A report by Ian Massey
Fifteen members of Haxby Shotokan Karate Club competed at the Selby Shotokan Karate Club’s Novice Competition this year, making the slightly shorter than usual trip to York College. This venue seemed bigger than the gym at Barlby High School, meaning that the various categories could be comfortably split across three tatami and, even with competitors and supporters from at least eight clubs (testament to the popularity of this well-run competition), it didn’t feel as crowded as usual, even if it was hard to keep up with what was happening on each of the mats.
Open to competitors of all ages and grades, up to those who have been a 1st Dan for less than a year, the event itself lies somewhere between the Children’s Competition and the JKS Nationals. It is a bit more relaxed than the Nationals and judges, especially those officiating the youngest age categories (in which many of the children would be competing for the first time), took special care to explain all the rules and what was expected of the competitors even, at times, joking with the children in an effort to keep them relaxed. All the kata events were mixed, with only the Over 16 category split by grade. In kumite, Under 9’s and Under 12’s were mixed, the rest split into male and female and, again, the Over 16’s split by grade. In some ways, this meant better matched competitions – splitting by age meant little variance in height – but, in others, it was possible to have pairings separated by many grades. In most cases, however, individual bouts were good-natured and spirited although, as would be expected, kumite increased in intensity with the age of the competitors.
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| Evie doing Heian Shodan |
Under 9 Mixed Kata:
Haxby had four competitors in this category. Edward, Xander and Oliver were all given Heian Shodan for their first round kata but didn’t manage to progress. Evie, however, started with Kihon Kata and won through to the second round. Sadly, what seemed to be a slight hesitation during her second round Heian Shodan saw her lose to a 6th kyu.
Under 12 Mixed Kata:
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| Elizabeth being awarded her Medal |
Elizabeth, taking part for the last time in this competition, was Haxby’s sole representative in this event. With a bye into the second round, she was up first against a 4th kyu, performing Heian Godan and winning 4:1. She managed the same score with Heian Shodan in the next round, this time against a red belt. It was a closer affair in fourth round as, up against a 1st kyu and performing Heian Yondan, she went through to the semi-final with a score of 3:2. It was getting serious now and, choosing Basai Dai as her semi-final kata, she went through to the final with a unanimous win. Again she chose Basai Dai, with her 1st kyu opponent choosing Heian Yondan. This time the unanimous score went against here, but Elizabeth had secured Haxby’s first medal of the afternoon – a silver.
Under 17 Mixed Kata:
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| Joe finishing Heian Shodan |
Meanwhile, this event was going on further down the hall and, because I was concentrating on Elizabeth, I missed quite a bit of the detail. I did see Joseph lose his first round Heian Shodan. Given it was against a 1st kyu, there was no shame in that. Adam and Jonathan both progressed to the second round, but were then knocked out by the eventual bronze and silver medallists. Tom Fisher also progressed to the second round where the draw saw him up against fellow Haxby member Katherine who had, I think, surprised even herself by beating a brown belt 3:2 in the first round. Tom’s victory over Katherine saw him into the last eight, where he was up against and lost to a 4th kyu.
Over 16 Mixed Kata (Beginner to 3rd Kyu):
Colin was our only representative in this event. He succumbed in the first round, his Heian Neidan losing 3:2 to a 5th kyu.
Over 16 Mixed Kata (2nd Kyu and above):
Dael suffered a similar fate in this category. Competing against a 3rd kyu, his Heian Neidan wasn’t enough to see him progress.
Family Kata:
Colin and Dexter were competing in this event and moved into the second round with an unopposed Heian Shodan. If anything they were even tighter performing the same kata in the second round but, unfortunately, their opponents were judged to be better.
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| Colin and Dexter did a great job of Family Kata |
Under 9 Mixed Kumite:
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| Edward resting between bouts |
For me, this event saw Haxby’s performance of the day. Edward looked to be progressing nicely, having already beaten an orange belt by two points to nil and a 6th kyu by the same score, despite being given a warning for contact in that bout. His third bout was against a 5th kyu and, from the start Edward was pushing him back and looking good. Unfortunately, with no score on the board, Edward received a hard punch to the face. Medics were called, more to give comfort than treatment, and for a while it looked as though he was going to continue. Ultimately, however, he decided not to continue. Well done to him for getting as far as he did, though.
Under 12 Mixed Kumite:
Still flushed with her earlier success, Elizabeth had a bye into the second round and looked to be fighting nicely – on the attack against a 4th kyu and looking strong. Unfortunately, her defence let her down and she took two quick hits to lose the bout.
U17 Male Kumite:
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| Tom looking confident in his Kumite |
Adam’s first round bout was against a 6th kyu and his opponent was first to score, then received a warning for contact. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop him from scoring again and bringing to an end Adam’s competition.
Jonathan was also up against a 6th kyu and his opponent also received a warning for contact. There was no score at the end of this bout so it went to sudden death and Jonathan won with a punch to the body. His next bout was against a 2nd kyu, who scored first and rounded off the fight with a very quick second point.
Tom’s first round bout was against a 3rd kyu and Tom took the first point with a head shot. Medics were called to his opponent but, again, no treatment was necessary and he decided to carry on. Tom was always on the attack, perhaps a little overzealously, and received two warnings for contact. Unfazed, he scored a second point and progressed to the next round where, up against a 6th kyu, he lost the first point. Soon, both competitors were being spoken to about their techniques, after which Tom pulled a point back, before losing the deciding point.
O16 Kumite - Male (Beginner to 3rd Kyu):
Gareth’s first round bout was against a 4th kyu and, despite a valiant attempt, the disparity in grades went against him as he lost 2:0.
O16 Kumite – Male (2nd Kyu and above):
With just four people entered into this competition, we had been joking that Dael was guaranteeing to win Haxby’s second medal of the day. When it was announced that one competitor had dropped out, that guarantee became reality and the only thing to be decided was the colour of the medal. This event was fought as a round robin, with each competitor fighting the other, rather than a knockout event. Dael was up first, against Scott from Selby. Scott received a warning for contact before scoring the first point. Dael seemed to be taking some hits but fought through them to take the next two points and the bout. After a short rest, Scott was back on and won this bout, against a 2nd kyu, 2:0. The 2nd kyu then fought Dael, who took another punch to the face before scoring the first point. His opponent, though, took the next two points, winning the bout.
There then followed some discussion between the judges as all three competitors had won one bout. Counting up points scored showed that Dael and Scott had both scored three while the third competitor had only scored two, putting him in the bronze medal position. In the audience, we expected Dael, who had won his bout with Scott to be awarded gold, but the judges announced that they were to fight again. This time Scott took the fight 2:0, leaving Dael to take home silver.
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| The 2014 Haxby Squad |
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