AMA International

The WKU was again in action in Sheffield at the AMA International event. Although we did not manage to get our full squad out for this event we fielded many of our regulars and many of our up and coming future champions. I think the proof will show that the WKU came away from the event with three gold, four silver and eight bronze medals, not a bad collection by any standards. We did on the weekend have our "OLD" stalwarts, like Darren Haynes, Sarah Clark, Paul James and Danny Trott all leading from the front, the younger regulars as in Shaun Langson, Anatoliy "Torsh" Gorshkov, Chelsie Ware, Sam Difford and James Govin-Somers, Lee Harvey gave the strength in the middle but not to be left out were some new members Gary Toye, Jamie Bowen and Nick Krsteff. I apologise if I have missed any names and will add them if I have at a later date. Lets start with our gold medals, Sam Difford, perhaps one of the most quite unassuming lads around, what a fighter when he gets going, gold in the 16 - 17 year old category, he did follow this with a bronze in the open weight event. The senior Kyu grade event was also a very good event for the WKU with Lee Harvey taking gold followed by Gary Toye with a silver. Chelsie Ware again kept our kata hopes alive with her third competition gold in a row, yet again another of the EKF "A" squad followed in her shadow as she produced our first gold medal on the Saturday and followed on on the Sunday with a bronze in her category for kumite and another bronze in the open weight category,taking her personal haul to three medals for the weekend. Our teams were in action early on on the Sunday, having been piped at the post by a count back and one point difference to the silver place, I must admit to feeling the pain of defeat, a magic mawashigeri from Danny Trott went unnoticed by a judge, this is not the thoughts of a coach on the adrenalin of the fight but that of a British referee who was actually behind the judge when the kick went home, if I ever react like him, please nail the lid on! Our second team also came away with the goods taking a bronze medal, second and third at this event shows the standard that the WKU kumite coaches produce on a regular basis. Torsh won a silver in his under 80kg with Danny taking a bronze, Paul james after his bronze in the team went on to take a silver in the -65kg. Darren Haynes after giving his opponent "time to sleep" came back to take a bronze in the open weight, whilst Sarah Clark, the lady who has so often out performed everyone, after a slow start came back in the reportage to wipe the floor with her opponents and also take a well deserved bronze. My apologies if I have missed anyone out but there also must be mentioned Alan, Andy and Wendy who gave their time to coach and support and our referee representatives were Ivor and Kevin. The AMA show just how well they can organise a class competition, far better than many we attend from higher authorities, competitors enjoyed themselves, coaches were treated with respect and referees were well looked after. Many thanks to Peter Allen, Mark drake and Terry pottage for a very well run weekend event.

Tobi Ishi Competition

Portishead Traditional Karate girls team came runners up in the under 16 event recently held in Worcester against a very strong and experienced Kaizen Central team. The team from left to right is : Bryony Cataldo, Harriet Comer and Rachel Taylor

WKU Kyu Grade Competition

December 6th was to be our last major competition of the year, the venue again was Hutton Moor, leisure Centre at Weston super Mare. What started many years ago as a small inter club event has now grown that the need for a place as large as Hutton Moor is our only option. Over 250 entries, this at a kyu grade competition shows the following that has grown to support this event. Many old friends from the past were there, alongside newer friends that are quickly becoming regulars at any event that the WKU host. Western Karate Union know how to treat officials, thus we had three European qualified officials alongside fourteen British and English qualified officials. Such a vast amount of experience helped to keep the day running very smoothly, more to the point there were also very few injuries, none of which were serious. Between the team of Les Birkin, Vaughan Whybrow and Wendy White's organisational skills we were to get through everything in time for tea, again how many of us have been at competitions where areas are empty half of the day and it becomes very late before we get away home? Twenty six clubs were there in all and at twelve o'clock our chairman Dave Wheatley called for a minutes silence in memory of the Welsh Bushi Kai's founder Ritchie Noblett, what a sad loss to all who knew him and to karate overall. Mention must be made of the army of helpers that we cannot run these events without. Bristol manned the doors, Oldmixon kept us fed and watered, along with a superb buffet at which Chloe Carchrie stood guard over, our clubs from the Colchester area along with Portishead, Clevedon and Oldmixon also manned the tables and scoreboards throughout the day. On the refereeing front promotions were made at the end of the day after consultations with the various Tatami chiefs. Paul James was promoted to Referee "A", Sue Fairs, Michael Elliott and Nigel Fish to Judge "A", whilst James Smith, Russell Hawkes and Darren Graham made it to Judge "B". Again many thanks to all of those clubs that have supported us, we look forward to seeing you at our national event on May 2nd 2010. Pictures from the event and a breakdown of results wil follow ASAP.

