British Wadokai News
A note about competition entries for BWK students
All British Wadokai Members who compete in organised National/International events, must only compete in sanctioned events run by either British Wadokai, Wadokai England, English Karate Federation and the World Karate Federation (you will be in breach of your licence and membership if you compete in events outside of the aforementioned Governing Bodies).
Wado Course Disaster!
Following the ‘disaster’ at the last Wado Standardisation Course at Pomphlett Dojo, it has now been
decided to conduct the majority of future Wado Standardisation Courses at Horsham, Sussex. Just
two students attended the Part 2 Course, at Pomphlett Dojo on the 28th June, these were Nick Fowle
2nd Dan and Darran Queenan 1st Kyu.
The response signals a lack in enthusiasm in Wadokai Southwest membership
to attend ‘extra’ training sessions outside that of the normal Dojo environment,
and subsequently will be reflected in their future grade scores.
12 students attended the Southern Course the following day at the Horsham Dojo.
However, even this number was not ‘brilliant’, to say the least. Again, can students
keep up standards if they refuse to attend these invaluable courses?
As all BWK members know, for Yudan Shinsa, a Black-belt will lose 10% of his mark
by not having a consistent Dojo to train in. Additionally, he would also lose a further
5% by being unable to produce proof of his Standardisation Course training history. So
by not attending these courses many students
may find their percentage marks deficient before
they even attend the Grading.
Gyo Event
The British Wadokai Kata Championships, to be held in November, will now include a Gyo Event. This
event is open to all pairs. Stipulation of the rules follows that of the conditions reflected within Yudan
Shinsa requirements. Gyo must be balanced between participants (equal amount of activity), possess no
‘props’ (weapons, aids, etc.), and last no less that 60 seconds. For further information, please refer to application
form.
Congratulations Mick Rapley 6th Dan
On the 12th of July 2008 Sensei Mick Rapley was presented his 6th Dan by the Chief Instructor
of British Wadokai, Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi, at the British Wadokai Budo Course.
Sensei Mick Rapley has been training in Wado-ryu since the 1960’s and was the inspiration
to many of the UKKF/UKKW Southern membership within Surrey and Hampshire from that
time.
He was one of the first ‘home-grown’ Wado-ka to be awarded Black-belt by Tatsuo Suzuki
Hanshi, and he has retained
the traditions
and teachings as laid
down by the first Wado
Instructors, which included
Tatsuo Suzuki
Hanshi, to land on our
shores from Japan.
British Wadokai are
very fortunate to have
such an asset to the
ranks and it was a welldeserved
award to
highlight this iconic and
momentous occasion.
As far as British
Wadokai are concerned we are proud to have Sensei
Mick Rapley still with us guiding our future and
retaining our historic traditional Wado-ryu values
and treasures.
Plymstock School of Karate Closes
The Plymstock School of Karate, run by Zoë Swift (4th Dan) Tashi, has closed it’s
doors for the last time. On June the 4th, Sensei Zoë Swift 4th Dan announced
that the Karate Club, which has been operating since 2004, has to close due to
personal reasons.
However, the Kyokai Karate Club, run by Gary E Swift (7th Dan)
Kyoshi, has decided to bring the minimum age down from 14 years to 11 years to
help cater for the ‘keener’ junior students wishing to continue their Karate training.
The Kyokai Karate Club runs a disciplined club, and it is hoped
that many of the more serious students, who have been displaced
due to the closure, will find a home at Kyokai.
For those interested in training at the Kyokai Karate Club you will find
the Dojo situated at the Pomphlett Methodist Centre, Pomphlett
Gardens, Plymstock, Devon. PL9 7BL. Training sessions are on
Tuesday at 7pm (sharp) to 8.30pm.
British Wadokai Karate Demonstration
The Wado-ryu Karate Demonstration, held at HMS Drake in Plymouth, Devon, on the 15th June
2008 went very well.
