EKF Northern Regional Karate Championships

The latest competition attended by the SKA squad was the EKF Northern Regional Karate Championships. The competition, which is highly ranked and attracts some of the best squads in England, was held on Sunday 26th October, in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. The SKA coaches always set individual and group targets for the squad prior to competitions. Looking at the junior kata categories, which were all 15yrs and under, it looked as though achieving a gold medal would be impossible as the SKA juniors range from only 6-12yrs old. Also, looking at the kumite side of things, the SKA competitors are still very inexperienced so not many medal targets were set here. Overall the coaches said they would be very happy with 1 gold; but when they arrived and saw the opposition, that target was lowered and just a couple of medals would have been fine!

The day kicked off with team kata, which was mixed, 15yrs and under, open grade. SKA entered 3 teams all with different experience. The ‘a’ team (SIAN, ELLIE, CHLOE) performed extremely well in the 1st round and the coaches were surprised when the flags did not go their way. The ‘b’ team (BETHANY, KATIE, LOUISE) suffered the same fate but they lost to a stronger team and although the ‘c’ team (TONI, EDWARD, MICHAEL) also lost in the 1st round, they won a bronze medal as they received a bye to the semi-final.

The individual kata kicked off straight away and all of the juniors were on at the same time. The SKA only had competitors in 3 of the kata groups and as previously said, it was going to be tough to medal, let alone get any golds. In the boys 3rd – 1st kyu, under 15yrs kata, MICHAEL HOLMES and RYAN BEAVINGTON both lost to the eventual finalists and as there was no repecharge, Ryan missed out on going for bronze. Michael won 2 rounds to get to the semi final so he won a bronze medal. At 7yrs old, Michael did extremely well to get a flag against the teenage winner and Ryan had quite an unlucky draw.

The 6th – 4th kyu kata was mixed, 15yrs and under and the SKA had 6 competitors battling it out in this group. There was a good overall standard in this category so the fact that the SKA eventually made up 3 of the top 4 was fantastic. LEWIS HOLMES, who turned 6yrs old 4 days ago, performed a very good Bassai-Dai and only lost 2-1 to a good 10yr old competitor. EDWARD VAN MEERKERK made it through 1 round before loosing to the same girl 3-0, although his performance was excellent. LOUISE HICKS then came up against the same girl and she pulled it out the bag to take the round 2-1 and make it to the final after 3 rounds. In the other half of the draw, TONI SHERING and KATIE PHARO met in the 1st round and Katie took the round 2-1. Toni is only 7yrs old and doing very well for her age. Katie then met BETHANY SCOULDING in the semi-final after Bethany won 2 rounds. Again it was as split 2-1 decision but Katie was unstoppable and made it to the final where she faced Louise. An all SKA final and a guaranteed gold was great at such an early stage of the competition. The judges found it very hard to differentiate between the team mates and on another 2-1 decision, Katie won the gold and Louise won silver, with Bethany taking bronze. Katie is only 9yrs old and has only been competing and training for a few months, so to win an English Regional Championship is outstanding. Well done to all of the squad members in this group for continually improving and consistently medalling.

In the 3-1st kyu girls kata, SIAN BARTON, ELLIE BARTON and CHLOE PHARO are all outstanding competitors for their age, but it was going to be very hard to beat the older girls. Ellie won 2 rounds before loosing to a stronger opponent but was very happy with a bronze medal in this group. Chloe had a tough draw against a 15yr old with a lot of experience and after watching her opponent go first, Chloe knew she had to work hard. She pulled out all the stops, looked more powerful and sharper and deserved the 3-0 win she got. Sian won her first 2 rounds and then met Chloe in the semi-final. Another split decision between 2 squad members and a comment from the judge on how hard it was to separate them, but Chloe took the place in the final winning 2-1. Now Chloe was going for gold and she won the SKA’s second gold of the day after performing and excellent superenpi! For all 3 of the SKA girls to finish in the top 4 with 1 gold and 2 bronze in a group where nothing was expected of them was superb and spirits were very high amongst the squad. To win gold in 2 /3 junior kata events entered at a major event was an immense success for the squad!

