2010

 

 

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18th July

Kyu Grading

 

                             

 

A great start to the summer holidays for the guys who passed their grades over the weekend, always very difficult to motivate yourself when the grading is so small. I would  like to give a special  mention to the students who passed with the top grade Daniel Holt, Jeremy Koshy, Charlotte Pearce and Ron Lees.

 

Well done to all.

 

 

4th July

Sale Dojo Kata Competition

 

I have to be honest two weeks before the kata competition I was ready to cancel the whole event. I seem to get use to the lack of support from certain clubs within the Ken Yu Kai group, but with such apathy from our cadet senior grades saddens me greatly. I think a few people have forgotten how important it is to support their own club, I know by nature most competitors are very selfish and I think if they want to get to the top they have to be. Sorry guys but you got this wrong big time, Sale Dojo should come first, second and third every time.

The next  student  who comes to me and says "they don't do kata" when they have a brown or black belt around their waist, I swear to god I'll go off my head!!!!! I just hope nobody thinks they're bigger than the club because I have news for you, nobody is and that includes myself... Please don't forget how you got to that point in the first place and who your inspirations were, yes you got it the senior grades. If Sale Dojo wants to carry on with the success that we all enjoy we need everybody's support not just the few and more importantly we need heroes  and someone to aspire to. I think because of the age of some of our students they don't realise the role they play in our club, being a black belt isn't just about wearing one around your waist.

 

There was one defining moment when you realise that you've done the right thing pressing on, and it's all worth the hassle. It wouldn't be fare to embarrass this certain individual so they will remain anonymous, but as they reached the final, with the biggest smile on their face they said to me " It's just like a dream" I just wish a few of our squad members could have heard this, maybe it could  change a few attitudes.

 

Despite my earlier apprehension the whole day was a huge success, not just the running of the event but the results were the best ever. So a massive thanks to all who helped to run the event, especially referees, instructors, sponsors, parents and most importantly the competitors and because of everyone's hard work we raised £950.

Please see the results below.

 

Section 1        Team Kata

 

                                     

 

1st Sale Dojo 'A'  Charlene Oaks, Alex Rigg, Lauren Tutty

2nd Prestwich Kelly Horsfall, Natalie Payne,  Spencer Copper

3rd Sale Dojo 'C'  Lewis Jacklin, Amy Bryan Smith, Elzbieta Waszkiewicz

3rd Sale Dojo 'B'  Mia Swain, Lucy Whitworth, Jasmine Mulai

 

 

 

Section 2        7 & under

 

1st Autumn Holmes Sale Dojo

2nd Amy Bryan Smith Sale Dojo

3rd Josh Nolan  Droylsden

3rd Finlay Banks  Red Sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 3        9th - 7th Kyu

       

1st Autumn Holmes Sale Dojo

2nd Callum Finn  Heys Karate

3rd Jeremy Koshy Sale Dojo

3rd Alexander Robins Sale Dojo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 4        6th - 4th Kyu

 

1st Megan Winstanley Red Sun

2nd Alana Lees Sale Dojo

3rd Kiah Padley  Droylsden

3rd Emily Robins Sale Dojo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 5        Brown Belt

 

1st Lucy Whitworth Sale Dojo

2nd Ben Walker Sale Dojo

3rd Callum Hesketh  Red Sun

3rd Mia Swain Sale Dojo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 6        Black Belt

 

1st Kelly Horsfall Prestwich

2nd Linden Hamer Sale Dojo

3rd Charlene Oakes Sale Dojo

3rd Natalie Payne Prestwich

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 7        Junior Pair

 

1st Sale Dojo 'A' 

2nd Droylsden

3rd Sale Dojo 'C'

3rd Sale Dojo 'B' 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 8        Senior Pair

 

1st Prestwich

2nd Sale 'A' 

3rd Sale 'B' 

3rd Sale 'D' 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 9        Adult

 

1st Jayne Craig Sale Dojo

2nd Gemma Holland  Red Sun

3rd Sarah Whitworth Sale Dojo

3rd Ron Lees Sale Dojo

 

 

19th June

A Big Surprise

 

I would like to congratulate on behalf of everybody at Sale Dojo, the surprise marriage of Sensei Conroy Sproul to his lovely partner Beth.   Karen and I were invited to Beth's 40th birthday, or so we thought, unbeknown to all her guests, Conroy and Beth had married earlier that day.  What a lovely days celebration. 

