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 The inaugural English Karate Federation Northern Regional Championships took place at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Sunday 25th November 2007.
Aimee and Alex Sell from Shuhari-Kai Karate Club travelled up to the event the night before staying in Bradford's Holiday Inn Express, with an evening visit to Frankie and Benny's. Nice.
Aimee competed in the Girls U16yrs, Dan Grade Kata event and was the second youngest competing in this category, even so she did remarkable well securing a Bronze medal. Aimee's 1st round saw her perform her WKF compulsory
Kata, Bassai-Dai, against a tough opponent but Aimee won the round 2 flags to 1. The 2nd round saw Aimee perform Nipaipo Kata and win the round 3 flags to 0. The semi-final pitted Aimee against Ishinryu's Emma Lucraft yet again and an unfortunate wobble on Aimee's landing in
Chatanyara Kushanku saw her lose out 3 flags to 0. None-the-less Aimee did extremely well to medal at this event against some of the best U16 year old girls.
The Boys U16yrs, Dan Grade Kata category saw Alex in action. Having won the Southern Regional event before he was looking to do the double at this event and didn't disappoint. Alex received a 1st round bye and performed Seienchin in the
2nd round securing a 3 flags to 0 win. The 3rd round saw Alex secure another 3-0 with his performance of Annan Kata. The 4th round semi-final saw Alex drop his only flag as his Suparimpei Kata secured a 2-1 win. The final saw Alex back on track as his Chatanyara Kushanku
secured Gold with a 3-0 win.
Alex then entered the Boys 15-17yrs, 3rd Kyu & Over Kata category. Alex performed Seienchin Kata in the 1st round and won the round 2 flags to 1. The next round Alex received an automatic bye as his opponent didn't attend the event. The
next round for Alex was the semi-final round which saw Alex perform Suparimpei. Unfortunately the judges went against Alex this time as he lost out 3 flags to 0 securing the Bronze this time.
The Boys U16yrs, Over 55kg Kumite event eventually got underway and Alex made a good start winning his opening round 6 points to 1. The 2nd round saw a complete turnaround as none of Alex's techniques scored and he was harshly penalised for
contact warnings (apart from the last one - was definitely fair), and so Alex bowed out with rare a 8-0 defeat on his hands. Alex smiled.
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