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 Well the idea was good and the time and effort that went into the planning was evident to see. The idea of the South West Open Championships was to bridge the gap between club/association level and national level competition
and bring a high calibre tournament to the Bristol area. The major categories all had a 'Showcase' final held towards the end of the tournament preceded by music and a street dance group to liven things up. A free prize draw of an LCD TV before the finals also kept the
audiences interest as did the cameras from SportUK.TV, the film crew who were tasked with bringing the best of the tournament to the masses. The tournament organisers wanted to showcase the finalist, the best talents from Britain, rather than shy away from their achievements.
This wasn't your ordinary medal and go tournament and I applaud Simon O'Brien and Imperial Karate for attempting to break away from the traditional tournament mould and trying to make it more spectacular and rewarding for the competitors.
The only downside was the flood of last minute entries that pushed the participation level up from 180 to 450. That left it too late to change the venue and meant everyone was in rather more cramped surroundings than anticipated. The
planned finals at 5:00pm were also delayed due to the last minute influx of entries meaning the finals didn't actually commence till 7:30pm (not far off young Aimee's bedtime ;-) ). Nevertheless, this was their first attempt at this style of tournament and next
year they plan to have six matted areas rather than four to ensure the pace of the tournament speeds along. Oh and another thing, I thought some of the categories were a bit too wide, ie., Kata Boys and Kata Girls 10-15yrs, and open weight/height Kumite categories. Not a
problem for someone like 14yr old Alex Sell who was competing in the Boys 10-15yrs Kata event and the Boys 14-15yrs Kumite event, but some of the younger or smaller competitors may have found the categories daunting.
Alex's sister, 11yr old Aimee Sell, was one such competitor who was disadvantaged at being in the Girls 10-15yrs Kata category and on paper she should of been there to make up the numbers even though she is the current Girls
10-11yrs English National Kata Champion. But Aimee thrives on competition and was
determined to at least make it to the semi-finals in order to gain a medal. Well Aimee surpassed all expectations as she not only made the finals but secured Gold too. Aimee started well winning her opening round 3 flags to 0 following her Bassai-Dai Kata. Round two saw
her claim another 3-0 win with her Seienchin Kata. The 3rd round saw Aimee drop a flag as her Nipaipo Kata beat her opponents Pinan Shodan (yes I know...) Kata 2 flags to 1. Aimee had a really tough semi-final against a very good AMA opponent. Both girls performed Annan Kata
but it was Aimee who secured a place in the showcase final winning 2-1 against the odds. Aimee went on to claim the Gold in the 'showcase' final held later that evening as her Chatanyara Kushanku Kata beat her opponents Annan 3 flags to 2. A stunning victory for one of the
youngest competitors in the event...?, not according to Aimee who has already collected 14 Kata Golds this year.
Alex Sell also secured Gold in the Boys 10-15yrs Kata event, but unlike Aimee, the current Boys 14-15yrs British Kata champion looked like one of the favourites to take the title in the first place. Alex didn't disappoint as he secured a 3 flags
to 0 win in the opening round following his Bassai-Dai Kata. The 2nd round saw Alex perform Suparimpei and clean up with another 3-0 win. Round three and an excellent Annan Kata saw him comfortably into the next round with yet another 3-0 win. The semi-final saw Alex perform
Chatanyara Kushanku and beat his AMA opponent 2 flags to 1 to match Aimee in making the showcase final being held later that evening. Following on from Aimee's victory in the preceding final, Alex now took centre stage in front of the audience and TV cameras. Alex performed a
flawless Suparimpei Kata beating his AMA opponent's Chatanyara Kushanku Kata five flags to nil to secure Gold.
In the Boys 14-15yrs Kumite, Alex received an opening round bye but won his next round 4-2. The 3rd round saw Alex beat his opponent 7-0 to make the quarter-finals. Now the Kumite rules for this tournament were made clear at the
start - any contact to the face/head etc, however light, would be penalised. Alex made the slightest of touches on a Ura-Mawashigeri kick and was penalised. When the match went into extra time with the scores tied at 3-3, Alex once again was penalised for the lightest of
touches on a Ura-Mawashigeri. Alex's opponent was awarded a point and the match. Alex took the decision without question, shook his opponents hand and wished him well. The true spirit and character of a competitor is not how they handle victory, but how they handle defeat. Alex
handled it in the best way possible, not by showing off or remonstrating with the ref, but by storming to a superb 5-0 victory in the Kata final.
It was an interesting tournament, albeit a very long day (we finally got home 11:45pm, and that's after leaving home at 6:00am in the morning to get there). There were a lot of good points to be taken away and it will be interesting to
see if the hard work, organisation, and planning that went into this tournament will be adopted by other tournament organisers. The showcase final filmed by SportUK.TV can be view on their website at http://www.sportuk.tv.
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