We wish Conroy, Beth, Adassa and Lucas all our best wishes.  It took you to your late 40's Conroy for somebody to actually tie you down!.    Still can't believe it!

 

13th June

Cumbrian Open

 

Once again the lack of money is starting to bite as we only managed to take a very small squad to the Cumbrian Open. The amount of miles we are having to travel around the country to find the best competition seems to increase year on year, but at least for one of our squad members it was only down the road. England and Sale Dojo's Lauren Crawford lives in Cumbria so whatever she seems to do there always seems to be a two and a half hour journey before it and that includes training as well. "So no more feeble excuses why you can't train".

The extra hour in bed seemed to pay dividend as she won the gold medal in the open weight and the silver in the light weight section. There was also a great day a for the Holmes family with the youngest sister Autumn winning gold in the kumite and not to be out done, the older sister Natasha won gold in both kata and kumite.

Thomas Tutty also took the gold in the boys event winning his team mate Spencer Cooper   in the semi final, so a bronze for Spencer. Some brilliant results for our younger squad members, only have to mention one more result that was Vincent O'Hora winning gold in the male senior kumite section, very satisfying.....

 

Only six entered but still we managed six gold, one silver and one bronze.  Well done to all.  

 

6th June

Kyu grade

   

 

Certainly the busiest grade of the year and so nice to see so many of the beginners coming through to take their first grades, again another warm day at the dojo. Everyone seemed to cope with the heat, a high level of karate-do with seven first class passes, top grades achieved by Lydia Bevan, Alix Mcdonnell, Elzbieta Waszkiewicz, Autumn Holmes, Emil Waszkiewicz, Rebecca Waterman and Mia Swain. Well done to all who passed especially Angela Holt our new senior grade.

 

Northern Classic Karate Championships

 

Because of the grading I didn't get to the competition till around two o'clock, by this time, most tournaments are well into the kumite sections, so you can imagine my surprise when I turned up, they were still doing the kata event.

With the competition only in Warrington, I'm a little disappointed with such a small turn out from our squad  members and with an International just around the corner. I just hope we are not getting too complacent with our success, I truly believe these small competitions should be used as an extension to our training.

 

For the guys who competed, it was business as usual and considering all the waiting around I was very impressed with their performances. The two Laurens met in the kata final, eventually Lauren Tutty took the gold, beating Lauren Crawford into second place They also both reached the final in the kumite this time different sections and both won the gold. The boys also had good results,  a one two three in the under thirteen's, Rico Kurweil first, Thomas Tutty second and Spencer Cooper third. Jake Kiernan came second in the under fifteen's and Adam McColgan took the bronze in one of the toughest sections of the day. The only adult who was patient enough to wait around for his event was Brian Kanyanga, he didn't get to fight till around 9.30 in the evening and managed to pick up the bronze for his troubles.

     

23rd May

Dan Grading

 

One of the most exciting days in the calendar for me personally, to see your students reaching their own personal goal after four or five years is just a unbelievable feeling. So you can only guess how disappointed I was when I realized that I was going to miss the event due to a double booking in my diary. A weekend away in Nice in the south of France with no kids, Don't worry I soon go over it!

 

This was a tremendous day for Sale Dojo as this was only the second time Ken Yu Kai has chosen the dojo to host it's Dan Grading. In my opinion it should be the permanent venue, I'm sure it would get the thumbs up from our students anyway and being only one minute from my house, bonus!

 

Trust us to pick the hottest day of the year to grade and for anyone who has trained at the dojo you knows how hot it gets when the sun gets on the glass. I suppose just another factor our students had to contend with on the day.  But all the hard work Sensei Haley and Sensei Angela have put in over the last six months, I knew everyone was well prepared. So I would like to thank them and congratulate everyone for achieving their 100% pass rate.

 

Back Row; Charlene Oakes Nidan, Ami Garrod Rodgers Nidan, Alex Rigg Nidan, Shaun Mulai Shodan, Jake Kiernan Nidan.

Front Row; Cameron Bryan Smith Nidan, Aaron Kiernan Nidan, Thomas Tutty Shodan.

 

 

25 April

Kyu Grading

 

Not the biggest grading we've ever done at the Dojo, but the standard was as high as ever. Congratulations to all who successfully passed their grades, Lucy Whitworth with another first class pass on her final brown belt. I think that's a 100% record of firsts for all her kyu grades well done. 

