WADO KAI OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006

Fifteen members the Ken-Bu-Kan squad, representing WIKF England, travelled to Wolverhampton to compete in the annual Mushindo Wado Kai Open Championships, held on Sunday 20^th November.  The team were extremely successful in Kata, Kumite and team events coming away with 12 medals in total, 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and 7 Bronzes.  It was Ken-Bu-Kan final competition of the year, so the pressure was on to finish on a high, after a very successful season.  The competition which saw over 400 competitors from all round the UK had to be run on 7 areas to cope with the amount of participants.  

The Kata events were first, with half of the squad taking part.  Alex Little, Sarah McIIwain-Bates, Nowras Tharb, Jerome Brown and Seja Tharb performed well, all getting through at least two rounds and were unfortunate not to medal.  Charlie Rowan (aged 7) was however on form and managed to get through 5 rounds, winning the pool and getting the final.  Charlie was beaten by a much older and experienced competitor in the final but deserved his Silver medal.  Michelle Little and Jay Kirton, entered in the same category, were also in form getting to the semi-finals.  Michelle was beaten by her opponent and took the Bronze medal, but Jay managed to get through to secure another final spot for the squad.  This time however, it was our competitor who was more experienced and older and Jay beat his final opponent 3 flags to 0 to take our first Gold medal of the day. 

The Kumite events were next with the Girls 8-10 years, which saw Seja Tharb (WIKF Girls Champion) in action.  After performing well for the first two rounds, Seja was beaten in the semi-final and took the Bronze medal.  Michelle Little was also in action, in the light weight 11-14 Girls, also beaten in the semi-final, taking the Bronze medal.  Sarah McIlwain-Bates and Jessica Pavey, competing in the girl’s heavyweight event for the first time, did well against their experienced opponents.  Jessica was beaten by the eventual winner and Sarah was stopped in the quarter-finals with some excellent winning bouts.

Onto the boys and James Phillips (aged 8).  Having beaten 3 much taller opponents convincingly with Sanbons, it looked like a normal day for James who won 6 major titles during 2005.  However, he came up against a very rough and unorthodox fighter in his quarterfinal and was unable to beat him.  Repocharge saved James, who won all his bouts very easily to take the Bronze medal without dropping a single point.

Jerome Brown (2005 British Youth Champion) and Nowras Tharb who were competing in the same category, were Gold and Silver medallist respectively in 2004.  Both competitors were once again unstoppable, with Nowras scoring heavily with his signature move Gyakazuki and Jerome overpowering all his opponents with some superb take downs that senior competitors would be proud of.  It was once again a final for both boys, and the same result as 2004 with Jerome taking the Gold medal and defending his title and Nowras taking the Silver medal. 

Next up were three World Champions, Jay Kirton, Alex Little and Gavin Bailey.  Jay Kirton, who was one of the smallest fighters in his category was battling through the rounds and doing well until he fought a much taller opponent.  Unable to deal with his reach, Jay lost in the quarter final stages.  Alex Little had a very tough first round opponent James Witt, whom he narrowly lost to earlier on in 2005. It was once again, the fight of the competition, with numerous points being won on either side.  After a very high scoring bout, Alex once again lost out by 1 point and his opponent went on the win the title.  Alex therefore had to fight for the Bronze medal and comfortably beat his opponents to the Bronze medal.   Gavin Bailey fought well throughout the rounds and look in good form.  His semi-final opponent had a similar style of fighting and the bout was tense.  After full time and no points, it went to sudden death and Gavin was just beaten by his opponent to go through.  However, Gavin managed to win in repocharge and took another Bronze medal for the squad.  James Townsend was also in action in the heavyweight division but couldn’t get past his first round opponent. 

Onto the Senior mens event.  Adam Rowan and Marvin Kirton were both in the lightweight division and were beaten in the semi-finals.  Repocharge meant that both had to fight for the bronze medal, but both lost out by the smallest of margins.  Isaac Rosen was in action in the heavyweight division, and did well to get to the quarter-finals stage.

Finally and very late in the day saw the team events.  First were the girls (Sarah, Michelle and Jessica) who had won the first round, but after a mix up with the draw had to fight their first round again, but against a different team.  The girls did well to beat them, but lost in semi-final to take the Bronze Medal.  The boys (Alex, Gavin and Jay) were also in action and won their first round bout but Gavin picked up a serious ankle injury and was unable to continue.  The boys went into the quarter-finals with only 2 fighters.  Alex won the first round, but Jay found his much taller opponent difficult to fight and team were beaten.

The 8-10 year team (Jerome, Nowras and James) looked very good after their individual performances and were unstoppable in all the rounds.  Jerome and Nowras won all their bouts with ease and won the team title and the Gold medal without dropping a single bout.

 Another very successful competition for the KBK squad, representing WIKF England.

BACK ROW:  Adam Rowan, Isaac Rosen, Sarah McIlwain-Bates, Andy Michaelides (Ken-Bu-Kan Chief Instructor and Head coach), James Townsend and Marvin Kirton.

MIDDLE ROW:  Jay Kirton, Jessica Pavey, Gavin Bailey, Michelle Little and Alex Little.

FRONT ROW:  Jerome Brown, Charlie Rowan, Seja Tharb, Nowras Tharb and James Phillips.