September News 10

The next British Karate Team League Event will be held on the 5th September 2010 at Elthorne Sports Centre Westlea Rd Hanwell London W7 2AD. The selected Squad to represent LKK will be selected from categories listed;

Kumite: Under 9yrs, 10-11yrs, 12-13yrs, 14-15yrs, 16-17yrs.
Kata: 4th Kyu and below, 3rd plus.

Start of the B K T L 4

Selections are open to all LKK students.
Let The Battle Begin.

Selections for the British Karate Team League 4 will take place on Saturday 17th July at Gt Holland Village Hall, Manor Road at 11.00am to1.00pm.

Girls: 9yrs & under Maisie Raymond, 10-11yrs TBC, 12-13yrs Maizie Crooks, 14-15yrs Chloe Duce, 16-17yrs Rhian Duffy.

Boys: 9yrs & under Zak Coates, 10-11yrs Lincon Pretlove, 12-13yrs Sam Day, 14-15yrs Jake Pickering, 16-17yrs Josh Pickering.

On the 5th of September 2010, a small team of nine under 18 year olds from LKK travelled to the Elthorne Sports Centre in London to compete in the fourth British Karate Team League. They were accompanied by the famous LKK parents to what was going to be an intense day of karate right from the off. The team were as follows:

Kata:
4th Kyu and below – Rhian Duffy
3rd Kyu and above – Chloe Duce.

Kumite:
9yrs and below – N/A
10/11yrs – N/A
12/13yrs – Maizie Crooks
14/15yrs – Chloe Duce
16/17yrs – Rhian Duffy.

Kata:
4th Kyu and below – Zak Coates
3rd Kyu and above – Sam Day.

Kumite:
9yrs and below – Zak Coates
10/11yrs – Lincon Pretlove
12/13yrs – Mitchell Priestley
14/15yrs – Jake Pickering
16/17yrs – Josh Pickering.

Kata: (The five flag operation was used.)

First up was Rhian Duffy, in 4th Kyu and below Female Kata. She kindly stepped up to fill the Kata event in the absence of our normal competitor. After only having a few run throughs of her Kata, Rhian got through her nerves and won her first bout with Heian Nidan against Elkia 3 flags to 2. Following EKK and Elkia’s Kata, Rhian was faced with EKK’s competitor who unfortunately proved too experienced for Rhian’s second Heian Nidan, and took the win with all 5 flags. However, Rhian’s action were a credit to herself and the squad and without them, in light of the close ending, LKK would not have won the event.

Next to show the referees what he had to offer was Zak Coates, competing in 4th Kyu and below male Kata. Zak blew everyone away with a well polished Heian Nidan, winning easily against Elkia 5 flags to 0. In the next round Zak produced a good, solid Heian Godan, however it was not enough this time and he lost 0-5.

The 3rd Kyu and above female Kata space in the squad was taken up by Chloe Duce, who was third to compete. The first round ended in a fair defeat, 0-5, after her Kanku-Dai lacked some technical elements. On the other hand, Chloe reversed the scores against EKK, using a strong Jion that brought all 5 flags in her favour.

Last to compete for Kata was Sam Day, in the 3rd Kyu and above male spot, the most experienced Kata member of the squad. He went against Elkia first round with Gojushiho-Sho and narrowly missed winning with a 2-3 score. Next up was EKK, and here Sam used Jion but the competition was too tough, ending in 0-5 defeat.

Fighting: (The three flag operation was used.)

With no fighter for the Girl’s under 9 years group, it fell to Zak Coates to show the other teams why he was part of the British International and English winning under 9’s Boys team. And this he did with style, defeating both boys 8 points to 0 with his fast reverse punches and strength after received a hit from Elkia. Zak did fantastically at this event.

Again, we had no female competitor for the 10-11 category so it was up to Lincon Pretlove to prove that LKK was a force to be reckoned with. This is he did, winning the fight against Elkia with his skills with his legs 4-3. In the second fight against EKK, he demonstrated that one punch can make all the difference, as his clear reverse punch won the fight 1-0.

Moving up, the 12-13 years event was next, with Maizie Crooks in the female group, competing for her very first time, and Mitchell Priestley for the boys, a very experienced fighter. Maizie had no opponent for round one, meaning a straight 8-0 victory. Then she was faced with a fighter from EKK, whom she fought against with everything she had, losing out marginally 3 points to 4. