48th KUGB National Championships - 3rd May 2014

On Saturday the 3rd May competitors from all over the UK and Ireland traveled to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham to compete at the KUGB's prestigious 48th National Championships.

The Competition is open to all grades and along with large numbers of students entering for the first time, there were many highly experienced Karateka, including International competitors from the KUGB National Squads and USKF Ireland.

The eliminations started promptly at 10am and right from the start the standard of karate was extremely high on all 12 areas. Every match was fiercely contested as competitors aspired to reach the finals.

Once the eliminations were finished, there was a short break which allowed not only the finalists to recharge their batteries, but also the Referees and Judges to get a respite from their very demanding schedule.

The finals started with the National Anthem followed by a presentation of Sensei Sherry, the KUGB's Chief Instructor and Chairman, and the members of the KUGB Technical Committee. Sensei Sherry then took time to meet and individually present certificates to those long standing members who had reached the following milestones in their KUGB Karate careers.

20 years

Asif Alvi - Rossendale
Kevin Berry - Tiverton
Roy Chapman - Red Triangle
Tim Griffiths - Backwell
Peter Jeffrey - Red Triangle
Derek Johnson - Rothwell
Jeffrey Jones - Rossendale
Kerry Lee - South Notts
Steve McCormick - Formby
Andrew McIntosh - Newcastle Sendai
James McKee - Red Triangle
Philip Prout - Penwortham
Derek Satchwell- The Dale
Neil Rowley - Ivybridge
Ziggy Siseman - Tsutahashi
Stephen Smith - Red Triangle
John Weir - Sei Do Kan
Paul Wright - Trent

30 years

Roger Berefsord - Chesterfield
Otto Blank - Ataru
Sandra Calder - Newcastle Sendai
Paul Dowell - Ronin
Kate Hurd - Brixham
John McCormick - Red Triangle
Thomas McGoldrick - Aaisatsu
Kevin White - Barnstaple

40 years

Paul Archer - Tamworth
Peter Atkins - Dartmouth
Gary Blundell - Aaisatsu
Wendy Goodbarn - Mitsubachi
Ian Garside - Rossendale
Bryan Gideon - Backwell
George Hardy - North Shields
Peter Heal - Stoke by Nayland
Tim O'Rourke - Manchester Academy
Russell Owen - Rhyl & Prestatyn
Richard Poole - Cambridge
Frank Teal - Midsomer Norton

Sensei Sherry then made two special presentations to the following Charities: First £6660.00 was awarded to Christine Spencer on behalf of the Hereditary Multiple Exostoses support group and second £3500.00 to Consultant Rob Freeman on behalf of the Childrens Orthopeadic Charity based in Oswestry.

This year there was a special presentation by Sensei Sherry, on behalf of the KUGB, who awarded the grade of 8th Dan to both Sensei Bob Rhodes and Sensei Billy Higgins. This is a tremendous achievement by these two Karate Masters recognizing their technical expertise and dedication to Karate and the KUGB.

The finals began with a demonstration by World Senior Kata Champion, Hisham Saif, European Senior Individual Kata Champion, Jack Somers and Stuart Amos, European Junior Team Kata Champion. The three performed a demonstration of the application of kata Gankaku. Hisham's technique and control was superb, particularly his yoko geri keage to his opponent's jaw.

The demonstration got the crowd enthused and set the scene for the Finals. They began with the Children's Kata and Kumite events. In every final the talent on display was excellent. Midway through the finals John Bruce, Sam Light and Martin Fraser of Sendai Kushiro performed a self defence demonstration showing how dynamic karate is with kicks, throws and strikes, including a spectacular jodan flying kick.

The finals saw outstanding performances in all categories and everyone witnessed the depth and strength of the KUGB. In the Senior events the following retained their titles; Holly Sterling in the Senior Female Kata, Hisham Saif in the Senior Male Kata, Joe Rawcliffe in the Senior Men's Kumite, Rebecca Rawcliffe in the Junior Ladies Kumite and in the Team Kumite events, for the fifth year in succession, both the male and female teams from Halewood took the titles. A fantastic achievement.

The KUGB has 3 perpetual memorial trophies presented at the National Championships. These trophies are in memory of three Sensei's that helped form and build the KUGB into the largest single style Karate organization in the UK. This year they were presented as follows:

The Sensei Charles Naylor Trophy for most outstanding competitor under 16 years was presented to Niamh Duddridge of Ashington NKA.

The Derek Langham Trophy for most outstanding competitor 16-20 years was presented to Cameron Graham of Kirkby.

The Sensei Enoeda Trophy for most outstanding competitor Over 21 years was presented to Cristina Finta of Manchester University.

Sensei Sherry was delighted that this year's National Championship was again a huge success with an increase in participation. He was particularly pleased with the strong, spirited attitude and high technical standard of Karate from everyone who competed. He would like to congratulate all of the competitors and also thank the spectators, officials, volunteers, sponsors, medical teams and the staff of the NIA who, together, make this Championship such a prestigious and exciting event.

