WORLD JSKA SHOTOKAN CHAMPIONSHIP

VELODROME, MANCHESTER.  2008

Squad

Paul Uren/Keith Williams/Lee Hollister/ Steve Axelson/Jack Hollister/Graham Rowley/ Shaun Egglinton/ Dave Galloway/Matt Powell/Ben Maher/ Mark Chapman/Rob Maynard/George Oliver/Sam Weaver/ Mike Grimwood/Scott Clements/Chris McMullen/Tracey Corby/Hannah Day.

Officials

Terry Oliver/Steve Hollister/Stacey Crowe

Results

Veterans male individual kata 45-54 - Shaun Egglinton-Gold (world champion)

Female individual kata 22-34-Hannah Day - Finalist

Male individual kata 16-17-Mike Grimwood-Silver

Male team kumite 35+ Graham Rowley/Lee Hollister/Shaun Egglinton-Gold (World champions)

Male team kumite 16-17 George Oliver/Mike Grimwood/Sam Weaver-Bronze

Male individual kumite 16-17-George Oliver-Silver

Male individual kumite 14-15  - Scott Clements - Gold (World Champion)

Events

The SEKU squad traveled to Manchester on Friday the 23^rd August to compete in the JSKA World championship being held at the velodrome in Manchester.  The venture was the largest and certainly the most prestigious event many of the group had embarked on to date.

After checking into our accommodation it was straight overt to the Velodrome to register competitors for the following day and familiarize with the surroundings.   With the registrations over, the squad took in the impressive velodrome arena and chatted to a few familiar faces from previous tournaments.  Sensei Dewey was also there to lend his support and encouragement. 

Saturday

After a relaxing evening it was now to business.  The squad arrived in good time to warm up and attend the formal opening ceremony.  Unfortunately this was delayed for almost 2 hours due to unforeseen circumstances.  Nevertheless, the event kicked off (no pun intended) with the presentation of officials, the competitors (800 no. from across the globe) and speeches from Sensei Abe and Sensei George Carruthers.  It was announced that Sensei Abe was awarded the rank of 9^th Dan.

The first events were the individual and team kata.  In the veterans 45-54yrs category shaun Egglinton cut a swathe through the proceedings with his usual sharp and concise techniques.  Shaun also had to contend with a few administrative hiccups (indeed, he had to perform additional Kata to his prescribed ones).  As things went, Shaun found himself in the finals where he performed a terrific Unsu kata with which he awarded the 1^st place gold medal.  SEKU’s first World champion of the event.  Clues here to other glory.

In the ladies event, Tracey Corby and Hannah Day unfortunately drawing each other in the early rounds with Hannah taking the decision.  Once again, she found herself in the finals which were to be held on the following day.

Paul Uren very unluckily found himself drawn against the current World champion.  Paul performed a terrific Tekki Shodan which under normal circumstances would have seen him progress.  Alas, it was not to be.  It is felt that Paul in this form would have proceeded to the final group in most high level competitions.

In the afternoon, it was the turn of the juniors.  This event was hotly contested, but undaunted, Mike Grimwood  from Saltash KC progressed to the finals to take silver.  By now the competition was running over time and the organizers decided to proceed with all further events on the following day.

Sunday

Again, the SEKU squad arrived in good time to prepare and get focused for the day ahead-and what a day it proved to be!

The veterans, men’s and boy’s 16/17 yrs team kumite ran concurrently on 3 separate areas which divided the coaches and squad support.  The SEKU men’s team were casting aside all before them with focused and no nonsense approach.  Additionally, the veterans were doing the same, proceeding to the finals being held in the evening.  The men’s event saw a lot of international high quality opposition and it was a creditable last 8 position for Keith, Dave and Matt (with Jason as reserve).  The boys, George, Sam and Mike performed admirably but lost to the eventual winning Belgian team.  Bronze for the boys. 

The day proceeded to now the most popularly entered event-individual kumite.  The numbers were such that however reached the final stages thoroughly deserved the ultimate prize.

The boys 16/17yr category was well managed by senior Japanese and European referees as it had to be.  The action was fast and furious and as a result of some heavy blows and experience opposition, Sam Weaver and Mike Grimwood saw their challenge falter midway through the pool groups.  George Oliver continued to thwart opponents until he found himself in the evening final where he met the strong Belgian captain.  Supported by the SEKU squad, the bout was a tense one with lots of action with the Belgian coming out the victor.  George came 2^nd and a Silver medal.

Scott Clements and Chris McMullen represented SEKU in the 14/15yr boy’s category.  Chris performed strongly and it is testament to his dedication that he now performs at this high level.  Unfortunately this was not his day.  Scott appeared to make short work of his opponents.  Even in the final against a fighter who had dispatched is opponents in a similar manner to Scott it was a quick bout with Scott becoming the World Champion in this category.

