Former Haxby Karate Kid Xander goes to the JKS National Championships

Elizabeth's dad Ian made the mistake of mentioning to Jim that he has a music blog called 'Not Quite Music Journalism'. Jim took this opportunity to enlist Ian as the Club's roving reporter. Here's his report from the Nationals that took place on Sunday 24th November 2013. 

This year saw a small, but determined, squad travel down to the JKS Nationals in Nottingham. As ever, there was standing room only in the arena with a couple of improvements made this year which seemed designed to speed up the competition. There was an extra tatami, meaning four events could be held simultaneously and a small change in the scoring system meant that there could be no draws in kata.

First up for Haxby were Bethany and Elizabeth in the Individual Kata, 3^rd – 1^st Kyu, 10 – 15 yrs, Female. Elizabeth received a bye through to the second round and was soon joined there by Bethany, who scored a unanimous win from the judges for her first round Heian Yondan. Unfortunately, her second round Heian Sandan wasn’t as good as that of her opponent, who went through with another unanimous decision. Elizabeth, meanwhile, also went out in the second round. A stumble towards the end of her Heian Godan was thought to be what caused the unanimous decision against her, although she later admitted that she also thought she had made a mistake in the middle.

Oli and Jack, competing in the equivalent Male event, had to wait for a preliminary round to finish before starting their event. Both made it through to the second round, Oli’s Heian Shodan giving him a unanimous win from the judges, while Jack won his Heian Godan with a score of 4:1. Both were given Heian Nidan in the next round and, unfortunately, neither were able to progress. Jack’s opponent got the unanimous decision this time, while Oli’s was a narrower 3:2 defeat.

Jim and Tom Smith were in different pools in the Individual Kata, Dan grade, 16+ yrs, Male. Jim had a bye into the second round, where his 5:0 defeat in Heian Godan saw him go no further. Like Elizabeth, he admitted to having made a mistake but also acknowledged that, if he had performed the kata to the best of his ability, he wouldn’t have beaten his opponent. For some reason, only three judges watched Tom’s Heian Godan which saw him defeated in the first round with a score of 2:1.

With all the kata rounds completed, focus switched to kumite. Xander, in his first competition, was Haxby’s first representative, in Individual Kumite, Pee Wee, 5 – 7 yrs, Mixed. Showing no sign of the nerves he must have been feeling, he put up a good fight against Damien Hobben, an orange belt from Leeds. Eventually, though, two punches to Xander’s stomach gave his opponent the win despite Xander taking an early lead with a chudan punch of his own. Xander took his defeat with grace and Damien ev

entually went on to win bronze medal in the event.

Elizabeth was back on the tatami for the 3^rd Kyu – Dan, 11 – 13 yrs, Female competition. Because of her age and, perhaps, more obviously her size, Elizabeth often struggles with kumite and today was no exception. Another bye took her straight to the second round, where she faced a brown belt who was quite a bit taller than her. As ever, though, she gave it her best shot, going in close to try to prevent her from getting clean hits. One punch did get through, though, hitting Elizabeth in the face. That was the only score at the end of the bout, so the decision went to the judges. Despite Elizabeth’s attacking, they awarded the win to her opponent, with a score of 4:0, and Elizabeth’s competition was over.

The Male equivalent event had already started on tatami 3 and the medics were being kept busy on that mat as a number of fights ended with or contained injury, mainly due to over-eagerness than any intentional brutality. Spectators around this mat had already been treated to some superb team kata and they were still in the mood for cheering as this event saw some of the best fights of the day. Jack was up first for Haxby but lost his bout against black belt Elliott Saggers after taking two hits to the head. Oli, though, seemed to be fired up. His ferocious kiai as his left his starting position seemed to disconcert his black belt opponent and it was only a matter of seconds until Oli was one point up. He eventually won the bout 2:0, going through to face a Dan grade who, we were told, is the current world champion. Again a head shot gave Oli an early lead but this only seemed to galvanise his opponent who launched a frenzied attack, only to be pulled back by the referee. Despite some solid defence by Oli, he ended up taking two hits to the stomach and lost the bout 2:1 but there was definitely no shame in that result and the consensus was that this was Haxby’s performance of the day.

Tom took to the mat again for the 3^rd Kyu – Dan, 16 – 18 yrs, Male event. His opponent was Jed Dickinson from Leeds, who had the advantage of Sensei Matt Price’s coaching from the side of the mat. A head shot saw Tom go a point down quite early in the bout but a spirited fight-back seemed to have his opponent reeling, with a few shots that might have scored on another day. With the score still 1:0 at the end of the bout, the judges unanimously awarded the win to Jed. I thought Tom was unlucky but he admitted to me afterwards that, although a few of his shots had found targets, his technique wasn’t what it should have been.

Haxby’s final competitor was Jim, in the Any grade, 40+ yrs, Male event. Up against 1^st Kyu Anthony Wilks, he was defeated 2:0, later admitting that he, “needed to block more. Or at least stop blocking fists with my face.” I can’t help but think that there’s a lesson there for the younger members of the club.

So, no medals for Haxby but each competitor did their best, performing to the best of their ability on the day. It’s easy for me to say that it is the taking part that counts – I don’t have to suffer the nerves of competition or the sting of defeat. I am, however, proud that Elizabeth is associated with the club. Each of the club’s competitors showed the required spirit and, more importantly, sportsmanship, taking both victory and defeat with dignity. 

Thanks to Ian for his report. Check out his other write ups at www.imassey.blogspot.co.uk

Haxby Karate Kids 6.30pm to 7.30pm Monday and Thursday ONLY £10 a month. Haxby Karate Kids is part of Haxby Shotokan Karate Club, Wigginton Recreation Hall, The Village, Haxby, York, YO32 2PL www.haxbykarate.co.uk