WKK Event

Portishead Traditional Karate sent a small team to the recent WKK event and came away with the following medals :
 
Rachel Taylor - Gold - Girls 14 -16 yrs Kumite
 
Charlie Smith - Bronze - Boys 12 - 14 yrs Kumite
 
Harriet Comer - Bronze - Girls 14 - 16 yrs Kumite 
 
All of the medal winners produced very determined performances and thoroughly deserved their awards but a special mention should also go to Mitchell Harvey, Aisha Macdougall and Ellie Mentha who all performed brilliantly in both Kata an Kumite and only narrowly lost to far more experienced competitors - well done all of you !!!

Vito Cataldo Portishead Traditional Karate Club

Welsh Open

What a day for the Western Karate Union in general, although many entrants go via their individual clubs, the camaraderie that they all have brings them all together as our squad. It does not matter what club they belong to, they are all one under the WKU.
Chelsie Ware was the first up with the kata category, this was to be the best result that Chelsie has ever achieved, in gaining gold, she beat the Welsh champion and also the girl who holds the English, British and Commonwealth titles, who has been selected to represent England in Morocco. Well done Chelsie, lets hope the selectors also hear of your results! Paul James, someone who has a lot of knowledge and skill lost to the Welsh champion in the final, again this was a two/one score, not a bad way to go if you have to lose, a very well deserved silver for Paul.
The event moved onto kumite, again the Gold medals started to roll in, Paul must have been in a very confident mood, he again showed his all round ability by taking gold in his weight category, he was followed by James Govin-Somers with another gold for kumite, Rory Daniels yet again another gold, and Sarah Clark Gold again. Lee Harvey cannot be left out, always all heart, always a lot of effort, Lee took a very credible bronze in his event. The icing on the cake, WKU yet again took gold in the team event.

Central England Karate Championships

Portishead Traditional Karate competed in the Central England Karate Championships in Wolverhampton and once again came away with many creditable performances and well earned medals.

A special mention to Charlie Smith taking part in his first ever competition and fought bravely in Kumite, eventually losing to a far more experienced competitor and also Rachel Taylor who won gold in the girls 13 - 15 years kumite, beginners to 4th kyu.

The students who represented the club and WKU were Rachel Taylor, Bryony Cataldo, Harriet Comer, Ellie Mentha, Shannon Jones, Mitchell Harvey, Charlie Smith, Joe Woollon and Nick Cataldo.

Medal Winners :
Ellie mentha - Girls 10 - 12 years kata - Bronze
Mitchell Harvey - Pee wee kumite - Bronze
Rachel Taylor - Girls 13 - 15 years kumite - Gold
Girls Team Kumite - 13 - 15 years - Silver ( Bryony Cataldo, Harriet Comer, Rachel Taylor )

Europeans @ Zagreb

Report by Englands Chief Referee Mr Terry Pottage:

English Officials in Attendance
Terry Pottage, Billy Brennen, Nariman Jeddi, Vince Parker, Steve Coupland, Jan Srzelec, Ivor Thomas.
Once again I fine showing of commitment from our self financed officials, who continue to keep the flag flying. Apart from Billy Brennen and myself the other officials made there way to Lubianka before a two hour train journey to Zagreb. Of course they had the same journey home but that wasn’t so smooth with a delay of two hours because of flight problems of course with the knock on effect especially difficult for Vince who missed his bus connection in London and didn’t get home until 5am!!!
The event was trouble free for the first two days but unfortunately many problems occurred on the final day which was the day for the team events. As at many of these events there is fierce rivalry between certain countries and the officials have to be on the top of their game but mistakes can occur and when protests are lodged and upheld there will always be repercussions. Subsequently there were a number of officials disciplined, I am happy to report that no English officials were involved in any complaints. I have to sympathise with the officials who made errors as mistakes can occur at the end of a long event and unfortunately it appears that one mistake overrides all the previous good matches so it’s a tricky job.
Finally at the end of the event we managed to get an hour’s worth of the glorious sunshine that we had been hidden away from for four days, then an early start the next day for home to prepare for the Regional championships and exams at the end of the month.

Portishead Competition

Friday 5th June and Vito from Portishead put on a small inter club competition, it was a great success, here is Vito's report.

Hi Everyone,

Having had the chance to reflect on last night's competition, I thought a few words would be appropriate !

First may I thank all parents, relatives and friends for helping create such a great atmosphere for the competitors because without you we would not have a competition. I thank you for your support and patience and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed the evening.

I did notice that the refreshments were a welcome addition to our competition and hopefully most adults got home safefully and many thanks for saving me a glass of wine!!!!!

Next I would like to thank the Clevedon Karate Kai students for attending and adding such sporting competition to our event and I'm sure that Kevin would have been proud of all of your performances.

A special mention for both Rory Daniel's and Paul James for being our guest referees for the evening and also presenting the awards.
The presentation of a signed Rory England tee shirt went down really well and was deservedly won by Harriet comer who won the girls 13 - 15 year old Kumite event, defeating Grace ball in a very tense final and entertaining final.
We appreciate taking time out to attend our competition and we all hope that you can make it for the next one.

I am always amazed when a competition comes around as everyone seems to step up a gear which is not only encouraging for both the Portishead and Clevedon club's but also Western Karate Union. Please keep up the good work!

I have attached a schedule of event medal winners and finally I look forward to providing an even better competition for the end of the year and once again this will be a joint effort with Kevin and his students.

Wishing you all the very best for the future.

Vito

Results
5 – 8 years Kata
Winner – Mitchell Harvey – Portishead
Runner up – Charlotte Roberts – Clevedon
9 – 12 years Kata
Winner – Ellie Mentha - Portishead
Runner up – James Hampton – Portishead
13 – 15 years Kata
Winner – Bryony Cataldo – Portishead
Runner up – Grace Ball – Clevedon
Mens Kata
Winner – Nick Cataldo – Portishead
Runner up – Mark Christie – Clevedon
5 – 8 years Kumite
Winner – Mitchell Harvey - Portishead
Runner up – Charlotte Roberts – Clevedon
Girls 9 – 12 years Kumite
Winner – Ellie Mentha – Portishead
Runner up – Teagan Eastman – Clevedon
Boys 9 – 12 years Kumite
Winner – Alex Brennan – Clevedon
Runner up – Josh Ong – Portishead
Girls 13 – 15 years Kumite
Winner – Harriet Comer – Portishead
Runner up – Grace Ball – Clevedon
Boys 13 – 15 years Kumite
Winner – Joe Woollon – Portishead
Runner up – Jon Ong – Portishead
Mens Kumite
Winner – Nick Cataldo – Portishead
Runner up – Mark Christie - Clevedon