Those in attendance included (in no particular
order);
Demonstration Team:
- Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi
- Zoë Swift (4th Dan) Tashi
- Graham Chuck (6th Dan) Renshi
- Paul Hammond 4th Dan
- Mark Flynn 1st Dan
- Luke Stinchcombe 1st Dan
- Connor Chatfield 1st Kyu
- Fallon Rayman 1st Kyu
- Tom Green 1st Kyu
- Adel Gibson 1st Kyu
- Ryan Maffey 3rd Kyu
- Trevor Wicket 5th Kyu
- Lily Swift 9th Kyu
Everyone present put their heart & soul
into their demonstration pieces, and I was very proud of
everyone there. A special mention also to Liz Legg for
her hard work, especially on her Japanese pronunciations,
on the PA system.
I would like to thank
all those who took
part - It was most
appreciated. I would
also like to thank
those
members of
the Kenkyukai Wadoryu
Karate-do, in
their invaluable support
to this event.
Gary E Swift (7th
Dan) Kyoshi.
The Dynamic Duo!
On the 8th June 2008 Sensei’s Mick Rapley
5th Dan, Paul Elliott 6th Dan, and
Gary Swift 7th Dan judged the proceedings
at the SEMKA Yudan Shinsa held at
Horsham in Sussex.
Kelly Johnson
proudly went home with her 2nd Dan and
her dad, Lloyd Johnson, went home with
his 3rd Dan.
Pass marks are as follows:
Kelly Johnson 2nd Dan 83.56%, Lloyd
Johnson 3rd Dan 82.26%.
It must also be
noted that Lloyd is still recovering from a
hip-replacement operation, so this challenge
was ‘very’ challenging, to say the
least!
Congratulations from the British Wadokai
Karate-do
3 Medals at E.K.F. Southern Regional Karate Championship
Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham hosted the 2nd E.K.F. Southern Regional Championships on Sunday 25th May 2008.
The turnout was disappointing but to be expected as the event was held midway through the Bank Holiday and half term. Nevertheless Fallon Rayman and Connor Chatfield both attended.
Read the full report here
British Wadokai Restructures Squad Affairs
Due to the geographical implications regarding Squad Affairs within British Wadokai,
and the necessity in attempting to bring students to the necessary levels, each club
will be responsible for their own Coaching Programme for their athletes.
For example, British Wadokai Kyokai will be running Kata & Kumite sessions independently
as from this year.
Attempting to bring all the members under one roof has proved to be both costly and,
in many aspects, impractical.
Clubs wishing to send competitors into the tournament circuit may enter their own students
under the British Wadokai banner by simply 'pre-fixing' and stating on the application
forms: British Wadokai Kyokai, British Wadokai Plymstock, British Wadokai
Cranleigh, etc.
With these new implementations it is hoped that this will help many instructors and
coaches with the flexibility that they need for the preparations and involvement in future
events.
Another New Club Joins British Wadokai
Hazlegrove House Karate-do, of the Hazlegrove House School in Sparkford, Somerset, has just joined British Wadokai in April.
The Club
is run by resident sports teacher, Peter Fawbert, and has just started
operation in January of this year. However, in its short life it has already
produced many students who have moved to the first step of
their karate careers. We shall obviously keep everyone aware and up
to date of the progress of the club within the Wado News!
Welcome to British Wadokai!
Three New Brown Belts for Kyokai Karate Club
Recent promotions for Kyokai Karate Club include Jodie Robathan 3rd Kyu, Sam
Robathan 3rd Kyu and Ryan Maffey 3rd Kyu. The standard
was very high, and well over the above-average
marks required for their grades. The next generation of
students have a lot of pressure to beat their scores.
However, they are not resting on their laurels as their instructor,
Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi, has some very
devious revision for them to do in order to prepare them
for the challenging Black-belt written examination, as
well as for their 2nd & 1st Kyu preparations.
On behalf of the British Wadokai — Well Done to all
three of you!
Connor Chatfield Sport Celebrity! (belated report)
The Bright Christmas awards are held every year, with last year’s being held on the 7th December 2007. They are in partnership with the mid Sussex times. There are 15 awards, ranging from charity of the year, business of the year etc.