SIMON BONELLO then competed in the senior male, 3rd kyu and above kata and had a good win in the 1st round, but then had to settle for bronze after being beaten by a stronger opponent in the semi-final. ROD BARTON was the only entry in his section so unfortunately it was cancelled, but Rod has been doing well in kata recently so that could have been another win / medal there! With the kata over and 2 golds, 1 silver and 5 bronze medals secured, anything won in fighting would be a bonus!

TONI SHERING and KATIE PHARO both won bronze medals in the girls 9yrs and under group, but both have a lot of work to do in kumite. Toni is only 7yrs old so has a lot of time yet and Katie gave the fight away in the final 7 seconds by backing off excessively. Lack of experience lost her the fight to a much higher grade but after her gold in kata she was quite happy with the day’s results!

MICHAEL HOLMES and EDWARD VAN MEERKERK both competed in the 9yrs and under boys kumite. Edward has only been fighting for a few months but is improving steadily and took the bronze. What Michael did for a 7yr old meant more than a gold medal as he fought very well to make it to the final after 3 tough rounds where he received some nasty knocks. In the final he faced a strong boy soon to be 10yrs old, but Michael showed tremendous skill and after extra time it was still 0-0. The judges had to make a decision and they gave it to the bigger boy but Michael should be very proud of his silver. He still has over 2 years left in this group so things should get easier soon!!

SAM BARTON was thrown into the deep end as he has only fought once before and he has only done a couple of months of training since returning to karate. He was going to be attending the competition to support his family so he had a go while he was there. Boy’s with this little experience would not normally compete at his level and not surprisingly he lost in the first round, but only by 1-0. It is far too early to judge Sam’s fighting but he enjoyed it and that is the most important thing at the moment! The only other boy to fight was RYAN BEAVINGTON who recently made the big step of going up to the 12-13yrs group. He fought his best yet and took a well deserved bronze. He was very close to getting to the final had his opponent not scored a lucky kick on the bell.

The other girls were all in the 10-11yrs kumite groups. ELLIE BARTON and SIAN BARTON did very well considering they have only fought a few times before. Although they both lost in their opening round, they are improving and enjoying competing in all 3 disciplines of karate! In the same group, CHLOE PHARO won 3 fights to get to the final. She is becoming a strong fighter but, like the others in the squad, she lacks experience and lost to a black belt in the final to take silver. In the heavier weight section both BETHANY SCOULDING and LOUISE HICKS made unusual first round exits but this will always happen from time to time. They did not go away medal less as they both had good results in kata.

ROD BARTON was the last fighter from the SKA and he was fighting for the first time since returning to karate after many years. He had a very exciting final against somebody nearly 20k heavier than him, but after taking a 3-0 lead, he let it slip away and lost 8-5 to take silver. Everybody was very proud of Rod and it made for a very good end to the day.

The total medal tally stood at 2 golds, 4 silvers and 10 bronze medals. This was far more than what the coaches anticipated but it proves the squad have raised their game and they should except more success in future. To bring home 16 medals from 14 competitors was something that needed celebrating and every single squad member did the club proud.

Coach Clare commented: “The youngsters have relatively little experience between them but they are all pushing each other and working very well together. The number of medals won shows the overall standard of the squad is high, but the good thing is that they are so far from reaching their full potential! We also won 50% of our medals from kumite so this is a step forward as when the SKA formed just 10 months ago, not many of the squad had even entered a fighting competition. Simon’s kumite class is paying off and I look forward to getting our first gold in kumite at a major event - we are definitely getting closer! Thanks to the parents for travelling again and it’s nice to see everybody bonding and enjoying their own and their children’s success!

OOssshhaaaaa!!”

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