WJKA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

HOLLAND 2010

 Travelling party: Sensei Mick Dewey/Terry Oliver/Alan Lewis/Chris Carr/Steve Hollister/Stacey Crowe/Matt Powell/Lee Wilkinson/Shaun Eglinton / Jason Hollister/George Oliver/Mike Grimwood/Sam Weaver/Becca Cox/Emily NutBeam/Rebecca Nutbeam/Elliott Smith/Brian Smith/Any & Julie Nutbeam.

 The Shotokan of England Karate Union squad, led by Sensei Mick Dewey and Terry Oliver, made an early start on the 1st July to travel to Deventer, Netherlands via road and ferry to compete in the WJKA European championships. (Much earlier for the south west contingent).

Arriving in Deventer, the group took a short walk into the beautiful town square for dinner and a general look around what will be our home for the next couple of days.

Day 2 - The weather generally throughout the trip was excellent with temperatures touching 38. Another reason to take on plenty of liquid refreshment. 

The party visited the historic town of Arnhem in the morning. First the famous Pegasus bridge and then the military cemetery at Oosterbeek. This proved to be an emotional and moving part of the day and one few in the group not forget for a while. 

The afternoon also turned out to a momentous occasion for another reason. The squad became part of the orange hordes that took over the town square for the Holland v Brazil world cup match. With Holland emerging as the winners, the celebrations were fantastic with the large fountain being the focal point. Some could not resist the temptation.

Team registration, referees/coaches briefing at the Tournament venue at Eerbeek was attended in the evening as was acquaintances with Sensei Jan Knobel and his colleagues of the WJKA.

Day 3 - Senseis Terry Oliver, Alan Lewis and Chris Carr officiated at the WJKA Kohai championship. The squad also attended the venue to familiarise themselves with the surroundings of what would be the location of many successes on the day to come.

In the afternoon the squad had a light training/stretching session in the local park. The weather as previously mentioned was glorious and therefore 'outside' training was the ideal preparation.

Day 4 - (Sensei Merv O'Donnell and Sue O'Donnell visited from their home elsewhere in Holland to support the Squad).

The running order for the day was to be Juniors AM-seniors PM. Elliott Smith (Lovedean) and Rebecca & Emily Nutbeam (Saltash) representing SEKU in this section.

In the 14-15 female kata category Rebecca and Emily faired exceptionally well to come 2nd and 3rd respectively. Elliott Smith did well on this his first event at this level and I'm sure will feature and similar events in the future.

In the kumite event Emily reached the finals where she emerged victorious against her Dutch opponent. (SEKU 1st European Champion)

In the veteran kata event Steve Hollister gave a demonstration of Unsu that his fellow competitiors will have to work hard to aspire too. Mr Hollister was in a class of his own to take 1st place and SEKU's 2nd European Champion.

George Oliver (Porstmouth), Sam Weaver (Lovedean) and Mike Grimwood (Saltash) represented SEKU in the cadet kata event Each excelling in the elimination rounds which were judges initially on heian kata and then brown belt kata. Sam was unlucky not to preceed through to the final with Mike and George.In the final George performed Kanku-sho and Mike, a great Gankaku. The result:-Mike 1st SEKU's 3rd European champion and George 2nd.

Senior men's kata saw Captain Matt Powell take bronze in the final after being edged out by two good kata performance by Belgian and Dutch opponents. Jason Hollister was unlucky not to make the finals with solid performances in the elimnations.

Becca Cox's first european event also proved fruitful with a 3rd place bronze medal for 'empi' in the kata and a silver medal in the kumite. This is a superb effort after a lay off from karate and only recently coming back to squad training.

The male cadet kumite event has become an event that identifies future senior champions and potentially SEKU has 3 stars of the future in Mike Grimwood, Sam Weaver and George Oliver. The elimination bouts were hotly contested and unfortunately Mike went out before the finals. The noteable technique in these stages was a lightning front foot mawashi geri from George for an Ippon. Through to the finals were Sam, competing for 3rd/4th place and George, competing for 1st/2nd. Sam's match was very close and while his opponent from Azerbaijan seemed to loose his concentration Sam secured the match with superb timing.

George faced a Belgian opponent in the final and another tight match with the decision given to the Belgian. (George- European silver medallist/Sam- European bronze medallist).

Mens Senior Individual kumite event saw Saltash's Lee Wilkinson in the finals after a blistering display in the elimination rounds. It would be fair to say that Lee was pretty much unstoppable on the day dispatching opponents with a comprehensive battery of techniques. The lions share of ippon scores went to Lee and I am certain that the other competitors will not underestimate this man's ability in future events. It should be mentioned that the leg catch and gyaku tsuki combination in the team final was voted technique of the day by the squad. Suffice to say, Lee defeated his Italian opponent in the final to become the senior European Kumite champion. (SEKU 4th European title).

Team kumite event-This could potentially have been a real Italian job with Italy 1 & 2 in the finals with SEKU but it came down to SEKU (England) v. Italy 1.

First man out, Captain Matt Powell. This bout was full of clashes with Matt securing the first point with a sharp kizami tsukionly to be equalled shortly after. ½ - ½

Second bout. Lee Wilkinson. I think the Italians had had enough of Lee by the end of this day as in total he had beaten 5 of them! As previously mentioned, the technique of the day sored an ippon after already having scored a wazari. ½ - ½ & 1.

The third man, Shaun Eglinton had the pressurised task of sealing the match.   Again, this was a match full of clashes but this time the decision went to Italy. The match was effectively drawn but the ippon score meant that the title of Mens European team champions went the England/SEKU. (SEKU 5th European title).

To summarise: This event/trip has had many facets and each person will take away their own memories- Arnhem/military cemetery/the welcoming and great Dutch people/great weather/football celebrations/ training in the park/socialising (Al Lewis on the spoons)/competition success.

To underline all of this: another great occasion for the Shotokan of England Karate Union.

Terry Oliver 5th Dan

Shotokan of England Team squad Manager

 

SEKU Squad Awards 

  Each year the Seku squad coaches give two awards, one for the Kata team and one for the Kumite team. These awards are aptly named Squad Karate-ka of the year,they are given based on attitude,improvement,attendance,results and all the things you'd expect to find in such a nominee. This years awards were both given to Saltash KC members and show the dedication these two have given to their Assosiation,Club and Squad throughout the year.

 Kata - Hannah Day 4th dan

Kumite - Mike Grimwood 2nd dan 

 

39th Portsmouth Open Championships

21/11/09

 Saltash KC members with their trophies on retuning from the tournament 

Results :

Mike Grimwood - 1st - 16-17yrs kumite

Ben Hobbs - 1st  - over 5ft junior kumite

Lee Wilkinson - 1st - international team kumite SEKU

Jason Hollister - 4th - mens dan grade kata

Nicole Higgins -2nd - junior sanbon kumite

Damien ,Harry and Brooke also performed well on the day.Thanks to parents and supporters who travelled for your support.

 

                                                  Mike,Lee and Jas with Sensei Steve at the comp

 

 

17th SKDUN Gichen Funakoshi Shotokan

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009

    On the 10th & 11th October 2009, the 17th SKDUN Gichen Funakoshi World Championships were helh in Eger, Hungary.

2009 saw a record 35 countries affiliated to the SKDUN and over 1000 competiors from 5 continents. There were 97 Judges and Referees and over 120 officials in attendance, helping to make it one of the most successful Championships to date.

  There where 58 categories ( 20 for kata and 38 for kumite )

 

  The Kata and Kumite events took place on the first day with Sensei Steve Hollister gaining Silver and Shaun Eglinton gaining bronze in the Veterens Kata .This was a very close finish with all 3 poium finishers performing the kata Unsu.

 

 

  All members of the Seku team gave outstanding performances especially the Seku 5 man team who quickly despatched the Hungarian team 3-0 then went on to face the strong Romanian team. Team captain Dave Galloway certainly woke them up beating the current Open Weight World Champion with ease .With the rest of the team giving their all this was our only win losing 3-1. The squad can now build on this for next years Championships to be held in France.

Seku Squad with Sensei Dewey

 
 
An early start again on 9/5/09 led to another great day at the Shobu Ippon Shotokan Open in Guilford for Saltash KC members as part of the SEKU Senior Squad.

 

  First event of the day for us was Team Kata with Sensei Hannah ,Mike and Jason as the SEKU "B" team. They performed the kata Ji'in and were rewarded with a well earned Gold with the SEKU "A" team gaining Silver .

  In the Youths Individual Kumite Mike Grimwood stepped up and definitely shook off the demons after the last comps visit to hospital and finished ,after some tough rounds, with a well deserved Silver.

  Sensei Hannah, in the Ladies Dan Grade Kata, once again was in a class of her own when reaching the finals giving an excellent performance of the kata Gojushiho Dai and taking Gold .This makes the second time Han has won this event in the last 3 years.

  In his first comp for a few years and only back training for a while Lee Wilkinson certainly showed he hadn't lost his touch. There was a big entry this year in the Mens Dan Grade Kumite and lee showed great spirit fighting through the rounds. Unfortunately due to a nasty cut sustained after a heavy mawashi the doctor stopped Lee's progress into the next round.This gave him fourth, not bad for first time under the SEKU banner.Lee was also a member of the 3 man  SEKU "A" team who won Silver losing in a close match with the Hasha team.

  This was a great day for us and for the whole SEKU team. A full list of  the Squad's achievement's can be found on the main SEKU website.

 
 

Seku Kata Squad Training and Open Squad Kumite 19/4/09

Hannah,Mike,Lee,Dylan ,Harry and Ben along with Sensei Steve traveled to Stanchester nr Yeovil for this months Open squad class.

 After the senior squad kata class finished ,taken by Sensei Crowe,there was an open kumite class. The purpose of these open classes is to give anyone within Seku the chance to train with the senior squad and develop thier kumite skills, and maybe with regular club training and commitment a stepping stone into the senior squad itself.

 

 

 SEKU National Championships 2009

  Saturday 4th April saw the annual Seku Championships with Saltash Karate Club having 8 members competing and Sensei Steve and Sensei Bill Hollister as referees.

  The first thing you noticed on arrival was the fantastic new trophies and banners. The Seku National Championship had a bit of a makeover this year but still with the positive attitude and spirit of last year but with the little extras that seemed to bring it alive.

  For some of our competitors this was their first Nationals and not to be fazed by this they stepped up and did us proud. Dominic in the peewee Kata manged to get through a couple of rounds as did Dylan in the junior Kata .Both did extremely well in their respective Kumite events .

Results : 

   Ben Hobbs -  3rd jnr sanbon kumite over 5ft.

                          3rd jnr kata

                          3rd jnr kumite over 5ft

    Harry Millar - 3rd sanbon kumite over5ft /3rd kyu & above

    Liam Bissett - 2nd  jnr kumite under 5ft

    Mike Grimwood - 3rd youths kumite (16-17 yrs)

    Lee Hollister - 1st Team kumite ( Porchester team )

    Hannah Day - 1st ladies dan grade kata

                            1st ladies team kumite (Portsmouth team )

                            2nd ladies dan grade kumite

  Star of the day had to go to Sensei Hannah not only winning the ladies kata ( this makes it 7 times now) but also coming 2nd in the ladies kumite and being part of the winning kumite team. Its not often that we see Hannah in kumite as kata is her preference but it just goes to show good fundamental karate technique comes out in any part of competition. 

  Thanks to Tracey ,Alistair, Mick and Debbie for their support throughout the day and for their videoing skills!!!

 Fantastic day and well done all. 

 SKI HOLLAND 20th Anniversary Tournament 22/3/09

 

SEKU SQUAD-SKI HOLLAND

  A smaller squad than usual left England's shores on the 21st March to compete in the 20th anniversary tournament in Hertogenbosch, Holland. Representatives included Jason Hollister, Lee Hollister and Mike Grimwood from Sensei Steve Hollister's Saltash club, Sam Weaver and George Oliver from Sensei Brian Smith's Lovedean dojo, Matt Powell from Sensei O'Donnell's Portchester club and finally Dave Galloway, Rob Maynard and Graham Rowley from the Honbu dojo. Sensei Mick Dewey and Terry Oliver led the group.

  For many of this group it was to be their first experience of European competition and one which hold them in good stead for the future. The team stayed in the beautiful village of Oisterwijk and were made to feel very welcome by all the locals that we met.

  Shortly after arrival the team had a light training/stretching session in a local park. This was as much to get tired muscles going but also to remind all of the purpose of the trip. Even though some thought that Mr Oliver was playing a prank! A nice evening meal and a relatively early night was to be ideal preparation for the long day ahead.

  On arrival at the sports centre we were to see some familiar faces such as the SKIF Ireland team and the Belgians. Sensei Ridolfo Biaggio conducted the opening ceremony with a the referee/judges and a line up of the represented countries.

  As is the norm, kata events started the day off. With regard to the events involving SEKU squad members, eliminations for the individual kata would be Heian for the junior/cadet with brown belt kata used for senior eliminations. This is now becoming usual for organiser of high level events as they expect international class competitors to be fully conversant with all primary kata. The cadets, George Oliver, Sam Weaver and Mike Grimwood progressed through 1-2 rounds but it seemed some organisational idiosyncracies denied them from progressing further. In the senior individual kata event Captain Dave Galloway was again denied a position in the finals for assumed similar reasons. (It does not follow that successful high level competitors who are regularly placed all fall foul of refereeing decisions. ED). Although it does not help when competitors perform their own version of standards Kata. Jack.

  Dave Galloway, George Oliver and Sam Weaver continued recent solid performances in the team kata but again very narrowly missing out on a podium place. It should be noted that the winning Italian team performed a faultless Unsu to take the title. A short break in the day was followed by an Aikido demonstration. Aikido, meaning the harmonious way, was in contrast to the fiercely contested kumite events to follow.

  As all kumite events involving squad members were occurring simultaneously it was difficult to support everyone but as usual, everybody not competing were there backing their team mate up.

  Weight categories applied to the seniors and divisions were made at -65kg, -75kg and +75kgs. To summarise our squads performance is to say that each member performed very well on a higher level than is normally encountered. In the 5 man team though, the team were very unfortunate not to have taken a podium place following much disciplined bouts against the home team.

  Special mention must be given to Matt Powell who was back to his usual bouncy self on the mat and to skipper Dave Galloway who led from the front as usual. It should be noted that these two gentlemen have fully taken on their roles as Captain and VC with the encouragement and support they give to the rest of the squad.

  Undoubtedly the performance of the day was that of Sam Weaver. Sam has worked very hard in squad training and at his dojo with little gain over recent events. But he truly demonstrated that he will be amongst the titles in the years to come. Sam fought very well in the early rounds seeing off some very tough opposition before eventually succumbing to the eventual winner of the event. Incidentally, the same fighter who defeated George Oliver in the early rounds. Sam, nevertheless, had to fight off for 3rd place. At this time the area was surrounded with SEKU team mates. After being drawn back level by his opponent Sam performed gyaku tsuki, kizami mawashi geri for ippon and the match! A fantastistic demonstration from a young man who will be considered tough opposition for anyone he meets on the mat.

Sam Weaver - Lovedean - Collects a well earnt trophy The Squad wanting Sam's lime light

  To finish, I would add that the event has been a learning curve for many of the travelling party but certainly, this group will take the lesson learnt and build upon them. THAT'S WHAT SEKU CHAMPIONS DO!

SEKU Squad with Friends in Holland

 

Sensei Dewey & Sensei Oliver rewarded for their efforts Sorry Sensei's but one trophy is everyones trophy

 

 

 Legends Open Karate Championships 2009

 

     The first competition of the year brought resounding success to the SHOTOKAN of ENGLAND KARATE UNION SQUAD. The coaching team have set a tall order for the squad members this year with six tournaments which include the European and World championship competitions to which the guys and girls have responded fantastically. SEKU Squad members from Saltash Karate Club members gave a good account of themselves notably Lee Hollister who fought his way through to the finals of the Senior Mens Kumite only losing to fellow squad member and squad captain Dave Galloway. Lee was also a member of the 5 man association team that also won Gold and the 3 man team that got Bronze.

  Jason Hollister ,in the 3 man team with Dave Galloway and Kayhan Sefat (Kanku Karate Club) fought their way through to a well earned Silver.

  Spare a thought for Mike Grimwood who took a nasty kick to the head during one of his bouts. (After Yame)! Mike had to go to hospital to get checked out but was ok only to return to a round of applause from the whole arena which just goes to show the great atmosphere and camaraderie amongst all karate-ka in attendance .

  

 

 

38th Portsmouth Open Karate Competition

  Saturday 15th November saw the 38th Portsmouth Open and 7 members of  the club along with Sensei Steve attended. For Liam , Dillon and Ben this was their first competition but that didn't put them off and all showed great spirit and gave a good account of themselves in both kata and kumite.Well done must go to Ben Hobbs for coming 3rd in Junior Sanbon kumite.

  Mike and Jason in the mens dan grade kata, performed  with good solid kata progressing through several rounds until eventually losing out . Djamal ,also in this event,performed well even beating a World Champion on his way to the final and eventually coming 3rd .This was a great result especially being only 16yrs old in the mens category

  In the youths kumite events, again Mike and Djamal gave good solid performances and only losing out to the two finalists with Djamal going on to secure another 3rd place.

  In the ladies dan grade kata Hannah gave another winning performance and showed again why she is Seku's premier ladies kata competitor with a great display of the kata Gojushiho-Dai. This win follows on from the JSKA World Championships where Hannah finished 4th.Since 2002 Hannah has won the Portsmouth Open 6 times as well as 6 times the Seku National Championships and to keep this run of form requires a lot of hard work and dedication.Well done.

Results:

Sensei Hannah Day - 1st Ladies Dan Grade Kata   

Djamal Hamid - 3rd Mens Dan Grade Kata

                 3rd 16-17 yrs Kumite

Ben Hobbs - 3rd Junior Sanbon Kumite

Thanks to Mick and Debbie Hobbs for providing support and transport for some of the team.

JSKA World Team Champions + 35 yrs

Shaun , Lee , Graham

Congratulations to the SEKU mens team on their fantastic win at the recent JSKA World Championships last weekend at the Manchester Velodrome.

    Well done also to Mike Grimwood who gave a brilliant display of Kata by getting Silver in the 16 - 17 yrs Kata,and Bronze as a member of the SEKU 16-17 yrs team

Sensei Hannah Day must also get a mention for being a finalist in the ladies Kata . Hannah,as the only english competitor in the final gave a solid performance of the kata Gojushiho Dai and just missed out on a medal by coming 4th.

WELL DONE ALL

Members of Saltash Karate Club at the Championships

Lee    Steve    Hannah    Jason    Mike    Mark