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 "The hills were alive with the sound of Kiais". Salzburg in Austria, made famous from the 'Sound of Music', renowned as the birth place of 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' and now host to the Austrian 'Golden League' and 'Austrian Junior Open Karate Championships'. Two students from
Shuhari-Kai Karate Club, brother and sister Alex and Aimee Sell, travelled to Salzburg to participate in the Austrian Junior Open Championships being held on 23rd June 2007. For Alex this was his first visit to Austria and was keen to pit his Karate skills amongst some of
Europe's finest. For Aimee, this was her second visit to Austria having competed in last years championships and collecting a Silver in Kata. She was hoping to go one better this year but having just celebrated her 12th birthday the week before she found herself officially
competing in the 12-13 years category for the first time and was obviously the youngest competitor in this group.
Why this particular tournament? With 10 nations competing (Austria, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Latvia, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Romania, United Kingdom and Slovenia), 815 entries, and only two other UK clubs attending - Vale Karate and Jishin, both from Wales,
this was going to be a true European test. The organisation on the day was second to none. Six mats run continuously throughout the day, each mat manned by five judges, electronic Kumite scoreboards on each mat, large electronic tournament board indicating current category on
each mat and next scheduled category with estimated start time, competitors assembled and checked for the next category before the previous one had even finished - efficiency at its best, also the standard was high, very high.
The tournament commenced with an opening ceremony, each nations flag paraded followed by the participating competitors. After a few speeches to the assembled audience, the participants were dismissed and the tournament began with the Kata events. The rules
for the children's Kata categories were straightforward enough; each competitor had to perform a minimum of three Kata and not perform any Kata back-to-back. Sounds easy but very difficult to pick out your three best Kata and plan which order to perform them in especially as
the opposition was totally unknown. WKF rules would have made it easier to plan.
Aimee was competing in the Girls 12-13 years Kata category and with 55 competitors in her group had the largest field to deal with. The group was split into two pools to speed up the category with Aimee in pool 2. Aimee was drawn 'OU' (blue) to
perform second and performed Bassai-Dai as her opening Kata. Aimee won the round 5 flags to 0. Aimee's 2nd round opponent failed to show providing Aimee with an automatic bye into the 3rd round. Aimee found herself switching the order of her Katas due to her bye and so
performed Annan Kata after being drawn 'AKA' (red) this time. Aimee once again won the round 5-0. The 4th round saw Aimee drawn 'OU' (where she remained for the duration of the contest) and performed Chatanyara Kushanku Kata completing her three mandatory Katas. Once again she
secured an impressive 5-0 win. The 5th round was the pool final and overall category semi-final and Aimee switched back to perform Annan Kata again. Once again she secured a 5-0 win the make the final against her pool 1 winning opponent. After pool 1 had completed, Aimee had to
switch mats to compete in the final on the mat where her pool 1 opponent had just won. Aimee's Austrian opponent performed Jion Kata whilst Aimee performed Chatanyara Kushanku. Aimee took the title winning 4 flags to 1 dropping her only flag of the day. A great achievement from
the youngest competitor in the category and certainly made up for last years silver indicating that Aimee is continually improving and getting even better.
Alex was also in action on the mat next to Aimee competing in his Kata event at the same time. 15 year old Alex had 48 competitors in the Boys 14-15 years against him and like Aimee had a six rounds to negotiate with the category split into two
pools. Alex was placed 2nd on the draw list meaning that after the 1st round, where he was 'OU', he would be 'AKA' to go first for all remaining rounds which put him at a huge disadvantage as the competitors didn't have to specify their Katas before hand, they could simply
decide which Kata to perform based on the performance of their opponent. Alex opened up his account with a narrow 3 flags to 2 win over his opponent after performing a good Annan. This category looked like it was going to be tough not knowing exactly what these judges
were looking for made things interesting. The 2nd round saw Alex perform Chatanyara Kushanku. The judges liked this one and all 5 voted for Alex giving him a 5-0 win. Alex had done his research before hand and knew his 4th round Swiss opponent medalled in this category last
year so he chose to perform Unshu Kata in the 3rd round leaving his hardest Kata for the next round. A gamble, but one that paid off as Alex once again secured a 5-0 win which also saw him complete the third of his mandatory Katas. As predicted the 4th round was indeed tough
with both boys performing Suparimpei Katas, however, Alex's performance was judged the best yet again he secured a 5-0 win leaving his opponent to gain a bronze once again as he did last year after winning the repechage event. The 5th round and pool final saw Alex switch
back to Chatanyara Kushanku Kata and secure his place in the category final as his Kata impressively secured all the judges flags once more giving him a 5-0 win. Unlike Aimee's event, the final wasn't held straight away, but was held at the end of the day in a showcase
spectacle.
For Alex his medal tally hadn't been finalised as he knew he'd definitely gain a Kata medal, but his Kumite event looked like another tough event. Like his Kata event, the Boys 14-15 Years, U65kg Kumite event was split into two pools with Alex in pool 2
this time. Alex won his opening round fight 8-3 but found the rules based on WKF Cadet rules. Twice he was caught in the face and twice points awarded to his opponent. Alex duly returned the favour but with intent to the extent that he was penalised 1 point straight off. At
least his opponent stopped making face contact as too. Alex's 2nd round match saw an entertaining encounter with Alex opening up a substantial lead swarming all over his opponent before getting caught by some Mawashigeri kicks late on allowing his opponent to close the gap a
little. Alex managed to maintain a gap till the end of the fight winning by 13 points to 7. The 3rd round saw Alex perform much better and although the score line was much lower with Alex winning 4-1, the fight was much more controlled this time. Alex's 4th round opponent was a
tall German who used his reach well to beat Alex to the front had punch opening up 3-0 lead early on. Alex pulled back some points but the score finished 4-2 against Alex leaving him in the repechage final for a bronze medal play-off. Alex made up for his earlier loss winning
the repechage final 8-0 in convincing style to claim the bronze and his second medal of the day. The only thing that remained was to determine what colour his Kata medal was to be.
After a long hard day following Alex's Kumite and earlier Kata exploits, the Kata finals finally got under way approximately 9:15pm. Alex found himself drawn 'AKA' as usual and facing a good Italian opponent. Alex performed Suparimpei in front of the 5
judges, whilst his opponent performed Kanku-Sho. Alex won the match 5 flags to 0 in impressive style to take the title in his first attempt ensuring the only flags he dropped were from his opening round Kata.
Both Alex and Aimee were extremely pleased with not only their performances, but their tactics too. Alex's Kumite medal was hard earned and well deserved but the Kata Golds from both kids was impressive. Their Kata coach, Ishinryu's Jonathan Mottram is
obviously doing something right if he can produce Kata students of this quality, part of 'Mottram's Marauders', capable of blowing away all European opposition before them. The only representatives from England, they carried the flag well and let's hope they get the chance to
compete for their country in the WKF European or World Championships sometime in the future if English Karate can sort itself out. What a shame it would be to waste such talent, not only them but lots of other children competing regularly in England if politics rob them of
their chance.
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