If you watch Gordon Ramsey, the restaurant of the year was The Priory which was on the TV a couple of weeks ago. Well there was an award for "Sports star of the year", so we entered Connor for it. Last year’s winner was into motor sport and she was the European Champion and had competed in the Dakar rally.
We had a call in the beginning of November to say that Connor was in the final 3 for the award. We entered Connor
primarily for his achievements this year in karate. Though he also plays rugby for
Hayward's Heath who are Sussex Champions at his age group. He also plays
cricket for Burgess Hill St Andrews. For his school Oakmeeds Community College,
he has represented the school at rugby, cricket and athletics. Last year he was
close to breaking the schools year seven record in running 100m in 13.1 seconds
just missing out on the record of 12.9. He has just broken the school record for
year 9 in weightlifting, although he is still in year 8.
Basically he loves sport, luckily it is not affecting his school work. So to the night of the awards, which there was a power cut at, Connor won the award and was asked to say what he thought of one of the presenters karate. In typical cheeky fashion as reported in the paper he replied "pretty rubbish". He was over the moon, but very nervous as there were over 250 people at the awards dinner.
I thought it was great for karate,
and all of the people who have helped Connor in sport over the past few
years. We all certainly appreciate everyone's help.
Russell Chatfield (Dad).
Medals in Lambeth
RSA Lambeth Open Karate
Renshinkai Southern Academy (RSA) hosted the 7th Lambeth Karate Open Tournament (LKOT) on Sunday 04th May 2008 at the Brixton Recreation Centre.
The dynamic duo of Fallon Rayman and Connor Chatfield headed off to compete.
Fallon was entered into four different categories and the day saw her compete on every mat and visit A&E!
Kata was first, Tatami 1. In a competition dominated by Shito Ryu and Shotokan Fallon knew medalling in kata was always going to be hard. To say it was a large group would be an understatement. There must have been between 40 and 50 competitors. The category was mixed, 10 – 15 yrs and 2nd kyu and over which explains the size of the round! Fallon could see that Rachel Newey and Jack Newey of Khalsa Karate were both in her category and with Rachel medalling at the EKF National Championships she pretty much figured out that if the judging went as expected then Rachel would win it by a mile and deservedly so. Therefore, Fallon chose to use the event as a platform to showcase her Wado Kata.
The kata was judged on points and the scores were high. Midway through the first round the group was split in half and it was decided to run the event on two areas and take the four highest scoring kata from each mat through to the final. Off to Tatami 2! She chose to perform Suparimpei and her scores totaling 21.9 were enough to leave her in the lead for a long time. However, Rachel was still to compete as were many others. The round finished with Fallon just nudged into 5th position on her mat by .3 of a point. Unfortunately, her score was not enough to take her into the final even though it was higher than the scores from two competitors from Mat 1 who did make it through. Hey Ho, it’s a toughie, higher scores but different judges so hard to really make a judgment. As expected the day belonged to Rachel who added another gold to her growing collection.
Kumite next, Tatami 3. This time is was Fallon who stormed her way to Gold looking every inch the Champion. Harry Cannon, Khalsa Karate, kindly coached her to victory and deserves much of the credit. Harry has competed for England on the EKF National Squad and gave Fallon many tips which she made full use of during her bouts. Fallon fought outstandingly in a very tough category, girls 10 – 15 yrs, open grade, under 40 kgs. Fallon weighs 28.4 kgs and is only a 1st kyu so she did exceptionally well.
Next was more kumite, Tatami 4. Girls, 10 – 15 yrs, open grade, under 45 kgs – could she do it again? Not quite but very nearly! She stormed into action, again with Harry in her corner, and did her best but it wasn’t quite enough. She ended the event in 4th position after taking some heavy blows. The girls were all taller, stronger and really meant business. In hindsight it was probably too much to ask of her but she gave it her all. To finish 4th in this event took real courage and determination. The referees were scoring the hard contact techniques and she came off the mat with a black eye and her arm hanging to one side. She refused point blank to have medical attention in case that prevented her from competing in her final category the pairs kata event.
Fallon has been practicing very hard with her grading partner, Connor Chatfield, and they both stood a really high chance of medalling and were very much looking forward to the event. Fallon soldiered on despite the pain but in the end the event was cancelled due to lack of time.
Fallon ended the day in A&E having her arm Xrayed luckily it was just badly bruised. It is good to see her back on top form and looking good for the Commonwealth Karate Championships in Scotland at the end of the month.
Connor was also entered into four events. The pairs kata was cancelled, which was unfortunate, but that still left three events for him to contend with.
His Kata event was first, Tatami 1. The category was mixed, 10 – 15 yrs and 2nd kyu and over which saw him pitted against Rachel, Jack and Fallon. He chose to perform Unsu, a Shotokan Kata, and his score of 21.8 was enough to make the final cut on Mat 1 and take him into the final. Connor performed Wanshu but as expected the other more experienced competitors pushed ahead and Connor was not in a medalling position when the event ended.
Connor now had a bit of juggling to do. His two kumite events were called simultaneously and he had to compete on Tatami 2 & 3 at the same time. Quite some feat!
Connor competed in both the Male 10 yrs to 15 yrs, any grade, under 45kgs and also the Male 10 yrs to 15 yrs, any grade, under 50 kgs
It must be noted that this is Connor’s first season on the competition circuit and he has only recently begun to compete in the kumite events and was yet to medal.
Connor has also only recently graded to 1st kyu and so the odds were really stacked against him.
Suprisingly it was the lower weight category that gave him the most trouble.
First round of the lower weight group saw Connor take a kick to the groin that knocked him for six but he battled back and somehow scrapped through into the next round. Buoyed by this victory he transferred tatami's to compete in the heavier weight category where he stormed his way to Bronze. His first kumite trophy and very well deserved. Just enough time to collect his trophy then back to compete in four more rounds of the lower weight group. Connor picked up a punch to the face and a kick to the head and yet he bravely battled his way through to take his second bronze of the day. It was great to see Connor finally begin to reap the rewards for his kumite as well as his kata.
The end of every competition sees Connor’s confidence grow and I am sure the elusive kumite gold cannot be very far away.
From my perspective it is great to be a part of watching these two kids grow in confidence and ability and never more so than now when karate looks like being back in the running for the London Olympics in 2012. Watch this space!
Promotions within Kyokai Karate Club
Connor Chatfield received his 1st Kyu Certificate
from Chief Instructor, Gary E Swift (7th Dan) Kyoshi,
of the British Wadokai Karate Federation.
Connor, a resident of the Horsham DKW under the direction of Gordon Hoare 5th Dan, travelled to Plymouth in Devon and received his promotion after his grading at the Kyokai Karate Club (Plymstock, Plymouth, Devon) on the 15th April 2008.
Connor not only excels at traditional Wado Karate,
but has also had many achievements and awards
from the competition circuit. Like his gradingpartner,
Fallon Rayman, who also passed her 1st
Kyu with flying colours the month previous, we all feel at British Wadokai that Connor and Fallon are
very much an asset due to their abilities to perform
extremely well as ‘all-rounders’.
Congratulations & well deserved!
Gary Swift 7th Dan Kyoshi
Promotions within Mushin Karate Club
Mushin Karate Club Kyu Gradings on the 25/04/08 resulted in the following promotions: Ryan Pruce 9th Kyu, Thomas Lee 8th Kyu, Chloe Lorenzo 6th Kyu, Kieran Sampson 4th Kyu, Jamie Dimelow 3rd Kyu. Examiner Ian Riley 2nd Dan.