 

24-25 April

 English  Championships, Sheffield

 

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year whether or not this competition would be taking place,

I would of put money on it and said a resounding 'NO' but credit to the English Karate Federation, they have seemed to put their differences behind them and got the show on the road. (well at least for this  month anyway)

The competition was held at the Ponds Forge in Sheffield, this seems to be the favoured venue at present and I can tell you that I don't miss travelling down to Crystal Palace every six months.

 

For the second week in succession, Ashleigh Kenny and Lauren Tutty both won golds in their sections. Lauren was very unlucky not to make a second gold of the day after the team kata with Kelly Horsfall and Natalie Payne were beaten by the current European bronze medalists, 2-1 in the final. There was nothing between the two sets of girls performances, probably reputation gave Ishinryu the edge.  This is the first time our girls ever dropped a flag, never mind been beaten.  I'm sure we'll do them next time, age is on our side.

 

The rest of the kata section didn't seem to go to plan with most of our competitors getting knocked out in the early rounds. Charlene Oakes and Kelly Horsfall managed to come back taking bronze in the reportage, but I think overall I was a little disappointed with our kata results. The kumite was a whole different story, some outstanding displays, Linden Hamer once again proving he is unstoppable at the moment, I know he is only 13 but I wouldn't like a gak from him and where has that sweep come from?  Harley Del-Rio and Josh Gagon both put in a solid performance and once again sealed their number one status in England.  Personally the most surprising athlete of the weekend was Natalie Payne, she knows how disappointed I was after the Scottish in the previous week, she responded how all true champions should, and I love it, when my students can prove me wrong and in this case I didn't mind. Keep up the hard work and I won't have to be that nasty person again.

 

I think Charlene Oakes' situation is what is fundamentally wrong with English Sport Karate, she is once again the number one competitor in her age group but will probably not be able to select for the Europeans, due to the cost of travelling around the country to squad training sessions just to stay on the 'A' team.  The financial burden on the rest of her family would be unfair, to me it doesn't seem right and I feel in my way, myself and Sale Dojo will let her down. In the past we have always supported our athletes, but as we get stronger and more successful as a club we are not just looking after one person, but up to a dozen.  In some cases last year, it is costing more to train than to compete. Training with the England Squad is very important, to mix with other athletes and get comfortable with your surroundings is essential, but not ever week.  I still believe most of the work should be done back at your association, I cant' remember the last time we had a training session,  there doesn't seem to be a place in the calendar. 

 

There were one or two disappointments on the day, Jake Kiernan's second place was one of them, it wasn't about his ability but unfortunately the lack of understanding of the rules by the referees. I know how hard the job must be, but it worries me that at an English Championship you can have so many inexperienced officials.  On some of the mats, I didn't recognise any of them, two many association referees and not English standard. 

We also took silver in the under 9's girls section with Niamh Horsfall, a great kicking display and to top her day off, she was part of the team with Mia Swain and Lucy Whitworth who won gold in the team event.  I would like to apologise to anyone I upset with my antics, I am quite excitable at the best of times but when my daughter is involved, I am off the scale, happy Sensei, ecstatic Dad.  I have never been so nervous at a competition, now I know what you parents go through.  

We also took gold in the girls 14-15 year olds team with Charlene Oakes, Kelly Horsfall and Lauren Crawford.  The boys team less convincingly took first place only just limping over the line. Well done Linden Hamer, Rico Kurzweil and Aaron Kiernan, that's how you become a true champion by grinding out results.  

There was also good performances by Kelly Horsfall, Lauren Crawford, Ami Garrod-Roger, Rico Kurzweil and Lauren Tutty who achieved the bronze positions.

                                                                                                   Juliette Tony awarding the girls team their gold medals Niamh, Mia & Lucy

 

Medal Total

10 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze.

 

I think there was a couple of things that the organisers got wrong, you know how I like a moan, so moan I will.

In the under 13 year old sections, there was no joint 3rd place and they had to fight off for it. This could be the difference between a young student continuing tournament karate or not and for the sake of a pound I don't think it was worth the risk. Medals and trophies are a huge incentive to children, I know Lucy Whitworth was not too fond on the kumite but after her success in the team, her mum informed me she loves kumite now, that's the way kids minds work.

 

Also I think that it's a scandal how expensive it is becoming to watch your child compete at an EKF event,

£10 for an adult, £8 for a child per day to be a spectator. It was only last year I was praising the EKF for free entry to their premier event. To achieve this, they increased the entry fee for everyone to cover the short fall, so this year they froze the entry fee, but still charged spectators. Do they think we have such short memories!!!   