 

KUGB National Championships 2014 Results

Male Team Kumite

1st Halewood
2nd Leeds Shotokan A
3rd Leeds Shotokan B
3rd Cambridge University

Senior Male Individual Kumite

1st Joe Rawcliffe - Halewood
2nd Jon McGorian - Halewood
3rd James McGorian - Halewood
3rd Ryan Tucker - Leeds Shotokan

Male Individual Kata

1st Hisham Saif - Al Ghazali
2nd Jack Somers - Ipswich Higashi
3rd Lloyd Birt - Tekki RS
4th Stuart Amos - Red Triangle

Ladies Team Kumite

1st Halewood
2nd Manchester University
3rd Warwick
3rd Kirkby

Senior Ladies Individual Kumite

1st Cristina Finta - Manchester University
2nd Caroline McGrath - Ronin
3rd Kirstie James - Merthyr Tydfil
3rd Rhianne Blundell - Halewood

Ladies Individual Kata

1st Holly Sterling - Sendai Kushiro
2nd Cristina Finta - Manchester University
3rd Meleri Pryse - Ikkyo Aberystwyth
4th Jemma Mitcham - Shoeburyness

Adult Team Kata

1st Sendai Kushiro
2nd Backwell A
3rd Tamworth
4th South Notts

Junior Male Kumite 18 to 20yrs

1st Cameron Graham - Kirkby
2nd Fraser Grice - Leeds Shotokan
3rd Andrew Lennie - Dunfermline
3rd Jordan Cleaver - Merthyr Tydfil

Junior Ladies Kumite 16 to 20yrs

1st Rebecca Rawcliffe - Halewood
2nd Beth Nicholson - Sendai Kushiro
3rd Nicole Donoghue - St Helens
3rd Rebecca Morrison - Kirkby

Junior Male Individual Kumite 16 and 17yrs

1st Ethan Armstrong - Leeds Shotokan
2nd Connor Wilson - St Johns
3rd Ryan Kahl - Merthyr Tydfil
3rd Joseph McLean - Malvern

Boys Kumite 5'5" and over

1st Charlie Cuddy - Leeds Shotokan
2nd James Humphries - Leeds Shotokan
3rd Alex Cunningham - West Kirby
3rd Conal Dewar - Dunfermline

Girls Kumite 5'3" and over

1st Carly Lewis - Merthyr Tydfil
2nd Emily Hughes - Malvern
3rd Lauren Livingstone - Bargoed
3rd Aimee Guy - Malvern

Boys Kumite 5' to 5'5"

1st Jamie Allen - Sendai Kushiuro
2nd Louie Cummings - Ashington NKA
3rd Adam Doran - Kirkby
3rd Cory Donoghue - Merthyr Tydfil

Girls Kumite under 5'3"

1st Niamh Duddridge - Ashington NKA
2nd Gemma Gibson - Ashington NKA
3rd Eliana Rooks - Sendai Kushiro
3rd Lucy McDonald - Malvern

Boys Kumite under 5'

1st Kevin Diamond - Zanshin NI
2nd Alex Cockx - Hale
3rd Ilyas Ahmed - Al Ghazali
3rd Abdulrahman Saif - Al Ghazali

Boys Kumite 10 and 11yrs

1st Dylan McCloskey - Zanshin NI
2nd Kennedy Lambourne - Rising Sun Academy
3rd Jack O'Neill - Malvern
3rd Bradley Barker - Kirby

Girls Kumite 10 and 11yrs

1st Carly Pringle - York Elite
2nd Bronya Burnikell - Sendai Kushiro
3rd Laura Diamond - Zanshin NI
3rd Mia Hillsden - Chelmsford

Childrens Ippon Kumite

1st Alexander Lockett - Chelmsford
2nd Ryan Attewell - South Notts
3rd Roy Foysal - USKFI
3rd Owen Dunkley - York Elite

Childrens Team Kata

1st Sendai Kushiro A
2nd Chelmsford A
3rd USKF Ireland
4th Ashington NKA

Childrens Black Belt Kata

1st Rachel Edwards - Porthcawl
2nd Jess Palmer - Tekki RS
3rd Mia Hillsden - Chelmsford
4th Abdulrahman Saif - Al Ghazali

Childrens Kyu Grade Kata

1st Daniel Hudson - Tamworth
2nd Karl Rennicks - USKFI
3rd Edward Pollard - Aaisatsu
4th Erin Davies - Tekki RS

Sensei's Higgins and Rhodes awarded 8th Dan

Hisham Saif, Stuart Amos and Jack Somers demonstrate Bunkai to Kata Gankaku

Niamh Duddridge Awarded the Charles Naylor memorial trophy for most outstanding child competitor

Cameron Graham awarded the Derek Langham memorial trophy for the most outstanding junior competitor

Cristina Finta awarded the Sensei Enoeda Trophy for the most outstanding senior competitor

John Bruce performs Yoko Tobi Geri in his demonstration with Martin Frazer and Sam Light