Wadokai England Present a Training Course with Ticky Donovan O.B.E. 8th Dan
20th July 2008 Training Session / Course with Ticky Donovan O.B.E. 8th Dan
Wadokai England have organised a special kumite training course with Ticky Donovan O.B.E. 8th Dan. This course will be 'open to all' EKF Members. It will also be open to karateka of any age and grade as WAdokai England Squad Coaches, Winston Williams 5th Dan and Stennett Harvey 4th Dan will be on hand to assist the younger students or those of a lower grade.
For WKE Squad member's this course will count as one stamp towards the amount of training sessions needed to be eligible for selections.
Wolverhampton Sports Arenas
Racecourse Road Industrial Estate
Racecourse Road
Wolverhampton
WV60QU
Tel 01902 420827
www.wolverhamptonsportsarenas.co.uk
The venue is booked from 11:30 - 3:00
The price for this course will be £15:00 for Juniors and £20:00 for Seniors (16+)
The training session will begin promptly at 12 and run for one and a half hours, a half hour break and then resume for another hour. The session will be held as one group. The doors will be open from 11:30 for registration and for the students to warm up ready for a prompt 12:00 start.
Ticky is the current England National Squad Director and is renowned as the 'Worlds Most Successful Coach'. Often heard to say "make it happen". Ticky is also the Chief Instructor and Founder of Ishinryu Karate
3 times British Champion
British, European and World Team Champion
British Team Manager / Coach – World Champions Taipei 1982, Holland 1984, Australia 1986,
Cairo 1988, Mexico 1990
Ticky was an appointed delegate on the interim Board of the English Karate Federation (National Governing Body of Karate) 2007/08.
He is also an appointed delegate on the Board of the English Karate Federation (National Governing Body of Karate) 2008/09.
This course will be invaluable for all students that are interested in improving their kumite but will also provide an excellent training opportunity for traditionalists and even kata students.
Any queries please contact Liz Legg, Wadokai England Squad Co Ordinator
Email: admin@wadokai.co.uk
Tel: 01483 527973
Success in Scotland
Fallon Rayman and Connor Chatfield competed in the 4th Scottish International Open Karate Championships which were held at Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh on the 19th and 20th of April 2008.
Countries in attendance were England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, Latvia and Lithuania.
Fallon was up first with her kata event which was run under WKF flagged rules. She was also one of the first to compete and she performed Jion kata which took her storm through to the second round 3 : 0. Although repeating the kata was allowed Fallon was careful not to repeat the mistakes of the Europeans where she performed two kata against her opponents three and that mistake cost her the Championship title. Therefore, she decided to do a different kata each round and so she chose Wanshu for the second round and went through 2 : 1. By now the standard was exceptionally high but another faultless Kata took her through into the semi's 3 : 0. This pitted her against a very strong Latvian competitor. Fallon tried her best but lost out 0 : 3 but was happy to settle for the Bronze. The top three in this category were the best from the rounds and their skills shone. Fallon could have beaten the girl that took the silver but lost out in the draw. It happens.
Next was kumite. Fallon stormed through the earlier rounds with some of the best kumite that I have seen her execute. She was clearly back on form and it showed. She had a one minute rest before the final and just narrowly lost out to the Scottish Champion. However, Fallon has been ill recently and so her fitness was impaired. Running up and down Arthur's Seat the day before like a loon probably didn't help much either!
Connor had rather a wait before he competed in his kumite and just lost out in one of the earlier rounds when a head kick was disallowed due to very slight contact.
Both Fallon and Connor really shone over the weekend and really enjoyed the competition which was very well organised and interesting to take part in.
Congratulations Jim!
Our friend and Instructor, Jim Taylor, has recently graded to 4th Dan. Everyone at BWK would like to congratulate him and wish him all the best as he continues on his karate path. Well done Jim!
Wadokai England Squad Training Session
Sunday 9th March was the first Wadokai England Squad Training Session held in Wolverhampton.
Fallon Rayman and Connor Chatfield both trained in the kumite at the session because they continually receive excellent kata training from Sensei Swift 7th Dan.