 

Example one family at the dojo

 

Individual Kata event                          £15

Individual Kumite event                      £10

Team kumite                                            £10

1st day adult spectator  fee x2     £ 20

1st day child spectator  fee x1       £  8

2nd day adult spectator  fee x2    £ 20

2nd day child spectator  fee x1      £  8

 

Total                                                           £91

                                                                                                       

 

Just think a parent may have the audacity to take a picture of their own child, which would cost you another five pounds for a camera pass, can this be legal? So one family would cost you just short of one hundred pounds,

I beg the question ..........    EKF does this seem fair to you?

 

 

Results Kata

 

Gold -  Ashleigh Kenny, Lauren Tutty.

Silver - girls team  (Lauren Tutty, Kelly Horsfall, Natalie Payne).

Bronze - Charlene Oakes, Kelly Horsfall.

 

Result Kumite

 

Gold - Linden Hamer, Harley Del Rio, Natalie Payne, Charlene Oakes, Josh Gagon, girls under 9 team (Niamh Horsfall, Mia Swain, Lucy Whitworth) girls team 14-15 (Charlene Oakes, Lauren Crawford, Kelly Horsfall) boys team 10-13 (Linden Hamer, Rico Kurzweil, Aaron Kiernan).

Silver - Niamh Horsfall, Jake Kiernan.

Bronze - Kelly Horsfall, Lauren Crawford, Ami Garrod Rodgers, Rico Kurzweil, Lauren Tutty.                                         

 

17-18 April

 Scottish Open Championships, Edinburgh

 

Can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this tournament, the first real test for the whole Ken Yu Kai squad this year. It seems we have been working so hard at the dojo the past few months, preparing individuals for their International events.  It's so nice to get everyone together and the whole squad competing over the weekend, but as usual, the karate gods always seem to let us down at the last minute. I think there were around 15 countries expected at the weekend, but because of the dust cloud caused by mount "Who Cares", somewhere in Iceland, all the countries from mainland could not attend due to flight cancellations.  This is a great shame as the Scottish Open seems to be gaining strength and I'm sure in the near future it may eclipse the old British Open of the nineties. The Scottish were always poor cousins when it came down to tournament karate but they seem to be getting their house in order. There is one thing that I admire about them, they do it their way and don't seem to be bullied by the WKF, a small example, no face mask and body armour for the 14-15 year olds, they just made a decision and got on with it.

 

The lack of European opposition seemed to turn the championships into a dress rehearsal for the British which is to be held in Glasgow in September, later this year and with this in mind, it should be quite a good event for us.

 

Saturday

 

Ashleigh Kenny once again got the squad off to a great start, I can't remember the last time she was beaten in the UK.  Our 10-13 year old girls also had great results taking the first three places with Natalie Payne finally winning the gold, beating our own Kelly Horsfall in the semi as well as team mate Lauren Crawford in the final.  A superb performance for the girls team squad producing a gold and once again didn't drop a flag on the way. Well done to their coach Tony Tutty, but I'm sure he would also like to thank Sue Gagon and her skills as a gymnastic coach who has helped us with the Bunkai, making throws and tumbles a lot slicker. Only one medal from our male representative in the kata, Alex Rigg who ran in second place, taking the silver medal.  I can't tell you how proud I am of his performance due to the lack of training over the past couple of months due to his broken jaw which he received at the AMA International earlier this year.

 

The kumite also seemed to go to plan, gold places went to all three of our England International competitors, Jake Kiernan, Harley Del-Rio and Josh Gagon and even though they all still make small mistakes, it's a joy to watch them at work.  The hours of blood, sweat and tears is definitely paying off. Jake also teamed up with Robin Hamer and Shaun Mulai to win in the boys team 14-15 year olds. We also won the girls section in the same age category, with Lauren Crawford, Charlene Oakes and Kelly Horsfall.  We were close in one or two of the other sections, silver medals for Christopher Williamson, Ashleigh Kenny and Vincent O'Hora who took two silvers in his own weight as well as the open.  I feel at long last with Vincent we are going in the right direction and I feel it will be  a big year for him.

 

First days results:

8 Gold, 7 Silver and 5 Bronze.

 

Sunday

 

I didn't think we were going to surpass the first days performances due to the distance our young competitors had to travel. It's understandable that the squad on the second day were slightly smaller and this is because the older competitors tend to fight on the Saturday to help the foreign teams with their travel arrangements. Obviously I look at it in a selfish point of view and I am uncomfortable with the students missing school on the Monday because they didn't arrive back home until the early hours of the morning.