WKU Nationals May 3rd 2009

With over 400 entries Wendy had her hands full for most of the day, I believe what also helped to make the day a great success was the the teamwork that has built within from all concerned with event. Les & Vaughan and their gallant band of helpers from the Colchester area were very much appreciated. Our own local helpers who manned the doors and worked hard on the tables alongside of the Colchester crew all gave what was to be a very busy days work. The officials from far and near, they took a lot of the pressure away, their experience kept areas going with very few injuries and not too many hold up's the whole day long, quality referee's are a must for any competition. Another often forgotten group required to make any competition a success was the visiting coaches, they know us, we know them and we all work together. I have been at many competitions where frustration sets in, our coaches, all of them seem to also be able to relax and enjoy the day and this brings a sense of calm to a very hectic schedule of events. It was equally good to see visiting faces from the past, they all were very welcome and we hope to see them again in the future. There will be many more pictures to come and as they arrive I shall make a link to Fotopic for you all to view them.
Also on the day some awards were made to officials, Andy Smith, Richard Weller and Susan Fairs were awarded their judges badges, whilst although many had helped and worked hard on the tables the table official awards were aimed at those who will hopefully move up the ladder to judges and onto referee status (training students).These went to Sue Violet, Sheila Hodgson, Julie Chartron, Jack Herbert, Symone Bromley and Kenneth Brennan. I would also like to thank the photographer of the day who has now sent me many action photographs, I believe these are the best we have ever had taken at our event. I will ask for his details and post them so other clubs may also invite him.

Link to Photographs

Midlands Regional Event

Sunday 19th April and a very small squad attended the EKF Midlands event in Birmingham. For many of the squad it was their first run out in kata at a senior competition, the stalwarts of James and Chelsie were also on hand with Sean O'Brien, Charles Vaughan and Mark Christie competing at this level for the first time. Although no kata medals were to come from the day we did get a gold medal in the under 68kg kumite, Sean O'Brien fought very well showing that he has the aptitude to be able to progress to even higher levels, though on this day he made it and took the gold medal, well done Sean.

East Anglia WKU Junior Event

The annual WKU Junior Competition, organised by Les Birkin, 7th Dan, took place on Sunday 19th April 2009. Entries from Colchester, Brightlingsea, Sudbury, Great Tey, The Essex and Hadleigh WKU Clubs were joined by Glemsford and Clare Wado Clubs and Sudbury Wado Club where students battled for medals.

Sarah Clark AMA International & The English

AMA International Trophies
2nd place in the Open Weight (where she beat Russia in the semi-final and lost to Australia in the final)
3rd place in the -55k
English Championships Medals
1st place in the -55k
3rd place in the Open Weight

Shitokai invitational championships

Portishead Traditional Karate took a team of students to the Shitokai invitational championships and came away with an excellent haul of 6 medals.
This event was only the second competition that some of the students had taken part in and they all competed with great spirit against some strong opposition and fully deserved the medals that they received.

Event information detailed below :

James Smith, 13 - 15yrs Kumite Winner
Joe Woollon, 13 -15yrs Kumite Bronze
Rachel Taylor, 13 -15 yrs Kumite Winner
Bryony Cataldo, 13 -15 yrs Kumite runner up ( 3 - 1st kyu )
Nick Cataldo, 18+ Kumite Winner

English Nationals at Sheffield

Once again the WKU showed their strength in the kumite sections of this event, taking the team title yet again! To prove the squad's dominance in the senior events we again had Rory taking gold and Darren taking the silver in the +84kg section. Rory and Darren have made this event their own. "Torchia" again claimed the gold in the under 21 event, Sarah Clark as always showing her prowess, with yet another gold in the -55kg and a bronze in the open. Joseph Bowles an up and coming lad took a silver in the -84kg, whilst Paul James gained a bronze in the -67kg category. In the team event were also Danny Trott and Shaun Langson. Scarlett, James, Sam and Chelsie also made up the squad along with newcomers Sean, Abbee, Hannah, and Bryony, who all performed very well for their first competition, showing the heart and potential we have coming through from the younger members.