 Ben Mayer and Mark Chapmen found themselves against some tough opposition and battled well before going out in the final stages.

The men’s individual kumite saw many exiting fights in which members of the SEKU squad  were involved.  At this high level bouts are won and lost in an instant and again the men performed well before going out at the later qualifying stages.

Hannah Day performed well in the ladies Kata final eventually coming 4^th.  A good first world championship on which she’ll build on for the future.

Finally, the veteran men’s team kumite.  It seemed that the whole arena was focused on this event and it seemed to galvanize the team spirit of all the SEKU squad, not only Graham, Lee and Shaun.

All 3 men reached into their energy reserves to defeat their tough opposition and become World champions in this category.

This brief summary does not convey the team spirit and the achievement by all squad members in which many of them have stepped up to the higher levels and not found themselves out of their depth.  I can only attribute this to the strength in depth of SEKU and the hard work and dedication by club instructors and students alike.  I hope this provide motivation for more students to take the opportunity to attend open squad classes in the future.

Terry Oliver

Shobu Ippon 2008 Results

The squad had another great day on Saturday at the Shobu Ippon Shotokan Open; even with many of our elite competitors missing (Dave Galloway, Steve Hollister, Keith Williams, Graham Rowley and Scott Clements to name a few) the medal haul was still an improvement on last year! 

SEKU topped the medal table for the second year running.

· George Oliver retained the U16 Over 5ft kumite title he won last year, beating Sam Weaver in a tough final.

· Riccardo Catindig-Stagg won gold in the Junior brown belt Kata.

· Tracy Corby won yet another Gold in the Ladies Kumite (her third already this year) and Silver in the Ladies Kata (Sochin), as well as teaming up with two excellent Karateka from other associations to win Gold in the team Kumite.  Emma Robbins and Sinead Kennedy agreed to fight under the SEKU team name with Tracy, so a massive thank you to them.

· Shaun Eglinton retained the Men’s senior Kata title with an outstanding performance of Unsu in the final.

· Ben Maher won his second squad tournament in a row in the Youth’s category.

· And last but certainly not least, Matt Powell won Gold in the Men’s Kumite after coming though numerous tough rounds and beating a brilliant fighter in the final.  Matt was inspirational in guiding the Portsmouth team to Silver in the 3 man event and the SEKU team to Bronze in the 5 man team event.

Full results below:

Juniors:-

Youths:-

Men:-

Ladies:-

Total:  7 Gold’s, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze, 3 Fourth Places

SEKU members do us proud at the Legend!

It turned out to be another successful day for the SEKU Team Squad at the Legend Championships in Bracknell Saturday 23 February 2008.  New Squad members from Steve Hollister's Club fitted in and competed well for us Teams from Scotland, Ireland and Holland were also in attendance.

Results were as follows:

Special Mentions

Tracey Corby was Grand Champion winning both Ladies Black Belt Kata & Kumite as well as being a member of gold medal winning mixed team.

Lee Hollister in his first event in SEKU colours won Bronze in the Mens Black & Brown Belt Kumite.  He was also unbeaten in the 5 x Man Team Event which won Gold.

Ben Maher won his first event for SEKU in a very tough Cadet (16-20 yrs) Kumite category.

Scott Clements fought superbly to retain the Junior Kumite title he won last year.

Riccardo Catindig-Stagg won his first Squad Event in the Senior section, an excellent achievement, especially to beat last years champion - fellow SEKU member George Oliver in a tough final.

Joe Crowe showed excellent improvement in the Kumite by winning Gold - his first win for the SEKU Squad

Congratulations to all those involved - you did us proud!  Thanks also to Paul Uren for overseeing all competitors, and to the SEKU officials who took part they were - Brian Smith, Alan Lewis, Stacey Crowe, Terry Oliver, Paul Moreby and Sue O'Donnell (Hope we've not missed anyone but I'm sure you will let us know!). 

Spare a thought for Steve Hollister who sustained a nasty injury in the individual Kumite and as a result will have to undergo surgery to stabilize his eye socket - good luck Steve

Next Shobu-Ippon Championship Event - Saturday 10th May 2008 in Guildford.   BE THERE!

  SHOBU IPPON EVENT - GUILDFORD

SATURDAY 12th MAY 2007

  It was another tough long day for everyone involved, especially those traveling up and back from Plymouth in one day!  (I do not know how Shaun managed to stay awake driving home!)

Hannah Day, back on top form again by winning the kata event, and with Tracy Corby coming second, we dominated a tough event.  The men’s kata event was even more impressive, with numerous champions and a massive field of competitors; Shaun Eglinton and Dave Galloway managed to get through to the final two.  Shaun won with Unsu; and as we have come to expect, it was a fantastic performance.  Dave’s Kanku Sho was very high quality also and he has really stepped up to the top class in the men’s Kata after this excellent result.