 

Lauren Tutty won the gold in the under 13 year old category event, just think if she really put her mind to it and got some practice done, how good could she be?  The only other golds of the day went to Linden Hamer in his weight section as well as the open section.  I think by general consensus he was by far the best fighter of the weekend, Linden seems to be showing his true potential at the moment, a very intelligent fighter which far exceeds his age. He just needs to smile a bit more and look as though he is enjoying it because we all are.

 

Lauren Tutty just couldn't make a double gold but she ran out at second in the kumite, still a very good result. Obviously I am never going to be a 100% happy and a silver and a bronze in the boys 10-13 year old section when I know we had the fighters to take the gold. The only thing I can say is that you better make it right at the English next week and if not, training may not be as enjoyable for the next few weeks.

 

 

Results Kata

 

Gold - Natalie Payne, Ashleigh Kenny, Lauren Tutty, girls team  (Lauren Tutty, Kelly Horsfall, Natalie Payne

Silver - Lauren Crawford, Alex Rigg.

Bronze - Kelly Horsfall, Natasha Holmes.

 

Results Kumite

 

Gold - Jake Kiernan, Linden Hamer x2, Harley Del Rio, Josh Gagon, girls team 14-15 (Charlene Oakes, Lauren Crawford, Kelly Horsfall) boys team (Jake Kiernan, Robin Hamer, Shaun Mulai).

Silver - Lauren Crawford, Christopher Williamson, Ashleigh Kenny, Vincent O'Hora x2, Lauren Tutty, boys team 10-13 ( Linden Hamer, Raymond Kanyanga, Thomas Tutty)

Bronze - Natalie Payne, Charlene Oakes, Kelly Horsfall, Ami Garrod Rodgers, Raymond Kanyanga x2, Rico Kurzwell, boys team (Aaron Kieran, Rico Kurzwell, Spencer Copper).  

 

3 April

Money Raising

 

 

I'd just like to say a huge thanks to Kate Parkes and Sainsbury's for organizing our bag  packing in their store. 

What a tremendous job guys and girls, raising  £730.00,  this is one of the first events this year to raise money for our squad members.  Hopefully monies raised in these events will take the burden off our parents in this tough financial climate. I would just like to thank everybody who attended over the weekend and a special thanks to Debbie Tutty who supervised the event.

 

28 March

Kyu Grading

    

Nice to see so many beginners taking their first grades and such I high standard, well done to all who passed. First class passes from Alex Craig and Mark Spencer.

 

20-21March

English Karate Federation Regional Championships

 

I would just like to say how disappointed I am in the running of the English Karate Federation Regional Championships which was held on 20th - 21st March 2010. I have been involved in tournament karate for over 25 years and I can say that this is one of the worst events that I have ever attended; in fact, it was an embarrassment to our Governing Body. I find it hard to understand how this event can even be called a competition when there were so few competitors, particularly in the Northern Region. In some cases, there was only one participant and the sections with a few more competitors seemed to be our students competing against each other, we can do this back at my Dojo. All the entries had to be received by the competition organizer two weeks prior to the event, so they must have known how many competitors to expect in each section. I feel we should have been told of the lack of support for the event and we then could have made the decision to attend or not.

As a club instructor/association coach, I feel we have been ripped off, especially the parents who have traveled to the venue, paid for overnight accommodation (in some cases two nights) paid spectators fees, camera pass fee,  only to see their child awarded a Gold medal, just for turning up, the whole situation was a farce. I cannot see what the purpose of the tournament was, obviously I am missing something, I am sure our head coach Wayne Otto didn’t learn anything on the day, because I certainly didn’t. The only thing this event seemed to do was raise money for the English Karate Federation which I am not against as long as we get a product for our money, not a bitter taste in my mouth!

Results as follows:

 

Kata           1st     Lauren Tutty,  Linden Hamer, Kelly Horsfall, Saul Whittle

                        2nd   Ami Garrod Rodgers, Lauren Crawford, Robin Hamer

 

Kumite       1st    Aaron Kiernan, Raymond Kanyanga, Jake Kiernan, Harley Del Rio, Brian Kanyanga,

                                   Josh Gagon

                       

                        2nd  Thomas Tutty, Kelly Horsfall, Christopher Williamson, Ami Garrod Rodger.

