The squad arrived in Tenerife the day before the competition began and once the squad had been registered they went straight into the dojo to put in their final training session.  Although the session went well, the heat made a huge difference and took a while to acclimatise to, luckily for the squad they were supplied with Pro Hydrate by Empower performance.

Each member of the squad was scheduled to compete on the first day of competition, Sensei Alice was first up in the Ladies Individual Kata and after a early warm up she was lined up ready to go!

Sensei Alice was drawn against the highly experienced Slovakian, Hrusecka in the first round.  Although the match seemed close on a technical level, Hrusecka’s experience and power proved a little too much for Sensei Alice to contend with and sadly she went out and took no further part in the competition after the Slovakian lost in the third round.

Sensei Bo still had a busy day ahead with the rest of the squad scheduled to compete through the day. Next saw the WSKU’s Cheyne Phillips compete in the Men’s Kata. Unfortunately he was drawn against one of the most prolific kata champions of the modern era, Luca Valdesi, so repecharge looked like the only option for Cheyne. The strong German, Gissler, took Cheyne out in the first round of the repecharge, so the minus 84kg Kumite was left for him to compete later in the day. (photo will be added soon)

After the Kata competition was over the fighters in the squad got prepared in the warm up area with Sensei Bo and first to compete was the Bushi Kai’s Mark McMahon in the plus 84kg category. Mark was drawn against the very experienced Arsovski from the former Yugoslav republic. Mark worked very hard throughout the fight but Arsovski’s very cagey style proved too hard for Mark to break down and sadly went out losing by just a narrow point. (photo will be added soon)

Next Cheyne was up in his Kumite category and in the first round he was drawn against the Ukraine Horuna and unfortunately nerves got to Cheyne. The stronger Horuna was just too much for Cheyne and he took no further part in the competition. (photo will be added soon)

Last of the Welsh athletes to take part was the Welsh Bushi Kai’s Holly Carey in the Ladies +68kg Kumite. This being Holly first major European Championships, nerves were likely to be a factor but she handled the occasion superbly even though she drawn against last year’s medalist, the very tough and experienced Filiovic from Serbia. Holly gave it everything but unfortunately Filovic’s experience saw her gain a tight win over Holly.

Overall this was a fantastic trip, with everyone gaining great experience and performances to build on for the future.

It will be reschedualed and notification of the date will be posted on Facebook, on this website and also in classes.

A gentle reminder that the grading is just over 5 weeks away so please try and attend as many lessons as possible to give yourself the best chance at being successful and passing.

Sensei Alice

Mixed 5-7 years, upto 6^th Kyu- Jan Celban

Score boards were used to determine the winner of this category. Jan only had to perform one kata and put all of his effort into it. He gained the highest score of the category and won Gold! Brilliant Jan!

Mixed 8-11 years, upto 6^th Kyu- Jacob Beynon

This was a very large category also using score boards to determine the winner. Jacob performed his best kata but was unfortunate to medal. Keep training hard Jacob, your confidence is growing at every competition.

Mixed 5-7 years, 5^th Kyu and above- Ethan Weatherall

This group was a big step up for Ethan and even though he performed a really strong kata he went out in the early stages and didn’t progress to the medals.

Mixed 12-15 years, 3^rd to 1^st Kyu- Connor Williams

Conner gave a good performance in the first round however was against a very talented English International competitor who went on to win the gold.

Under 16 years, mixed Black belt kata- Amy Outing and Evan Locke

Both Amy and Evan confidently made it through to the semi finals. Unfortunately they did not progress to the finals, due to Amy stumbling and Evan making a mistake. Had they have performed as strong as they did in previous rounds the medals would have been a different colour. This time they both had to settle for bronze.

Shuboren Mixed 5-7years, upto 6^th Kyu- Jan Celban

Unfortunately Jan didnt progress onto the medal stages however with a little more experience his confidence and technique in kumite will be to the same level as his kata.

Boys 13-15years, 4^th Kyu+, under 55kg- Evan Locke

Evan fought well but was unable to progress onto the medal stages.

Well Done to all of the squad who competed at this very busy competition!

More photos to follow soon….

This was Alice’s last competition before the European Senior Karate Championships in Tenerife in just under 3 weeks time and her aim was to get mat time performing her 5 kata’s.

Alice was in the Senior Ladies category. After having a bye in the first round, she went on to perform 4 strong katas to take the silver! Well done!

On Sunday 15th April, the WKC squad took the short trip to Sophia Gardens in Cardiff to compete in the WKGB Welsh Closed Championships.

Under 10′s Mixed Kata- Ethan Weatherall and Jan Celban

Jan and Ethan were our first competitors of the day to step on to the tatami. Unfortunately, the two team mates came up against each other in the first round. They both put in one of their best performances with Ethan winning 3-2. Ethan who is starting to show his flare for competition kata then went on to win our first medal of the day, bronze! Well done both, your performances are getting better in each competition and this is down to your dedication and effort in training!