The fight off's unfortunately found them paired against each other. Fallon has the measure of Connor at the moment and won the bout 4 - 1 with two 'over the tops' and one nihon although Connor executed a perfectly timed gyak.
The next bout was 'first touch wins' and Fallon was pitted against a young male adult Dan grade. She wasted no time in scoring against him too avoiding press ups for the losing team. Connor recover well from his earlier bout with Fallon, notched his kumite up a level and took the first point during his match.
Winston Williams, WKE Squad Coach, is extremely pleased with the progress that Fallon has made and with two bronzes under her belt already this year things are looking good for this season's circuit. Connor is relatively new to the squad and at the moment he is doing very well.
United Kingdom Karate Open
Connor Chatfield, Fallon Rayman and Shannan Rayman competed at the United Kingdom Karate Open that was held in Brierley Hill, Dudley on the 24th February.
England, Wales, Iran and Ireland were all in attendance making this Connor’s first experience of international competition.
Sensei Paul Campbell holds the event annually in February and September. Shannan competed here last year and achieved gold in the kumite and silver with his kata so he was hoping to do well here again.
The AMA were also holding their international event in Nottingham and so it was surprising to see quite so many competitors and the categories were full.
Connor and Fallon were both up first for kata and were placed in the same category for the second week running. This week the kata was judged using the flag rules. With over 30 competitors and repecharge the event looked like it would be running for some considerable time!
The rules were alternate kata and taking on board the tactical mistakes of the previous week Connor chose to perform his best kata, Wanshu. An outstanding display saw him flagged through 3 – 0 to the next round.
Fallon was next and for the second week running she chose to perform Seienchin. Unfortunately the flags went against her this week and saw a swift exit out of the event.
Almost two hours later Connor stood up to do his second kata, Seishan. The flags at the end of the round saw Connor just lose out by 2 – 1. This category finally ended after three and a half-hours!
Shannan was up next on a different area and he performed a very strong Bassai. Unfortunately, his competitors perfectly executed Jion just pipped him to the post by 2 flags to 1 by the eventual winner of the event. However, Shan did not hear his name called for his repecharge and so was disqualified missing out on a potential Bronze for British Wadokai.......
Kumite followed and Connor was first up out of the three. He had been sparring and warming up with Shannan in the training area and had been picking up some last minute tips. Connor’s kumite has improved so much in a just a week and that saw him take the lead with a well timed gyakuzuki. However, the referees’ decisions went against him today with most points being decided by the ‘reconsider’ and the points just did not go in his favour on this day.
Shannan was next to take to the mat. Shannan’s kumite was very sluggish last week but this week was a complete turnaround. Shannan is on the EKF National Squad and trains regularly with Sensei Ticky Donovan, however, he cannot select until June when he will be 16. This week scores of 10 – 1 and 9 – 0 saw him storm his way into the final which he won comfortably 8 – 0 with 35 seconds still on the clock. Competitors, coaches and spectators came and gathered around the mat to view his bouts which were full to the brim with sanbons, take downs and sharp gyakazukis which were literally ‘picking off’ his opponents. It was nice to see Shannan back on form after crashing out in the first round of last weeks event.
The day ended with Fallon’s kumite. Fallon is on good form and it showed. She stormed her way into the semi final but narrowly lost out to the eventual winner Madeline Moore so had to settle for the bronze this time out. Fallon’s kumite is improving all the time and she is looking good for this season.
This was a very good days work from these three members of the squad.
TKA London Karate Open
British Wadokai Squad members Shannan and Fallon Rayman (Kyokai Karate) and Connor Chatfield (Mushin Karate Club) traveled to Goresbrook Sports Centre in London on the 17th February 2008 to compete at the TKA London Karate Open.
This was the first outing for the squad in 2008 and they were thoroughly looking forward to the event, which was organised by Joe Anderson, Chief Instructor of Toyakwai Karate.
The competition was extremely well run and organised and the venue was large enough for them to run six areas simultaneously so the event ran smoothly. Tiered seating was on one side of the venue saw the spectators had a good clear view and the seats were padded - luxory!
