CEWKA Championships July 2012

Six of our students visited the Central England Wado-Ryu Karate Association championships on the 8th July, and medals were once again the order of the day. Brandon Greenwood of the Shinken Dojo was the youngest of the group and he was joined by Ellie Hayes & Matthew March also of the Shinken Dojo. Chris & Dean Fenton along with Joe Munro of the East Hull Karate Club were also in attendance.

Brandon was the first of our medal winners, with Gold Medal success in the Kata divisions. Brandon is becoming a regular podium finisher and was later to consolidate his Kata success with a Bronze medal finish in his Kumite category also.

Also in the Kata categories was Matthew March. Matthew is now in the senior categories and has recently been training with the National Kata Squad under Jonathan Mottram. Today’s performances saw Matthew reach the quarter-finals where he met England International Alex Gardner. Unfortunately for Matthew Alex came out on top this time around.

Joe Munro was entered into the -63kg category and also moved up to contest the +63kg category. His first event was the +63kg category, where he was on fine form and secured the silver medal. Joe then went on to defeat his first opponent in the -63kg category with an ushiro-mawashigeri which saw him through to the next round. With further success in successive rounds Joe managed to book himself into his second final of the day. Unfortunately he was just to fall at this hurdle for the second time, but was therefore to secure his second silver medal of the day and the fourth medal of the day for the group.

Chris Fenton was there contesting the senior male Kumite category. His event got off to a good start in his early rounds, but hit a brick wall as he came across the current World Junior Kumite Champion Tom Hickman. Tom moved up in age group to seniors recently, just at the wrong time for Chris! The beginning of the match was going Chris’s way, as he nudged in front by 1 point. Following a clinch towards the end of the bout both contestants broke free, but Tom took advantage of the new distance and scored a two point body kick at the death. Never the less Chris should be proud of holding someone of Tom's calibre to a 1-2 score-line. Well done Chris!

Ellie Hayes was also competing in the girls Kata category. Unfortunately having the experience and knowledge to do so, she performed an advanced Kata which was against the rules for her lower grade group. It was a disappointing outcome for a youngster who clearly had a repertoire of Kata, which may have proven more suitable for the higher grades. Better luck next time Ellie.

Following an injury in the previous day’s training with Junior Lefevre, Dean Fenton was injured and had to reluctantly withdraw from the tournament.