Boys 10-12 years Kata- Jacob Beynon, Cameron Prince, Owen Davies and Ieuan Davies

The ever improving Jacob Beynon came up against an experienced competitor of a much higher grade in the first round and was unable to progress. With Jacob’s continued commitment to training he will keep improving at each competition.

All the hard work Cameron Prince has been putting in latelycertainly showed as he put in strong performances through each of his rounds giving him his best ever result at a Welsh Championships a deserved bronze medal! Brilliant!

Team mates Owen Davies and Ieuan Davies won all of their preliminary rounds only to meet in the final. Both are showing great improvements lately so this was a match to savour. The result went Ieuan’s way, with his aggression just pipping Owen to the Gold. Well done both!

Girls 10-12 years Kata – Kate Jones and Holly Huggins

This is only Kate’s second competition and bravely performed two katas brand new to her repertoire. She has grown in confidence since her last outing and impressively made it through to the semi finals where she came up against team mate Holly. Holly’s great form and competition experience came to the fore just giving her the edge over Kate.  Holly then went on to the finals where she achieved gold, Kate settled for bronze! Fantastic Girls!

Boys 13-15 year old Kata- Nathan Jones

Nathan has really stepped up his training this year but was unfortunate to meet the eventual winner of this category in the first round. Keep training hard Nathan your improving every time. Well done.

Girls 13-15 year old Kata- Amy Outing

Amy is one of our most committed students and all the hard work she puts into every session really showed in her performances as she achieved a very impressive gold. Great stuff Amy – keep it up!

Mens Senior Kata – Rhys Adey

Rhys easily reached the final putting in a very solid performance for each of his preliminary rounds. Unfortunately though a stumble in his final kata left him having to settle for a deserving silver. Well done!

Ladies Senior Kata- Alice Hooper and Amy Outing

Amy not yet sixteen years old, entered this category to see how she would fair up against Ladies in preparation for next year when she is eligible for the category. Both Alice and Amy put in very strong performances, each without dropping a flag to reach what was going to be a memorable final . Alice, who’s  putting the final touches to her training for the Senior Europeans put in an exception kata to take the gold.  Amy took her 2nd medal of the day a well earned silver! Fantastic Ladies!

For more photos go onto our secure Facebook page…Welsh Karate Collective

Ethan Weatherall was first up in the Under 10′s, 4th Kyu and below, mixed category. Ethan performed two really strong kata’s but was unfortunate to lose out to the eventual winner. Ethan’s performances are getting stronger in each competition he is doing and this will only lead on to great things.

Jan Celban was entered into the Under 10′s, 7th Kyu and Below, mixed category. Jan performed a strong kata and won our first medal of the day, bronze!

Owen Davies was in the 10-12 years boys, 3rd Kyu and above. This is the first competition Owen has done as a brown belt so performed a new kata for the first time in the final. He gave a strong kata but narrowly missed out and had to settle for silver!

Amy Outing was in the 13-15 years girls, 3rd Kyu and above category. She too performed a new kata for the first time. She looked sharp and strong but unfortunately lost out to the group winner. She won our 2nd bronze of the day!

Alice Hooper was in the Ladies 3rd Kyu and above category. She performed 3 kata’s which won her silver!

Rhys Adey entered the Mens 3rd Kyu and above and this was his first competition in a year due to injury. Rhys performed a brilliant kata but lost to the group winner. He came back in the repecharge and won a bronze!

Everybody gave 100% and Sensei Bo is very happy with the progress made  by these students!

Keep up the training!

Congratulations to all of those who attended the Kata Camp today….you all trained really hard and performed fantastically in the competition!

An extra Well Done to the 3 group winners!

4th Kyu and below, Under 8′s- Ethan Weatherall

4th Kyu and below, 9 and above- Jacob Beynon

3rd Kyu and above- Amy Outing

]]> http://www.welshkaratecollective.co.uk/?feed=rss2&p=219 0 http://www.welshkaratecollective.co.uk/?p=207 http://www.welshkaratecollective.co.uk/?p=207#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 12:20:19 +0000 CompQueen http://www.welshkaratecollective.co.uk/?p=207 On the 17th March, Alice Hooper entered the British University Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

Representing the University of Wales, Newport she performed 4 good katas to win her tough pool, progressing through to the final where she was up against England’s brilliant Emma Lucraft.

Alice performed a strong kata but was unfortunate not to beat Emma and therefore took the silver!

Well done Alice!

Congratulations to those who won the races!

All the money raised will go towards new mats.

Photos from the event will be going on the Welsh Karate Collective Facebook page soon.