BIKO Karate Championships 2008

The latest competition attended by the SKA squad was the BIKO open tournament in Cheshunt on Sunday 28th September. 12 members of the squad competed and were only spread over 7 different categories in total (kata and kumite). Out of 7 categories the SKA only dropped gold in 2 of them, winning 5 gold, 3 silvers and 2 bronze medals. They were pleased to be accompanied by two other Hanko-Ryu clubs, Danielle Joyce’s Shinjiru and Hanko-Ryu Harlow, coached by Tony Perry. Both those squads also had a successful outing, so well done to everybody involved.

As usual the kata events were on first and ROD BARTON was the first gold medallist of the day winning the 16yrs and above, 2nd kyu and below section. The kata was being scored on the old points system and Rod’s Pinan Yodan was awarded the highest marks to secure him the gold medal.

In the 9yrs and under, mixed, open grade section, the SKA had KATIE PHARO, EDWARD VAN MEERKERK, TONI SHERING, MICHAEL HOLMES and last minute entrant, LEWIS HOLMES. The competitors with the top 9 scores were put through to the final round and in a very large and talented group this was not an easy task. The judges on this mat took a disliking to Kosokun Sho and unfortunately Edward was the only competitor who chose to do this in the first round. All of the squad were allowed to choose their own katas but could ask for advice from the coaches if they wanted to. Had the coaches known Kosokun Sho would not be scored highly, Edward would have been advised not to do it; but it was not until the second round that this became evident! So apart from Edward, all of the others went through to the final stage. Michael went through with the top scores, Katie in 3rd place, Toni was about 5th and 5yr old Lewis, who did Bassai Dai on the mat for the first time, was joint 9th with some very experienced higher grade competitors.

After the final round, 7yr old Michael was the only SKA competitor who made a podium finish after his Superenpi kata was awarded the highest marks from all 3 judges. The silver medal was once again won by Bleu Parris who along with Michael are proving to be the top young kata competitors in Britain. Well done to Katie and Toni who both performed the relatively unrated Kosokun Sho very well in the final and both showed vast improvement. Also, well done to Lewis who at 5yrs old is remarkable and showing star quality at such a young age. Recognition must be given to Michael, who at only 7yrs old is performing kata to an extremely advanced level, congratulations to him for another fantastic gold.

Apart from Simon, who took silver in the senior male group, the rest of the squad were all in the same kata group. Prior to the competition it looked like they had no chance of medalling as they are all 10-11yrs girls and were competing in an under 15yrs, mixed category! The only plus side was that the category was 2nd kyu and below and they are used to competing against black belts. They all did extremely well as in another large group all 5 of them went through to the final top 8. Well done to BETHANY SCOULDING, LOUISE HICKS, ELLIE BARTON, SIAN BARTON and CHLOE PHARO who all performed their choice of kata to a very high standard. Chloe went through to the final in 1st place, Sian in 2nd, Ellie in 3rd and Louise and Bethany were not far behind. For SKA to make up 5 of the top 8 in a large group illustrates the overall standard of the squad to be high.

In the final round 4th kyu’s Bethany and Louise just missed out on medals but they had nothing to feel bad about as SKA took all 3 podium finishes. Congratulations to the SKA team kata girls for proving to be outstanding competitors; Sian took gold, Chloe was 0.1 behind with silver and Ellie came in very close behind taking bronze. The coaches were delighted with this result considering it was such a vast group of competitors and they could not ask for more!

The kumite was next and once again the competitors were hardly divided up. 9 competitors were split over 3 groups and spectacularly took gold in 2 of them. The only gold dropped was by KATIE PHARO but she deserved more than gold for her courage. She was the only female competitor in the mixed, 9yrs and under, over 4’3 group. She knew in advance that talented fighters such as the Bleu and Cuba Parris would be there, but with only a few months fighting experience, she still wanted to have a go. She went through one round and reached the quarter final where she met the eventual finalist, Bleu Parris. Had she had a different draw she could have won a medal, but the fact she got out there and fought the male English Kumite Champion was a privilege for her and an excellent experience. She should be very proud of herself because the coaches certainly are!

In the mixed 9yrs and under, under 4’3 kumite, TONI SHERING also showed girl power and she was also possibly the only girl in this group? Toni’s attitude on the mat has really changed lately and there was no stopping her (literally!). She got lots of warnings for throwing too many techniques (not contact), but this is a good step forward as at one point she showed too much fear and did next to nothing whilst ‘fighting’ on the mat. EDWARD VAN MEERKERK, who won double gold at his last competition, had an unlucky day, but every competitor gets these so no need to worry just yet!! He lost in a close first round but he did fight well. MICHAEL HOLMES characteristically buzzed around the mats and threw all sorts of techniques. He eventually got to meet Toni in the semi-final where he won, but Toni really proved something to herself and the coaches, so well done to her. She did win bronze and at only 7yrs old she was the only girl to medal in the 9yrs and under fighting groups! Another great achievement! Michael went on to win a very close final. He would have lost had he not scored a hook kick to his opponent’s head on the bell! However, he worked so hard throughout the competition and deserved the double gold he got.

The last of the SKA’s fighters were once again all in the same group. Thankfully this time it was not mixed and the girls had quite a fair group as it was 10-12yrs, under 5ft. BETHANY SCOULDING and LOUISE HICKS met in the first round which was unfortunate for them and it was Louise who progressed to the next round. SIAN BARTON and ELLIE BARTON both lost in close first round contests but they have the least fighting experience out of the SKA competitors in this group. CHLOE PHARO was an unstoppable force and she made it to the final with Louise after a few rounds each. A perfect final for the SKA coaches who would win gold and silver either way and they got to sit back and watch the girls battle it out! It was Chloe who won gold and Louise took silver. Once again well done to all the girls who are consistently fighting well and win or loose, they are all heading in the right direction. It is great to see all of the SKA’s junior competitors entering both kata and kumite! When SKA started out just 9 months ago, hardly any of the squad had entered a kumite competition, but now they are winning medals in both disciplines.

When they all finished competing the Hanko-Ryu clubs got together and made the most of a rare opportunity to take a group photo. There was a great atmosphere at the competition and credit goes to all the organisers, competitors, coaches and parents who travel near and far to make these events possible.

Coach Clare commented, ‘This competition was of mediocre standard but categories were large and we will continue to celebrate results when we get them and work harder if we don’t! I am so happy for all of the competitors as the hard work we are putting in is paying off. A huge thanks to Simon for his invaluable input in the dojo and thanks to this the budding squad are getting the attention and training they need to keep flourishing. One day I will write a short report but I think everybody involved deserves some recognition as this can be hard to come by in karate!!’

To find out Shinjiru’s and Hanko-Ryu Harlow’s results, check out their websites on our links page! Thanks to Debs, Mark and Ian for taking the photos.

Ooosshhaaaaaaaaa!

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