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 Well another Shuhari-Kai Summer Camp has come and gone and once again there was lots of sweat, blood and tears - well not much blood and only a few tears but definitely
lots of sweat. Aimee Sell became Shuhari-Kai's newest Black Belt passing her grading on 31st May whilst Sophie Roberts completed her Senior Black Belt grading along side Aimee to become the clubs first junior Black Belt student to migrate to Senior
Black Belt.
Saturday was arrival day at Sea Shore Haven Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth, and what terrible weather did we bring with us. It rained constantly 'monsoon style' for three days solid and only began to let up on Wednesday as the sun edged its
way out. The camp was well attended and the kids didn't let the weather put them off as they headed for the swimming complex at the end of each days training session. The adults either went swimming too or took the opportunity to site see, shop or just take a well earned break.
Tuesday saw the barmy army take to the beach for a paddle in the sea, even though the temperature would have frozen the breath off a polar bear. Andrew Ayerman must have been cold as he had all his cloths on - or was that because he was thrown into the sea?
 The sun came out on Thursday to brighten the morning but for two students the sun wouldn't shine until they'd completed their gradings - Aimee and Sophie. Sophie was
confident on her grading having gone through the same torture as a junior the year before but for Aimee the agony was about to begin. To make things worse, Sensei Richard Burridge didn't start the grading until 1:00pm with the theory paper, following a full mornings training
session. Pressure and nervous got to Aimee during her grading and although she and Sophie completed their fitness in record time (50 sit-ups, 50 press-ups, 50 squat-thrusts and 50 V-sits in 3 and a half minutes) she felt ill and was sick. The tension was broken a little half
way through the grading as 'Barney the Bear' plodded through the hall unaware of what was taking place which raised a few chuckles and a few dagger looks from Sensei Burridge and the rest of the Senior Black Belts grading at the time (I've never seen Barney Bear floored before
and Barney doesn't know how close he was!). Aimee hasn't fought competitively for over 3 years following her eye injury so to take on 3 opponents at once following a number of individual fights was extremely nerve-racking for her. Aimee was in tears at the end, a mixture of
frustration, exhaustion, relief and joy - joy at just surviving. Sophie's fighting was classic as one of her opponents - Ali Ayerman, was pulled and shoved all over the place and became a human shield during her fights which made everyone laugh. Sophie and Aimee especially had
brighter smiles than the sun outside which seemed to have come out today to celebrate their achievements too.
The days preceding the black belt gradings consisted of a mixture of fitness, drills, training and gradings. For the lower grades the grading was done mid week with the 1st Kyu gradings done on the Monday. Not everyone who attempted to
grade passed, but those who missed out were just short of the mark on this occasion. With a little extra work and effort will be able to re-take their grading very soon. Congratulations to the students who did manage to pass:
Friday saw the camp competition get underway and most students competed in both Kata and Kumite with one or two exceptions mainly due to injury. The peewee Kata got underway first with Aryan Ayerman, Brandon Halling, Edward Sell and
Kurtis Walters all competing. The title went to Kurtis as his Pinan Nidan out shone Aryan's Shodan in the final.
The intermediate category was next with Ali Ayerman, Callum Alboni, Jordan Hodges and Billie Lowry all competing. Callum's final Pinan Shodan secured the title for him against Jordan's Pinan Nidan.
The advanced category saw Amir Ayerman, Andrew Ayerman, Dave Edwards, Mark Edwards, Dawn Lowry & Shane Mitchell competing. The final saw Dave's Chinto beat Andrew's Kushanku Kata to claim gold.
The Black Belt category had Steve Edwards, Alex Groves, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell and Alex Sell competing. The previous events were all knock-out contests, but his event was points on two Wado-Ryu Katas. Alex took gold for his Jion and
Wanshu Katas whilst Sophie and Aimee tied in 2nd following their Jion and Chinto Katas. The decider was a little odd (loudest Gi crack???) but Sophie was awarded Silver with Aimee in joint bronze with Steve.
The Kumite events saw Aryan, Brandon, Callum, Edward, Kurtis and Sheri all competing. Callum claimed gold beating Aryan 7 points to 5 in the final.
The advanced section saw Aimee, Ali, Billie and Jordan all in action. Jordan came through in the final beating Aimee to claim gold.
The senior Kumite event saw Amir Ayerman, Alex Groves, Alex Sell, Dave Edwards, Gary Page, JJ Burridge, Mark Edwards and Sophie Roberts all competing. The final was a close affair with Alex Sell coming through to claim gold over JJ
Burridge with a 5-4 victory.
Full results available on our Results 2007 page.
And with that the camp training had drawn to a close. The competition medals and trophies were awarded at the end followed by the summer camp certificates and grading results. A final presentation by Sensei Richard Burridge to his Black
Belt students, who had helped out thorough the weeks training, was made with himself receiving a presentation by his students eloquently orchestrated by Amir Ayerman.
A photo gallery of the weeks training camp can be viewed here: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/5719200
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