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

      

Welsh Open Championships     High five from Wales as each of the five strong Shuhari-Kai squad came home with a medal from the Welsh Open Championships. The squad may have been small in comparison to some of the larger associations, but what they lacked in numbers, they made up is shear quality and talent. The championships were held on Sunday 14th November 2004 at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff, and they were raring to go after lounging the previous evenings night away in a hotel lounge. This was the second year the squad had attended the championships, last year they captured a one-two in the Under 12yrs Kata event and knew the competition was going to be even tougher this year as a few had moved up to higher categories.    After taking the U12's Kata title last year with Jodie Miles winning Gold and Alex Sell taking the Silver, it fell on to little Aimee Sell's shoulders to carry the torch for the club. At only nine years old, and with approximately 50 competitors in the U12's Kata event, the best we could hope for was for her to make the fourth round quarter finals but Aimee had other plans... Her opening round Kata saw her perform Seienchin Kata and win 3 flags to 0. The second round had her performing Nipaipo and once again took all 3 flags from the judges. In the third round, Aimee performed Bassai-Dao for the first time and her weeks of practicing paid off as all the judges voted for her yet again. The fourth round quarter final saw Aimee against Welsh champion Nick Hooper. Aimee performed her Seienchin Kata to good effect knocking the opposition out with yet another 3 flags to 0  win. The semi-final between Aimee and her AMA opponent proved a bit closer as her opponent performed Chatanyara Kushanku, but Aimee came through with a 2-1 victory for her Bassai-Dai Kata. Now in the final, Aimee took no prisoners as she took the honours once more with a 3 flags to 0 win over her opponent for performing Nipaipo. An amazing result for Aimee which not only keeps the U12's title within the club, but puts Aimee firmly on the map as a future champ.         The 12-15yrs Kata event saw Jodie Miles, Sophie Roberts and Alex Sell all competing together. Sophie up first suffered an early exit with a first round defeat as her opening Kata, Seienchin, was beaten 3 flags to 0. Following on from a first round bye, Alex performed Bassai-Dai in the second round and took the decision 2 flags to 1. The third round saw Alex perform Nipaipo Kata and once again made the next round with a 2 flags to 1 win. The fourth round quarter final saw Alex loose out as his Annan Kata was beaten 3 flags to 0  finishing in joint 5th position just outside of the medals. Our final Kata exponent Jodie Miles opened her account with a first round 3-0 win for her Seienchin Kata. Round two and another 3-0 win as her Seipai Kata proved too strong for her opponent. The third round round saw Jodie drop her first flag but still take the victory 2-1 with her Nipaipo Kata. The fourth round quarter final saw Jodie into the medal rounds as her Annan Kata also secured a 2 flags to 1 victory. Jodie couldn't quite match her performance from last year as she finally bowed out in the semi-finals narrowly losing 2-1 after her performance of Bassai-Dai but not before securing medal number two for the squad. A well deserved bronze for the Bulldog.       The Kumite events kicked off next and Alex Sell was determined to get into the medals after losing out in the Kata events earlier on and after pulling out of the Kumite event last year with flue after making the quarter finals. Alex got a customary bye for the opening round (running joke) but easily stormed the next round with a 5-0 win following an opening Gyakuzuki reverse punch for one point, a Jodan Mawashigeri head kick for 3 points and a final Gyakuzuki to secure an easy win. The third round proved a lot harder as his opponent took it into extra time with the scores 0-0 after the final whistle. Alex proved too good for his opponent on this occasion though as he scored a Jodan Mawashigeri against him to take a 3 points to 0 win. The fourth  round quarter final saw Alex enter another 1 minute extra time contest as the scores also remained 0-0 at full time. Alex repeated his earlier feat and scored a jodan Mawashigeri kick against his opponent to take another 3-0 win. The semi-final saw Alex finally loose out after giving away a penalty point to his opponent 5 seconds from end of the match. This was the first point dropped by Alex all day and eventhough he was all over his opponent, his Mawashigeri kick was adjudged too  hard for his opponent and Alex had to bow out with a Bronze medal a little disappointed not to be in the final. None-the-less, Alex had done well to gain Shuhari-Kai's third medal of the day and shows his calibre at feeling slightly disappointed.  Jodie Miles pulled out of her opening round bout as she felt the effects of her earlier kick to the knee. Jodie lead the match after opening with a Gyakuzuki punch. Her opponent equaled the score and then she delivered the ultimately decisive kick to the knee. After a short medical pause, Jodie restarted and regained the lead with a Gyak but her opponent pulled it back again with her own Gyak. Jodie then went on to score 3 successive Gyaks to take a commanding lead but the effects of her injury began to take effect as the match wore on. With the scores 5-3 in Jodie's favour, her opponent delivered another low kick to her thigh and this was enough to tip the balance and Jodie pulled out through injury. Tough luck Jodie but health is more important than medals at this young stage.    Sophie Roberts took to the mat next in the same event as Jodie was in, the Girls 12-13 yrs category. Sophie opened her account with two successive Gyakuzuki punches to take the match 2 points to 0. The next round saw Sophie start to dominate and four Gyaks saw her into the next round with a 4-0 win. The third round quarter final round was a lot tighter as both girls were given a simultaneous first warning for excessive contact during the match which remained scoreless at the end. 1 minute of extra time commenced and after trading blows once more, Sophie's opponent delivered an excessively hard blow to Sophie and was duly punished giving away a penalty point and the match to Sophie who racked up a 1-0 victory. The fourth round semi-final saw Sophie open the scoring with a simple Gyakuzuki punch for a point. Her opponent soon equaled the match with her own Gyakuzuki. Sophie then gave away a penalty point for excessive contact but managed to level the scores at 2-2 before the end. With the scores tied, another 1 minute round of extra time was commenced. The match remained close before Sophie the 'Bandit' beat her opponent to the punch to steal the win 3-2. The final saw Sophie initially drop a point before pulling back level to 1-1. Her opponent then scored 3 successive Gyakuzuki punches coming over the top of Sophie's guard every time to take the win 4-1. Sophie was delighted with her Silver medal and shows how far she's come in a year after dropping out early in last years competition.      Last but not least was Big 'G' Lawrence Grosvenor competing in the Cadets Kumite event. Lawrence received an opening round bye but round two saw Lawrence open up as his two successive Gyakuzuki punches were followed up a chudan Mawashigeri kick for a 4 points to 0 win. The semi-final saw Lawrence fall behind early on to a Gyak, but soon upped a gear as he swept his opponent and followed up with a Gyak for a 3 point score. Lawrence soon repeated the feat but the judges failed to score it this time. Lawrence's opponent pulled 1 point back with a Gyak punch and then leveled the scores when Lawrence was penalised 1 point for stepping out of the area for the second time. With seconds on the clock, Lawrence's opponent snatched victory scoring the final Gyakuzuki punch that was to knock Lawrence out of the tournament leaving him in Bronze position. What a fantastic year for Lawrence who has now won a medal in every single tournament he has entered in his year for the the club. Lawrence shows us why he fully deserves his place on the National England Squad.    With Lawrence's Bronze, that made five medals for the squad, one a-piece which was a fantastic return for their efforts. These youngsters have certainly set the standards within the club, Shuhari-Kai and Shorai the association the club represents. They have easily demonstrated why all of them deserve their place on the Southern Regional England Squad, with the exception of Aimee who, at 9, is too young to attend at the moment.  Well done.    Squad: Lawrence Grosvenor, Jodie Miles, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell and Alex Sell.

 

For further information email us at 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