For further information or to contact us email  info@shuharikai.co.uk

or call Chief Instructor Richard Burridge on 01708 737125 or 07850 253998

Copyright (C) by Shuhari-Kai Karate Club 2003-2009

      

Eight from Eight at IKGA Invitational   Shuhari-Kai Karate Club were invited to take part in the International Karate-Do Goju-Kai Association's Championships held on 7th December 2003 at Gable Hall School, Stanford Le Hope. The tournament was a Kumite only tournament but it still commanded a healthy attendance, and Shuhari-Kai added to the numbers by supplying a squad of eight. The squad didn't disappoint as they came away with eight medals - one apiece.     First up for Shuhari-Kai was Luke Bannister and Vishaal Dovedi competing in the same category. Luke took to the mat first and progressed into the next round with a 3-0 victory. Vishaal followed Luke into the next stages with a 4-0 victory. The next round, the semi-finals, saw Luke secure his place in the finals with a narrow 2-1 victory. Vishaal had an easier time of things with yet another 4-0 victory as he booked his place against Luke in the finals. The final saw Luke take the Gold with a 3-0 victory with Vishaal having to settle for Silver after a Shuhari-Kai one-two. Both fighters have done well in recent competitions and thoroughly deserved to end the year on top of the podium.    Next up for Shuhari-Kai was Jordan Hodges who was looking to go one better than the bronze he picked up from his last competition. Jordan started well and got his account off to a flying start with a 7-1 victory to take him into the next round. Jordan then won his next round by 8 clear points winning 10-2 to proceed into the finals. The final proved to be a tough match as Jordan faced an older opponent and kept getting caught by a Mawashigeri kick. Jordan finally began to counter these kicks as his opponent began to give away penalty points for warnings. With the score 10-3 against Jordan, things were looking grim but his opponent gave yet another warning away and was finally disqualified handing Jordan the ultimate prize - Gold. Well done Jordan, well deserved.    Aimee Sell was the next Shuhari-Kai competitor to take to the mat. Aimee, demonstrating a range of techniques from Jodan Mawashigeri kicks to Haito strikes, won her first match 6-0 to proceed into the semi-finals. She then secured her place in the finals after another impressive victory winning her bout 6-2. The final saw a harder fight for Aimee as she was up against a bigger male opponent. Aimee lost out 10-2 to a superior kicker eventhough she scored the opening point of the bout. But like the squad members before her she picked up her reward for her efforts, a Silver. Aimee has slowly risen in confidence throughout the year, from being happy to get a single point in competition, to now competing for gold. Keep up the good work Wellhard.    Jodie Miles and Alex Sell were next up competing in the same category like Luke and Vishaal before them. And like Luke and Vishaal, they produced another one-two for the club. Jodie received a bye for her first round match but produced a 3-0 victory in her second round fight to make the semi-finals. She beat her opponent 5-1 in the semi's to make the finals. Alex won his first round fight with an impressive 8-0 victory. He followed this up by producing another 8-0 victory in the next round to proceed into the semi-finals. In the semi's he didn't disappoint as he won by 8 clear points yet again with a 9-1 victory to set up Shuhari-Kai's second one-two final of the day. On this occasion Alex came out on top winning 4-3 to take the Gold with Jodie taking home the Silver. Jodie scored the opening point but then Alex pulled out a 3 point gap after scoring successively. Jodie pulled the scores closer together but even after Alex gave away a penalty for ??? (didn't Jodie catch him on the nose?), she couldn't quite find that extra point as Alex held out for the victory. Nice bout to watch from Psycho and Bulldog who have both achieved so much this year that this just cements their status as exceptional Karateka.   The final category of the day saw club mates J.J. Burridge and Sophie Roberts in the same event just as Luke-Vishaal and Alex-Jodie were before them. Unfortunately, this time we didn't manage to get a club one-two in the final. Sophie was up first and won her quarter-final bout 6-3 with ease. J.J. produced a more impressive display as he won his quarter final bout 8-0 with lots of techniques from his impressive repertoire . The semi-final saw Sophie lose 13-5 in this thrilling match. Sophie was behind early on but clawed her way back into contention before letting the points slip away again. Near the end Sophie landed a Mawashigeri kick to her opponents face which nearly floored her opponent. Sophie was penalised with a 2 point final warning against her which left the gap too big to close down. J.J. didn't make the same mistakes as his 8-1 victory secured his place in the final - against Sophie's victor. J.J. made up for Sophie's defeat by defeating his opponent 9-6 in this cagey match, but J.J's reactions were too quick for his opponent. J.J. secured Gold with Sophie taking Bronze. Well done to Buda and Bandit, who had the tougher matches of the day. Sophie is yet another student who has improved dramatically during the course of the year often having to compete against older and bigger opponents whilst J.J. has always been a very good technical fighter but is now beginning to put his techniques into winning ways.    It was a nice way to end the year with every squad member bringing home a medal or trophy. Four Golds, three Silvers and a Bronze was an impressive display from an impressive squad who have achieved so much in a short space of time. It was nice to see some of the newest squad members (Luke, Jordan & Vishaal) coming through and picking up trophies which shows that Shuhari-Kai is built on rock solid foundations with which continued success and be built upon.    Shuhari-Kai and Chief Instructor Richard Burridge would like to thank Mark Adams from IKGA for inviting us to their tournament and would like to congratulate them on this well run keenly contested event. The tournament was contested in good spirit which is a credit to Mark Adams, IKGA and all the other clubs invited to attend. Thanks.

 

For further information or to contact us email info@shuharikai.co.uk or call Chief Instructor Richard Burridge on 01708 737125 or 07850 253998   Copyright (C) by Shuhari-Kai Karate Club 2003-2009