  In the junior events, Riccardo Catindig-Stagg won gold in the over 5-foot 10^th – 3^rd kyu section, in his first event competing for the squad.  But the two outstanding juniors were George Oliver and Scott Clements, winning Gold and Silver respectively in the over 5 foot brown and black belt kumite.  Scott was up against it all day fighting numerous competitors who must have been almost a foot taller than him!  He was beaten up far beyond the rules should allow, but never lost control or etiquette once, and his spirit was a credit to him and the values instilled in every SEKU karate-ka.  George had an equally tough day, and fought through what seemed like a never-ending number of tough fights to reach the final.  His spirit and attitude was excellent also, and he thoroughly deserved his win, beating Scott in a high class final.  I believe that this was George’s fourth competition win in a row, a fantastic achievement.

  I must also mention Matthew Eglinton, who fought fantastically in the youth’s category, only to almost be knocked unconscious in two consecutive fights!  He was too injured to fight for the 3^rd/4^th fight off, so was unlucky to lose out on a medal.

  In the team kumite, the ladies continued their domination of the Shobu Ippon events winning Gold again beating two international teams in the ‘round-robin’ final.  The team was depleted due to two shocking injuries sustained in the individuals by Emma Williams and Lauren Beech, so Emma Robins kindly fought for SEKU and did us proud, helping Tracy Corby and Becca Cox to the victory.

  In the three club teams, Portsmouth ‘B’ led by Keith Williams won the Silver and Steve Hollister’s Plymouth team won Bronze, with Pompey ‘A’ gaining fourth.

  The last event of the day was the ‘prestige’ five-man team event.  The men have trained very hard for this one and came through with flying colours winning the gold.  The event was judged on the ‘first to three wins’ basis, so it was important to go for the victories, which the lads did fantastically.  They won three rounds, beating the FBSKUI team 3-0, and then winning a very tough battle with ASK 3-2, before beating Gakushuin in the final 3-0.  The team consisted of Steve Hollister (Plymouth), Dave Galloway (Portsmouth), Keith Williams (Portsmouth), Shaun Eglinton (Plymouth) and Matt ‘Poser’ Powell (Portchester).

  Overall, the results were: 6 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze.

  Lastly I’d like to mention that quite a few people turned up to support the SEKU team, including some parents of the junior members as well as members from Sensei Smith’s club.  This was very much appreciated by all of the squad.

  Paul Uren

Brilliant Results from the

LEGEND SHOBU-IPPON CHAMPIONSHIP

Juniors

SEKU Team travel to Slovakia

SEKU Team Members Hannah Day, Dave Galloway, Keith Williams, Matt Powell, John Shyne, Steve Hollister, Aarron Hill, Stacey Crowe Team Coach and Mick Dewey as Head of Delegation traveled to Trnava Slovakia 5th December.  Ths is a trip that the team make every year and as always were made extremely welcome.

Since last year our hosts have changed associations and we were forced to fight in the WKF rules which does not suit us at all.  All members fought well though and the nearest we got to a kumite trophy was Dave Galloway who fought his way to 4th place in his particular category.

Steve Hollister won the Senior Mens Kata and Keith Williams taking 3rd place in the same event.

Some SEKU Team members in Trnava Slovakia with Mick Dewey (Centre)

SEKU Team Squad to Gibraltar

A thirteen member party traveled to Gibraltar 4/5/6/7th November for a weekend of training in preparation for their trip to Slovakia in December.

Hosted by our good friend Frankie Hatton who now resides just across the border in Spain, he arranged for the team to train each day in the gymnasium on Devils Tower Camp.  Training had a mixture of traditional as well as more advanced aspects to it.  GBC Television camera's visited the gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, giving the squad a break from formal training and a chance to show what can be done with Kata and it's Bunkai, this was demonstrated by Hannah Day, Emma Williams and Karyn Galloway. Jyu Ippon was demonstrated by Keith Williams and Matt Powell with some full kumite by various team members leaving the television crew quite impressed.  Sensei Mick Dewey was then interviewed by the TV crew.  The following day Mick and Stacey Crowe accompanied Frankie to the studio of BFBS radio Gibraltar where he hosts his own show - 'The Frankie Factor' and conducted a further interview.

Among Frankie's many talents is that of tour guide and he arranged to take the members for a  tour of  the 'rock' and it's history including St Michael's cave and the siege tunnels leaving, them amazed at the wonderful sights Gibraltar has to offer. 

John Shyne & Karyn Galloway during training

Mick Dewey, Stacey Crowe & The Rock

Team Members outside the gymnasium at Devils Tower Camp before training       

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