland Championships to the Irish Kenpo Fellowship titles of the day. She emerged as an elite champion in certain categories such as Forms, Creative and self defence dominating those sections. In 1993 and 1994 she swept the boards in Ireland winning 1st place for Forms, musical Forms and self defence at the Irish Open Championships, the All Ireland Championships and the Irish Kenpo Fellowship Championships. She also won 1st in Forms and Freestyle in the Best of the Best Second Round. In another round Freda finished second to Mike Chat best known for creating the Extreme Martial Arts System and also his role as the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue. In the final round at the Best of the Best Grand Championship Freda secured the coveted gold as overall forms champion. In 1994 she was bestowed the “Up and Coming Black Belt Award” by the Irish Kenpo Fellowship – a testimony to her success and talent. In 1996 she made her debut on the global scene at the International Karate Championships in Maine, Boston where she would earn two 2nd places for Forms and Freestyle. In the coming years she built on her previous success in Boston by competing and winning in many International countries. In 1997 she accumulated seven European International 1st place titles across Forms, Musical Forms, Self Defence and Freestyle. These two European events were held by the IKKA in Amsterdam and the AKKS in Ireland. Again in 1998 she dominated the female division forms division in Ireland winning the AKKS National Championships and the IKF before secured another first place in the European Kenpo Championships on the island of Jersey for her dynamic forms. As the years rolled on Freda continued to dominate the International women’s Forms section winning 1st Again in Ireland in 1999, in Plymouth in 2000, In Ireland again in 2001 and In 2002 she won the female black belt forms title at the IKKA Championship in Spain while also still dominating in Ireland winning 1st at the International Kenpo Fellowships competition in Dublin and also adding the self defence title for good measure. In 2003 the tournament returned to Revere Boston run by Doreen DiRenzo where Freda placed 3rd for Individual Free Style, Second in Self Defence and then going one better with a 1st in Forms. The following day she travelled to Maine to compete in Tony Cogliandro’s KRANE run event where she placed a double 1st for Forms in Traditional and Hard Forms. In 2004 the IKC run event was back in Dublin where Freda again conquered the female forms division. This year she re-entered the male black belt forms section and placed third beaten only by Instructor Alan Corrigan and American Black Angelo Collado. So from 1997 to 2004, an 8 year streak Freda had dominated the Female Black Belt Division winning 1st in every International major competition. In 2005 she received a Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame Award in Texas, USA as distinguished woman of the year. That year was also very special year for Freda when her child Meghan was born in May. Meghan is following in the footsteps of her mother in becoming a forms champion in her own right and has several national and International titles to her name and is now a green belt. S