                       

                        3rd Linden Hamer, Spencer Copper, Robin Hamer, Saule Del Rio, Alex Elgohary

 

 

28th February

Kyu Grade

 

      

 

Well done to all who participated in the Kyu grading on Sunday, especially Emil Waszaiewcz and Ron Lees who achieved a first class pass. A second congratulate to Ron our most recent senior grade at the dojo, funny the first few lessons he was the one from the Lee's family who was the least keen, think he lives there now!

 

 

5th - 7th February

European Cadet & Junior Karate Championships

 

A medal at the European Championships at last! 

 

Steve and Claire Crawford and myself left for Manchester airport at around 8.30 in the morning to meet up with the rest of the parents, Tom Del-Rio and Anthony Kiernan as well as Sensei Amir. The plane was flying to Istanbul and then onto Ismir (Simple)   The first flight was delayed by an hour and by the time we had got a visa "£10, what is that all about?"   and managed to fight through passport control we were two hours late for our connecting flight.  We arrived at the gate after being told that the flight would wait, guess what, no plane!

We were then bundled off to another gate, onto a bus and finally a plane, hopefully it was the correct one as we didn't ask where the plane was flying to.  Fortunately we did land at Ismir,  well we did but our luggage didn't, another hour and a half waiting in line to fill our forms for lost luggage, great!!   By this time the next flight had arrived in from Istanbul so we waited for the luggage from that flight and luckily our bags limped off the carousel.  We finally arrived at our hotel at 12.30am,  so if any Turkish airline operators would like to contact me, I will accept their apology.

                                                                                                                                                                          View of  Ismir

We were all up the next day bright and early, buzzing about the days competition ahead.  The tournament was held at the Halkalipinar  Sports Stadium in the centre of Ismir, quite a new stadium with fantastic facilities, but to be truthful probably a little too big for this event and I feel the size probably affected the atmosphere.

There was 42 countries taking part which was quite noticeable in the opening ceremony, all the countries did not take full teams, once again the lack of finances are not unique to our country.

 

 

Jake Kiernan and Harley Del-Rio were the first to compete, Jake on the near side and Harley on the far side, having to run the length of the stadium to watch each fight alternatively.  Both lads breezed through the first rounds and then the second very confidently and I started to believe this was going to be our day at last, then the third round came along,  Jake went through again but I couldn't believe it when Harley crashed out after fighting so well in the previous rounds. Then to put a real downer on the proceedings, Jake got beat in the semi,  a rollercoaster of emotions.  Luckily Jake composed himself and beat the Turkish fighter  in the third place fight off, a moment I will not forget for a long long time, particularly the smile on Anthony's face, must have been such a proud moment for both.

 

             Lauren, Jake, Sensei Swain, Josh and Harley

 

 A little later on that day, one more of our Sale Dojo trio came up to fight our little pocket rocket Lauren Crawford, she didn't get off to the best start being hit with a head kick more or less straight away and to be honest out of the fight before she got going or so I thought.  At around 3o seconds to go, she managed to turn the fight around in the most thrilling comeback I have ever witnessed, just pure determination but unfortunately the euphoria did not last too long as she was beat in the next round. 

 

I think overall a fantastic first day and I am very proud of my three students as I felt either of them could of took a medal on that day and left me with more anticipation for the following day with Josh Gagon.

 

Once again, up bright and early for the second day of competition, Josh seemed very fresh and confident.  I know he has put the work in over the last 12 months and has done everything that has been asked of him, losing over 10kg as we felt last year he was a little heavy, unfortunately it just didn't happen for Josh, he drew the current European Champion in the first round, and even Josh would admit that he didn't perform.   We all have a bad day at the office from time to time, so chin up Josh.

 

If you're thinking of going to Turkey, I recommend that you do not go in February unless you take your swimming trunks and thermal underwear.  I was hoping that I would feel a little sun on my face, I even packed two pairs of shorts, but with temperature of minus 2 and torrential rain I will not be choosing an out of season break to Turkey.                                                                                                                              "I told you it rained"

 

(Kumite report extracts taken from English Karate Federation web site.)

 

Jacob Kiernan – Male Cadet U52kg

Jacob’s first fight was against Spain and both fighters started cautiously testing each other without scoring. The Spaniard eventually broke the deadlock scoring a Gyakusuki punch taking a 1-0 lead. The Spaniard then received a warning and Jacob scored off the line at the restart to level the scores. Jacob soon scored with another Gyakusuki punch and finished off the fight scoring in the final seconds to secure a 3-1 win.

The 2nd round saw Jacob come out flying and took the lead within 8 seconds scoring with a Gyakusuki punch. Jacob doubled his lead scoring another Gyakusuki but the dropped a point following a contact warning. With a 2-1 lead Jacob didn’t sit back, he went out to extend his lead which he did twice more scoring two Gyakusuki’s to win the fight 4-1.

Round three proved a lot closer as Jacob couldn’t break down his Luxemburg opponents defence as the fight finished 0-0 and went into 1 minute of extra time. With 30 seconds left on the clock, Jacob finally found a way through and scored a Gyakusuki punch. A contact warning for his opponent in the last few seconds saw Jacob receive an extra point to seal a 2-0 victory.

The 4th round was the pool final so no pressure! A 50/50 punch with his French opponent saw the point go to France. Another 50/50 and France were 2-0 up. Jacob tried to get the points back but was caught twice more with Gyakusuki punches and lost out 4-0.

Although missing the final, Jacob was now in the repechage final fighting for bronze against a Turkish opponent. A good start from Jacob go 1-0 up early on and instantly doubled his lead firing off another Gyakusuki punch off the line to go 2-0 up. However, Jacob walked into a Gyakusuki to drop a point but once again maintained a 2 point cushion scoring another Gyakusuki. The second minute of the fight saw Jacob drop another point as he was penalised for ducking an attack reducing the lead to 1 point. Jacob didn’t let himself down as he sealed his bronze medal winning fight with a final Gyakusuki score to win 4-2 and England’s first medal of these championships.

 

  Jake Kiernan & Juliette Tony (coach)

Harley Del-Rio – Male Cadet U63kg

Harley’s opening round fight saw him doing most of the work, pressing his opponent within the first minute but could find a way through his opponents defence. After a minute Harley began to back off to draw his opponent out but neither fighter broke the deadlock. Extra time saw stalemate as the fight finished 0-0. The judges were called into vote for the winner and all flags went Harley’s way.

Harley’s 2nd round match saw another tight encounter but with 50 seconds left on the clock he finally broke the deadlock scoring with a Gyakusuki punch to go 1-0 up. With 25 seconds left he doubled the lead and secured the win in the final 10 seconds scoring another Gyakusuki to finish a 3-0 victor.

Round three for Harley and although he had a good sharp opening a 50/50 punch decision went to his opponent. Another 50/50 went against him a second time leaving him 2 points down. Whilst trying to reduce the deficit Harley forced his opponent to step off the mat within the last 10 seconds giving Harley a much needed penalty point but it was too late for him to score again as he bowed out 2-1. Unfortunately his opponent lost in the next round leaving Harley out of repechage scuppering his chances of a bronze medal.

 

Lauren Crawford – Female Cadet U47kg

Lauren’s opening round fight was.. wow. Fighting a taller Croatian opponent who used her legs well, Lauren went 3 points down early on being caught by a Jodan Mawashigeri kick despite being the most aggressive fighter out of the two. Lauren didn’t let up and had soon reduced to deficit to 1 point following Gyakusuki punches. Lauren was caught once again with a Jodan Mawashigeri kick but started to fire in her own and scored with them twice to secure an amazing win 8-7.

Lauren’s 2nd round fight saw her really start sharp and both fighters had to be warned for contact within the first 30 seconds. Lauren’s Bosnian opponent managed to open the scoring following a Gyakusuki punch. A warning for Lauren and another Gyakusuki saw Lauren 3-0 down. Lauren pulled one back and gained another point following a contact warning to her opponent but time ran out with the scores 3-2 against her.

Joshua Gagon – Male Junior +76kg

Josh had a tough fight in his opening round encounter with his French counterpart who looked sharp and quickly scored a Gyakusuki punch against Josh taking a 1-0 lead. Another Gyakusuki punch saw the French fighter go 2-0 up. Josh reduced the deficit by scoring with his own Gyakusuki punch  but with 30 seconds left on the clock the French fighter restored his 2 point lead following a Gyakusuki punch and saw out the reaming time left defending his lead.

The French fighter went on to make the final leaving Josh in the repechage 1st round. Josh’s opponent favourite technique was the sweep as he slam-dunked Josh at least 5 times without scoring. Josh couldn’t find a way to score either and the fight went into extra time. Inevitably Josh’s opponent finally manage to score from a takedown to take a 3-0 lead. As Josh chased the points he was caught with a Jodan Mawashigeri kick losing another 3-0 which ended his medal hopes.

