Seaford Invitational Karate Competition 2011

On Sunday the 12th of June a small team of competitors from Brighton took part in this local event, hosted by the Seaford Karate Club (www.seafordkarate.org.uk).  First up was Jamie, taking part in the weapons event. There were only 4 people in this section, two adults, a youth and Jamie who is only 9.  The youth was placed first and the two adults were second and third.  Jamie performed his staff kata well, but the adults were that much stronger, so perhaps next year there will be a section just for children.

His next section was in kata and he was up against 20 other competitors.  In the first round he scored 22 points, which was good enough to get him into the second round, in 4th place.  In the second round Jamie was placed 4th out of 9 competitors, a very creditable performance and one place higher than last year.  His score was also 22 in this round, the winner scoring 22.5.

We then had a few hours break to wait for the kumite section, Jamie was again our first fighter to compete in this section.  In his first fight, you could see that his hard work and training in Karate had paid off.  Jamie was confident, showed good awareness and was sharp with his techniques.  He won this bout 5-0 scoring with fast and accurate punches, which were all well controlled.  The good thing about this young man, is that he listened to his coach.  At the end of each bout, he was advised what to expect from his next fighter and he took that information on board.  A rare quality in one so young.

Bout number two: In this bout Jamie was more aware of the tactics to be used by his opponent and used space and time to get his points.  One punch, a head kick and the fight was over 4-0.

Bout number three: This was again to be Jamie’s fight scoring with 3 punches and 3 head kicks, you could see how much more confident he was.  Score 9-1.  In his last fight, the final, he was up against a much bigger opponent who was putting in some very powerful and strong punches and kicks.  Perhaps in another event some of this would have been penalised.  A hard fight, his hardest of the competition, but Jamie showed true grit and came through, one head kick, three punches, the score 6-2 and the Gold medal.  Overall Jamie scored 24 points with 3 against him, a very good effort indeed.

Cameron, was up next in what was to be his first open competition outside of his club.  He fought well, trying out various skills and was unlucky, on a number of occasions not, to have got the points.  At times his distancing was not quite right, a round kick to his opponents body in my opinion, should have scored, but on the day it was not to be.  The final score was only 1-0, so a very close bout and a good prospect for the future.

Our next fighter was Oscar.  This was indeed an epic battle.  Two very good fighters, which in the opinion of the Referees after the bout, would have been a top class final.  By the end of the bout both fighters had scored 6 points each.  Oscar on a couple of occasions coming back from behind to draw level with his opponent.  A truly hard fought battle, from two good fighters, more true grit and determination shown here by Oscar.

We now went to the extended time, basically a new bout to decide the winner, another epic battle.  Oscar was down 6 to 5, with 3 seconds left his determination shone through, he scored and levelled the points.  The decision of the Referee was that they should have another bout, with the first one to score to be declared the winner.  It was not to be Oscars win, but he won the applause of the spectators and plaudits from other instructors who were watching.  Oscar took some hard knocks, which might not have been scored in another event, but he battled on.  He did the club proud, well done to our three youngsters.

We had to wait for an hour or so before Ben, our next competitor took his place on the Tatami.  His first bout was in the Male Under 21 Lightweight (under 70kg) section.  Here you could see straight away that this was a competitor with experience and skill.  This event was to be his first in two years, so a certain amount of ring rust, was to be expected.  The skill however shone through.  Ben tried take downs and throws, completely outclassing his opponent.  He was fast and had terrific movement, his reverse punch was indeed very sharp. At times he reminded me of a former England fighter Paul Alderson, a body kick 2 points, a head kick another 3 and 3 more punches.  The final score 8-0.  His next fight went the same way, sweeps, throws, punches and kicks, all the skills of a top class fighter, the second bout and the final was again 8-0.  Gold for Ben and well deserved.

He was then competing in the over 21 section and Ben, again showed his skill.  His first fight was against a fighter who was very experienced and was expected to win this section (as he had done many times before).  This was a tactical fight, Ben tried a throw and took his opponent to the floor, but his wily older opponent held on.(this should have been penalised as holding and stopping your opponent from scoring).  The final score 2-0 to Ben.  The next fight was the final.  Ben was again to prove, that he was the better fighter.  He won in 58 seconds, 10-0.  At one stage scoring with a spinning turning hook kick, superb skill.

All in all it was a good day for our members and I look forward to being with them at their next outing.

Squad Manager Terry Robins

Professional photographer for the event – Alicia Photographics – www.aliciaphotographics.com