Dutch Open

Again England was well represented at the recent Dutch open, Ivor travelled over and says the reports on the English refereeing were very good.

AMA International

Members of the Bristol club along with Oldmixon & Uphill were at this recent event, our top fighters again proving too much for many of the opposition. The team event was won by a team from our Bristol club, in the open weight, again Bristol were in charge as it ended up with Rory and Darren in the final, Rory winning out to take gold and Darren with the silver. Torsha again proving his talent had a gold in the cadet category, whilst Sarah Clark gained a silver in the open weight and a bronze in the minus 60kg.

USA Open Event

At a recent event in Birmingham Chelsie Ware was again in the medal tables, this time both were for kumite. Chelsie gained a third in the individual and also a third place in the team.

Paris

We only have the one european referee in our association and at this moment seem to have lost the drive as not many are moving forward, much of this is the hours of commitment required. The cost implication to gain qualification also has an effect, in these days where money is very tight many cannot afford the cost of travel and accommodation, in the long run competitions will suffer as the quality and number of referee's may not be able to cover the events throughout the year. Ivor has to self fund his European trips, the WKU do help as much as it can and I know Ivor is very grateful for that help, so if there is anyone willing to help sponsor in any way, please give him a call.

After a long hard day of refereeing, there is nothing better than to sit and relax, sometimes you are so tired you really have to force yourself to have something to eat or drink.

A copy of the report from Terry Pottage the EKF Chief Referee

What an excellent weekend the Referees had, not something I would always say after a long hard Championships, they all worked extremely hard under quite difficult circumstances with the pressure of applying new rules.

After arriving in Paris by trains and cars and planes we settled in the HQ Hotel mid Thursday afternoon. Thursday evening brought about the first meeting of the Referees Commission followed by the Referee briefing on the new rules, where many questions were asked and answered. Though in all honesty there
was great trepidation from many officials as many of the European countries had never had the

opportunity to put them in to practice. After a meal and regulation beer it was off to bed for an early start
on Friday.

Over to the famous Pierre de Coubertin stadium on Friday morning very cold but bright that was the last daylight we saw all day with the day finishing approx 8pmin the dark!!! It was a learning curve for all the officials but fears disappeared very quickly as everyone applied the new rules very well after a few
hiccups. Our Kata officials all had plenty to do and when the officials for the finals were selected it was
no surprise that a couple of our officials were included. In the Kumite finals English officials were once a gain in demand. We enjoyed watching many of our squad perform and seeing them all supporting each
other always a good feeling watching the England squad succeed.

Saturday and Sunday was pretty much the same but everyone becoming more and more comfortable with
the operation of the new rules. As part of the Referee Commission I saw nothing but good reports on the performances of our officials that fact is reflected by the inclusion of all our eligible officials in finals on each day!!! I am extremely proud of all of them as the EKF should be.

Congratulations to the French Karate Federation for their superb organisation of the event.

I managed to find time to chat to our Chairman, Carl Lindley and other members of the Board and felt that there were lots of positive thoughts discussed about the future of EKF.

We all had various traumas getting back home what with the snow in England but that’s another story. We are now making plans for the European Senior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, in May.
Just a reminder for all Referees and Competition Coaches about the course in Manchester on the 21st FEB.

Terry Pottage

EKF Chief Referee

Port Talbot

At a recent event in Port Talbot Jonathan Bourke from our Downend & Mangotsfield club gained a bronze medal. This is really the first year that Jonathan has started to compete in major events and already he is showing his ability, I believe we shall see much more of him on this page in the future.

PTKA Competition

Portishead Traditional Karate held a very successful club competition recently at the Redcliffe Bay Hall. The students all showed a great deal of enthusiasm and great sportsmanship, there has been a great improvement in their ability and this also showed.

British 2008

Waiting for a report on this event though I know that yet again the WKU have come away with many of the medals. I will add a report as soon as it arrives, also more pictures as they are sent through to me.

Results from the competition were: