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

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

      

14th North v South N.I. Open Championships    Our small squad of three, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell and Alex Sell travelled to Belfast on Friday night 4th February 2005 for the 14th North v South Open tournament which was being held the following day.   Let me stop there and say that we actually had a lovely time in Belfast. The people we met were warm and friendly and the city itself was buzzing. Saturday night out at Café Milan was absolutely jammed packed with the cosmopolitan trendies who ensured the 30 minute wait for a table at 7:00pm was worth it. The competition itself however, wasn't really worth it. The competition which was being held at the Devinish Complex in Belfast, started more or less on time and finished more or less on time around 5'ish allowing plenty of time for the delegates to prepare themselves for the Mayor's reception later that evening. Having said that, there wasn't much else on a positive note that we took away.     The Kata events are usually kicked off first with the Kumite rounds following. Not so here, as they both started simultaneously, the Kumite events on the two matted areas and the Kata on the unmarked wooden floor sectioned off with a pop-up advertising hoarding. Having initially got changed for Kata preparing for that event, Alex was quickly called to fight as his category was up first. A quick change of Gi with no preparation left Alex facing his first opponent…     Now following the coaches' preamble speech before the start of the competition given by Oliver Brunton (Chief Referee), emphasis was put on absolutely no face contact what-so-ever or instant contact warnings would be given, so I'd of expected normal body contact to score. Not so once again. It seemed that although keen to protect the face, only hard (harder than usual) Gyakuzuki punches were being scored which inevitably led to some competitors being winded more often than not. Too late a lesson learned for Alex who suffered a first round exit after taking his opponent to a 2-2 tie at the end of his fight. Unfortunately his earlier Gyaks and Junzuki's weren't being scored and Alex lost out on a simultaneous punch in extra time. Oh well, at least there was the Kata…or was there team fighting first… should he get changed or not??   Kata it was, but not before Aimee started in the 15yrs and under any grade category. Nice category, especially for 9yr old Aimee! Split into four different pools with the top two going through to the last eight final, Aimee, Alex and Sophie were at least split up. Aimee must have fancied her chances of making the last eight, as her only note-worthy opponent we recognised was EKK's Alfie Wise. Well after an initial 3 flags to 0 win with Seienchin Kata, things were looking good until the next round. A complete shock as her Nipaipo Kata was beaten 3-0 by a Pinan Yodan. It seemed to us astonished witnesses, that if you performed Wado Kata's and had the right badge on, the head Kata ref was almost certain to vote for you, as Alfie Wise also found out to his cost. Alex was up next with EKK's Harry Cannon in his pool. Both in different halves of the draw and both excellent at Kata it should have been both going through to the last eight, at least on paper. Harry slipped up by performing Shito-Ryu Katas and was knocked out in round two. An absolutely bewildered Alex had to resort to Wado Katas in order to progress. A first round bye followed by Chinto then Wanshu ensured he progressed to the final eight. Sophie was finally up with EKK's Sophie Wise in her group. Once again no progression for either girls who on paper should have both progressed. After making the first two rounds with Seienchin and Bassai-Dai, Sophie was finally eliminated when another Pinan Yodan beat her Seienchin Kata 3-0. British Kata champ Sophie Wise didn't fair any better as yet another Pinan Kata soundly beat her Chatanyara Kushanku Kata.   Meanwhile, Miss Roberts was almost eliminated from her Kumite event as she wasn't there to register. After some detailed discussion and finger pointing, the organisers were made to realise that running Kata and Kumite events simultaneously might actually cause a conflict with the competitors. After waiting a while for her to finish, they finally postponed her category to after lunch. Oh yes, back to the Kata finals with Alex the only non Wado-Kai Kata representative. Alex performed Jion Kata against a 10yr old's version of Naihanchi and Alex lost 2-1 (surprise surprise). The head coach voted for the student from his own association (unbiasedly of course). In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but the other finalist were also from his association with a consequential clean sweep of the medals.   Having worked out the judges scoring methods for Kumite, Sophie finally had her chance to compete in the Girls 15yrs and under event. A perfect start with an 8-0 win followed by another perfect 8-0 win saw her through to the semi-final. Sophie made light work of her opposition with a 5-0 victory steering her into the final.The final proved a little tougher and she was initially pushed back in the opening seconds, but began to hold her ground and scored with an over-the-top Gyak. Her opponent push forward again but this time scored an equalising Gyak. At 1-1 her opponent held back allowing Sophie to take advantage and land a Chudan Mawashigeri kick for 2 points. Sophie held on to her 3-1 lead for the remaining time and claimed a hard fought Gold. Worth the wait.   Eventually the team Kumite events started with Alex Sell teaming up with EKK's Harry Cannon and James Witt to make one formidable team. Alex opened up the team's account in the first round by taking a 6-0 win making up for his earlier disappointment of suffering an early exit. James Witt, who won the individual event, followed with a 5-0 win and secured the team's first round victory. The second round had James fighting first this time. With 3 Jodan Mawashigeri kicks in an impressive 20 second mauling of his opponent, it was Harry Cannon's turn to secure the team victory. Harry made no mistakes as he took a 1-0 win against a tricky opponent who had tried to goad Harry into some retaliatory action towards the end of the fight. But Harry held firm and saw out the victory. The team's third round semi-finalist opponents failed to show allowing them an easy ride into the final against a team from Scotland. James started the final off for the team with an easy 8-0 win which left Harry to claim the team title. Harry made sure Alex's services weren't needed as he secured a comprehensive 5-0 victory. Well done guys.   Having watched the boys claim Gold, the girls weren't to be outdone as Sophie Roberts joined forces with EKK's Sheila Kemp to form a devastating two-person team. Each girl performed well never losing a match with Sophie securing an opening 7-0 win and Sheila scoring a 10-4 win to secure passage into the final. The final was one sided and an 8-0 win for Sophie left Sheila to clean up with a 3-1 win and claim the title. Awesome girls.    Shuhari-Kai would like to thank Enzo Quirino and all his students from England Karate Kan for their support, encouragement and camaraderie over the weekend.

 

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

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