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Sunday 15th October saws 8 students from Shuhari-Kai attend the Meopham Open.
The Meopham Open is a very well organised event, and ran very smoothly with all four mats being used continuously. With over 100 competitors the whole competition was over by 3p.m.
The competition started with category 1 which was mixed kata novice to 7th kyu. Our only competitor in this event was Brandon Halling. Brandon was all ready and waiting but as his name was called the nerves set in and after announcing
his kata Pinan Nidan he started to go the wrong way but continued the kata to the end, but the judges realised his mistake and scored him 6.7, 6.7, and 6.8 totalling 20.2. A good score being as he done the kata the wrong way but not enough to medal this time.
The next event was split as there were too many in its category the 4th kyu were moved to there own section, so category 2 ended up being 6th to 5th kyu 15 years and below. We had two competitors in this event
Callum Alboni and Billie Lowry. Callum went first and performed Pinan Nidan but unfortunately his heart was not in it and rushed the kata which showed in his score of 6.9, 6.8, and 6.7 totalling 20.4. Billie on the other hand performed Pinan Yodan this was the best anyone has
ever seen Billie perform a kata, the only criticism that we saw was that she went a little fast on a couple of the moves, Billie scored 6.9, 7.0 and 6.8 totalling 20.7 which was 0.1 away from medalling. Well done Billie just take a little longer next time and who knows it may
be your turn for a kata medal.
Jordan Hodges was next in the new category 4th kyu’s, 15 years and below. Jordan hasn’t competed in competition for some time and this unfortunately showed in his kata as the nerves set in, Jordan scored 6.9, 6.7, and 6.8 totalling 20.4
for his Pinan Godan kata.
Our last competitor for kata was Jodie Miles. Jodie was entered into the 15 years and below Dan grade section. Jodie’s first kata was Annan and scored the highest points 7.3, 7.3, and 7.1 totalling 21.7 which put her in first place. Jodie was then
drawn against a boy from Gojo-Ryu who up against Jodie looked like a giant, with Jodie being selected to go first she decided to have a go at Unshu and took the win 2 flags to 1. Now in the finals, Jodie was again selected to be red and up against George Mole also from Gojo–Ryu
she was given the option of repeating her first kata again but with Jodie being a black belt she feels you should change your kata every round and decided to perform Bassai-Dai which proved to be the right choice as she took all three flags and the gold medal which was the
first for Shuhari-Kai.
Kumite was next with Callum Alboni in the boy’s 6 to 7 years all grades section. Callum dominated his first fight winning 6 points to 2, he then went on to win the second match with an astonishing 6 points to 0. Now in the finals and up against a
more experienced karate ka from Ishinryu Callum knew he had to keep his guard up and be alert which paid off as he won the final 4 points to 3 giving him the gold medal and the second for Shuhari-kai.
Aryan Ayerman and Brandon Halling were together in the boy’s 8 to 9 years novice to 6th kyu category. Aryan was up first and after the allocated time the scores were draw 4 points all, so with an extra 30 seconds of extra time Aryan had
to be first but unfortunately the other competitor was there just before Aryan so the match ended 5point to 4. Brandon received a first round bye but his next fight was very close with the points going from one to the other and back again, in the end Brandon just missed out as
the time was up and the final score was 4 points to 3. Good match Brandon and its good to see you back at competitions.
Ali Ayerman was next up in the boys 10 to 11 years 5th kyu to Dan grade. Ali received a first round bye and then went storming ahead of his next competitor picking him off with gyak after gyak but when he reached 5 points the other
competitor started to catch up but when the time had finished it was Ali who was the winner with the score being 5 points to 3. Ali was 3 points to 1 up in his next fight when he decided to use his legs but being up against a much smaller competitor Ali threw a mawashigeri
which landed rather too heavy and he was disqualified, leaving him just outside the medals.
Jordan Hodges and Andrew Ayerman were put in the same category together which was boy’s 12 to 13 years 5th kyu to Dan grade. Andrew was up first after receiving a first round bye he then went on to win his next match 4 points to 1, but
after Ali’s disqualification Andrew was taken out of the competition which stopped him medaling. With only Jordan left he like Andrew received a first round bye his next fight was a lot better than in other previous competitions and won the match 7 points to 3. Jordan was now
put against a karate ka with much more competition experience than him and lost out 7points to 1 but he did manage to pick up a bronze medal. Well done Jordan you thought more about what you were doing this time keep it up.
Billie Lowry was next up in the girls 8 to 9 years 5th kyu to Dan grade section, with Billie only being 8 years old herself she has only just gone into this category. Billie done extremely well and won her 1st match 3 points
to 2 which put her straight into the finals. This match proved to be a lot harder with the scores going back and forth back and forth at the end of time the scores were 10 points each so with 30 seconds of extra time Billie’s gyak just missed out on the score as her opponents
mawashigeri was scored as being in first so the final score was 10 points to 12. Billie managed to pick up a well deserved silver medal.
Our last fighter was now called up. Jodie Miles was in the girls 14 to 15 years 5th kyu to Dan grade section, with Jodie like Billie just entering this section found herself up against some very good karate ka. Jodie received a first
round bye and then went on to win her next round 8 points to 4. Her next fight was a lot closer but up against a girl a lot bigger than herself the final score was 8 points to 7 but she did receive a bronze medal for her efforts. The forth and final medal for Shuhari-kai
All in all Shuhari-Kai had a great day with all the mats running smoothly and the whole competition finishing at around 3 p.m. we were able to get back home while it was still light.
Shuhari-Kai gained 2 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze medal. Well done to everyone
Squad: Callum Alboni, Ali Ayerman, Andre Ayerman, Aryan Ayerman, Brandon Halling, Jordan Hodges, Billie Lowry and Jodie Miles.
Report: Pat Miles |