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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.
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:
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 passp
ort
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)
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.