As usual the competition began with kata, which the organisers elected to score using the points system.
Unfortunately, Fallon and Connor were in the same category. Fallon performed her kata first. She looked at the vast numbers of karate ka in her category and made a rough guess that a cut of approximately 8 would be taken into the next round and then the best of those would then go through to the final. As kata, at her level, cannot be repeated in subsequent rounds she played safe and performed Seienchin. She chose to save her technically better kata for the following rounds. Her kata was accurate and sharp and the three judges awarded her scores of 7.1, 7.2 and 7.2 respectively. The score of 21.5 was enough to put her into a very comfortable lead. However, there were higher scoring kata toward the end of the round.
Connor was next up and chose yodan. He also saved his better kata for the following rounds. A solid and focused kata saw him score 6.9, 7.2 and 7.0 and that total of 21.1 saw him sat in 6th position. Connor is relatively new to competitions at this level and was hampered by travel sickness so this was a very good score considering the circumstances.
Both Fallon and Connor looked to be going through to the next round to perform their best katas and looked certain to medal.
However, both their tactical decisions fell short when the organisers chose not to take a cut through and instead award the trophies to the highest scored kata of that round. This meant that Fallon and Connor did not get the chance to perform their best kata, which was disappointing.
The results were called out and Fallon had to settle for the bronze this time out. Connor was very unfortunate not to medal at this event.
Shannan was in the following category and fell into the same trap. He held back with Seishan and performed Bassai Dai in the first round. His kata was sharp and he was judged with scores of 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9. His score of 20.4 saw him end the round in 4th place and miss out on a medal by 0.1 of a point. Shannan has worked hard on his kata recently and it has really improved.
Next up was the kumite. Connor and Shannan both went out in the first rounds of their kumite by 2 – 0, Connor gave points away for contact but his movement and timing have really improved, Shannan was just not as sharp or as focused as he usually is and it showed.
Fallon did really well with her kumite. She is back on top form following her recent session with Wayne Otto. The first round saw her win very comfortably 7 – 0 but she went out in the semi’s 4 – 0 to the eventual winner and with no repecharge she just missed medalling this time.
All three competitors really enjoyed their day and are looking forward to the 24th February when they will be competing in the West Midlands.
Wayne Otto Seminar
The 20th January 2008 again saw various members of British Wadokai undertake intensive training with Wayne Otto O.B.E. 9 times World and European Karate Champion, England National Coach and Kumite Karate Consultant.
This karate seminar is an annual event hosted by Surrey Karate Club which itself belongs to the Wado Renmei Academy.
The seminar was outstanding, as always. Sensei Otto has a unique and humorous way of imparting his knowledge to students and if you should ever get the chance to attend one of his courses the opportunity should not be missed.
The course consisted of
- the demonstration and teaching of effective techniques
- training using fight scenarios
- strategies and tactics
- kumite training drills
- reaction and timing techniques
- the importance of mental preparation for competition
- advice on performance testing and analysis
- and the planning and time line preparation for major tournaments
Members attending the course were Ian Riley, Shannan Rayman, Fallon Rayman, Connor Chatfield, Oren Teichmann and David Sykes. Our thanks to Corin Pegden, Chief Instructor of Surrey Karate Club www.surreykarate.co.uk for organising this fantastic course and allowing us to attend.
February 18th 2008
We have re-vamped the British Wadokai Website ! It will now be fully maintained by Liz Legg - the BWK's General Secretary who has a huge backlog of content to upload!
Her husband, Jel, will continue to look after the technical side of the website but with 14 other karate sites to maintain including the EKF a little deligation has been required to ensure this site is kep fully up to date! We hope you enjoy the new format.
A note about competition entries for BWK students
All British Wadokai Members who compete in organised National/International events, must only compete in sanctioned events run by either British Wadokai, Wadokai England, English Karate Federation and the World Karate Federation (you will be in breach of your licence and membership if you compete in events outside of the aforementioned Governing Bodies.