Toyakwai Essex Open Karate Championships   Six medals from four squad members at the Toyakwai Essex Open held on Sunday 3rd July 2005. Jodie Miles, Jade Lewis, Aimee Sell and Alex Sell travelled up to sunny Clacton to compete in the third of Toyakwai's open championships. With four mats running consecutively the competition ran along quite quickly, even though the peewee Kumite events took a while to complete due to the large number of entries.   The Kata events kicked off first with Aimee and Jade competing on one mat in the Mixed U16yrs 3rd-1st Kyu category whilst Alex and Jodie were competing together on another mat in the Mixed U16yrs Dan Grade category. Both Kata events were conducted on a points basis with three judges scoring each Kata with the average score being set at 7.0. Each competitor had one Kata to perform with the highest total score winning.   In the Dan Grade event Jodie was the first of the squad to compete. Jodie performed Bassai-Dai Kata and scored 7.5, 7.3 & 7.0 from the three judges totalling 21.8. Alex was the last competitor to perform their Kata in this event and Alex scored 7.5, 7.3 & 7.3 from the three judges totalling 22.1 for his rendition of Chatanyara Kushanku. Alex finished on top winning Gold with Jodie finishing with Bronze just 0.1 behind the silver medal position.   The 3rd-1st Kyu Grade Kata category saw Jade up first who took this opportunity to perform one of her less familiar Katas, Bassai-Dai, to gauge its effectiveness. Jade scored a credible 7.1, 7.0 & 7.0 from the three judges totalling 21.1. This left her just outside of the medal positions by 0.3 but gave her some valuable experience. Aimee up next performed Seienchin Kata and scored 7.2, 7.1 & 7.1 from the three judges totalling 21.4. This left Aimee 0.1 behind the outright winner but also in joint 2nd position with three other opponents. This meant that the four tied opponents each had to perform an additional Kata. Aimee performed Nipaipo Kata and scored 7.2, 7.2 & 7.1 totalling 21.5. Unfortunately Aimee was 0.1 behind one of her opponents but claimed a reputable Bronze. A great effort in this category against older opponents as she's only just turned 10.    The Kumite events were soon underway and after a delay with the peewee events due to large entries (mind you some were going hammer & tongs which would of got more penalised at a higher level, but they kept us cringing on the edge of our seats) Alex, Jade and Jodie were soon in action. The Kumite rules were first to eight points wins. First up was Alex competing in the Boys U16yrs 5'3'' & over category. Alex, probably one of the youngest in this category at 13, started brightly in his opening match. Even though he gave away a penalty at the end, Alex finished the match as the 5-2 winner. In his next match Alex secured a 4-1 win to progress to the next round. Now in the semi-finals Alex immediately got caught with his kick and was turned to give away 2 points as he was scored against. Alex fought back and the points were traded off but at 6-6, Alex was caught with two Gyakuzuki punches which gave his opponent the first to 8 point win. Unlucky for Alex but a good Bronze in a higher age group event, remembering that he has potentially another two and a half years in this category.   Next up were both Jade and Jodie competing in the Girls U16yrs 4'5'' to 4'10'' 5th Kyu & Above category. Jade was the first of the girls up and Jade made a blistering start as she stormed through to the semi-finals with an impressive 8-0 victory. Jodie also made the semi-finals as she secured her spot with a 3-0 win picking off her opponent and dominating the match. Jade then stepped up for her semi-final match but try as she might couldn't quite score against the current U35KG London Youth Games Champion and fellow Havering squad team-mate, Emma Lucraft, and so lost 4-0. None-the-less, Jade did pick up a Bronze which was well deserved given her earlier performance. Next up was Jodie and she managed to come through a tough match with an 8-5 victory. Then the judges made a mix-up as Jodie's opponent, who she had just beaten, was incorrectly moved to the semi-finals. She was due to face an opponent in the round before and so had to complete that match first. She won her match and now as truly into the semi-finals. The drama was not over as they made Jodie fight the same girl again in the same semi-final match. Jodie took it on the chin and even though she could of been robbed of a medal agreed to fight again. Jodie made sure her earlier victory was no fluke as she secured her victory with a 7-5 win even though a lot of the 50-50 decisions went against her as far as the two flag judges were concerned. The final saw Jodie against fellow Havering squad member, Emma, and both girls gave an excellent display. Like Alex earlier, Jodie was pipped to the post losing 8-6 with the 'first-to-8-points' rule going against her too. Unlucky Bulldog but a good Silver medal to complete the squads total of 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 bronzes.   Excellent display and attitude from all four competitors and at least everyone of the squad came home with a medal or two.   Squad: Jade Lewis, Jodie Miles, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell.   VIDEO