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

      

Shuhari-Kai 2003 Review Where do we start? The competitions attended, the medals won, the titles picked up, the special guests and training courses organised? Yes it has been a busy year and it looks like 2004 will be just as busy with the Junior English International Karate Open at Crystal Palace kicking off our 2004 campaign in January.     The club has received some prominent exposure with Chief Instructor and England Referee Richard Burridge being invited to judge in some prestigious televised Karate tournaments such as the '3-on-3' featuring local lad Big 'G' Lawrence Grosvenor and the '10 K Clash' with heavy weight World Champion Leon Walters taking the honours. Speaking of Leon Walters, he has graced Shuhari-Kai with his presence twice in 2003 helping the students step up a level with their Kumite techniques. But it hasn't been all hard work and training with two training camps held in 2003 and the infamous Halloween party allowing the students to 'let their hair down'. The summer training camp held at Mablethorpe saw Alex Groves gain his 1st Dan Black Belt whilst Daren Basset and Gary Page picked up their 1st Kyu grades at the October camp in Clacton. Although Amir was white-washed at pool at Mablethorpe, months of practice saw him secure his first victory against Alex at Autumn training camp at Valley Farm. Now that's hard training.    The students have travelled far and wide this year in search of competition experience with trips to Kent, Clacton, Colchester, Ipswich, Reading, Sheffield, Wales and even Malta to name but a few. Although the main emphasis for Shuhari-Kai is Traditional Karate, the club is beginning to establish itself in the competition arena too. The squad has entered a whopping 27 competitions this year (excluding club Xmas comp) with at least one member of the squad representing the club. And from these competitions, they have amassed 159 medals between them; 51 Golds, 46 Silvers and 62 Bronzes. That averages out as 6 medals per competition. In fact they have won medals this year in all but two competitions where four attend one and only one attend the other one. Some students have blossomed this year winning many titles and trophies whilst many others are beginning to come through the junior and peewee ranks providing a bright future for the club.     Shuhari-Kai Karate Club’s squad members have secured a number of titles this year and have become champions in both domestic and international tournaments, including the following: English Karate Governing Body (EKGB) Junior National Championships Welsh Karate Governing Body (WKGB) Open Karate Tournament Malta International Open Championships Toyakwai Karate Association (TKA) International Open Championships United Styles of Karate (USK) International Championships British International Karate Organisation (BIKO) British Open Championships Toyakwai Karate Association (TKA) Grand Open Championships South England Grand Prix Danson Open Junior Karate Tournament Many other first places have been secured whilst they have been finalist in many more, sometimes contesting the final for the gold medal between them securing a one-two for the club.    The year began a little slow with just a few competitions up until Easter. Then with the advent of the Havering Games in May, the number of competitions entered into increased dramatically to the point where some competition ran on consecutive weekends and some even on the same days. Where competitions have clashed, both competitions have been attended with representation by at least one member of the club attending.     After the Shorai Association Championships and the Shuhari-Kai Easter Tournament, the Havering Games saw the squad really begin to shine as they made up the majority of the Havering Karate teams. The Girls team finished as runners up in the London Heathrow Youth Games Finals with the Boys team finishing fourth overall. The entire Shuhari-Kai finalist came away with at least a silver medal from the Youth Games Finals. The Havering Games were soon followed by the Wado-Kai Open and Ishinryu Open where an abundance of medals were won.     After Shuhari-Kai’s Summer Training Camp, things began to hot up as the squad attended the Youth Games Eliminations, South England Grand Prix, Ipswich Open, Danson Open and Youth Games Finals. The Summer period is normally quiet but not for Shuhari-Kai as they went on to attend the Ticky Donovan OBE Training Camp, Malta International Open, Kumite Masters, Seishan Open, watched the Karate Commonwealth Games in Manchester and had two training sessions with World Champion Leon Walters, all before they went back to school.   September was probably the busiest month for the squad with the BIKO British Open, another round of the South England Grand Prix and TKA Grand Open Championships all serving as warm-ups for the EKGB Junior National Championships being held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield held over a weekend. Here four National Championship medals were won (1 Gold, 3 Silver) finally recognising the young stars as amongst the best in the country. Congratulations to Shuhari-Kai representatives JJ Burridge, Jodie Miles, Clare Page, Sophie Roberts and Alex Sell. The Shorai Karate-Do Association (SKDI) of which Shuhari-Kai represents, finished in sixth place overall with 2 Gold and 4 Silver medals. Not bad with only eight members representing them and finishing above well established associations such as AMA, Higashi, SKU, BIKO and USKF.   Not content to sit on their laurels, they followed this up by having a weekend training camp at Clacton and have since competed in the final round of the South England Grand Prix, the USK International, the Danson Open, the TKA International and the Welsh Open where they secured another one-two in the Kata finals. The final tournament of the year, apart from the club Christmas competition was the IKGA Yamaguchi Gogu-Kai Kumite Invitational. Every member from the club secured a top placing with four golds, three silvers and one bronze being won and two one-two’s in the finals being contested. What a way to finish the year.    The club is beginning to grow, not just through numbers, but through quality. The quality of training received from Chief Instructor Richard Burridge, special lessons from Jonathan Mottram and special training course with guest such as Leon Walters, is second-to-none. Many other special guests have been lined up for 2004 including 9 times World Championships medal winner Wayne Otto OBE. The club doesn't have a student of the year, because all students are winners, whether it's through their sporting achievements, their grading results, their support of their colleagues or their support for the club as a whole. Congratulations to everyone in making 2003 great.    Have a happy new year. The Webmaster.

 

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