 

 

31st January

Kyu Grading

 

Little bit disappointing with the turnout for the first grading of the year, I think the harsh weather at the beginning of the month has put us back about a couple of weeks. Slowly but surly we seem to be getting everyone back to full strength. Congratulations to all who achieved their new grades on Sunday, especially Autumn Holmes with a first class pass.  

 

24th January

Wasquehal Karate Open Lille France

(Report by Vincent O'Hora)

 Brian, Alex and I travelled to Lille in France for the Wasquehal Karate Open. This competition is a great International competition to get the year up and running.  Brian and Alex travelled via the Eurostar and met me at Lille train station on the Saturday afternoon.

As a incentive the competition entry fees, the accommodation for all athletes, food during your stay and transfers to and from the venue are paid for by the tournament organisers. This is organized by the local governing body in Lille. Many of the local bank managers and MPs have interest in Karate in France and so have a strong say into where cash will be channeled, and luckily for karate, it’s to creating this great event. I was so taken-a-back by the organisation and generosity of this event I tried to speak (in my terrible French) to organisers to see how this could all be possible. Apparently Karate is the second sport in France and so has a great organizational structure: every club is linked to one main governing body, each karate student pays 150euros for the year and can train as much as they like. All of the money is collected and is then dissipated from the very top. They pay hall hire, insurance, competition entry within France, for all competitors and clubs. A refreshing change to what we are used to, no wonder France consistently perform well at major tournaments.

Anyway, all three of us were fighting on the Sunday, in the same section, for some reason unknown to me. There were three male categories  -68kg, -78kg and +78kg, we were all in the -78kg. With as many countries as Algeria, Egypt, Scotland, France, Belgium, Ireland, England, Netherlands, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Finland, Latvia etc, and also over 250 male competitors in the three sections, it would be impossible to draw one another... NO! I drew Brian first round! Alex drew a French boy.

Before Brain and I did battle, we could see Alex taking to the mat. Alex eventually lost 5-4. Alex did succeed in landing a beautiful reverse round house, but unfortunately couldn’t hold the lead. Some suspect opinions on the force used by the French lad,  but either way I think a very positive start for Alex’s return to the International scene and a great deal of positives can be taken from this performance.

Brian and I then started, a difficult fight in the end for obvious reasons, I ran out winner. Not nice for either party involved. I didn’t want to put my friend out first round and Brian obviously didn’t want to go out first round, but these things happen. I then went on to fight a Dutch lad, won 7-1, following this a narrow win against a German boy 2-0, then in the quarter finals I came unstuck against a French lad 5-3, having been kicked in the head on the bell. Felt I was rather unlucky having received two  points against me for petty warnings and not receiving points for two really clean body kicks, but let’s not sit around moaning. Onwards and upwards!

Positives can be taken for all three competitors.

A recommended tournament  for all (+18) and at little cost. The caliber was on par  with most international competitions I've been to, including current World and European champions, there were no easy fights!

Looking forward to the AMA international and also following this, the Dutch Open, a lot of work to be done...

 

12th January

Happy New Year

 

First of all I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and injury free New Year.

 

 

Looking forward to 2010 and I'm extremely positive because we can build on what was achieved last year, if we have half the success of 2009 I will be very happy.  Last year was probably the highest point at Sale Dojo to date with very high junior grade standards, numerous Shodan and Nidan passes and to top it all the most successful competition squad in the United Kingdom. 

 

Being a person who fronts Sale Dojo I seem to get most of the praise following our successes, I have a great team behind me and I am sure they wouldn't let our standards drop in the next twelve months.  I would like to thank them for their hard work and support for last year and I think it is extremely important that you guys continue to make me look good.

 

               Sorry Dojo Closed!

 

Once again I feel it will be a difficult year financially so we will endeavor to keep the cost of training and competition fees down as much as possible and I am sure we will be able to arrange more fund raising events to ease the burden.

I would also like to wish our students who have been selected to represent their country at the forthcoming  European Championships in Turkey in February, the best of luck to all, I'm sure you'll do us proud.   

I tried to play down our chances of a medal in my head after the disappointment of previous years but unfortunately the closer the championships are and the improvement I have seen over the last few weeks I think this is the year.  (I hope so or I will be sulking for the next twelve months!)

                                                                                                                                         England's Jake, Harley, Josh and Lauren

 

I know it is going to be nearly impossible to surpass last years success but I'm sure we'll all be pulling in the right direction and we'll give it a darn good try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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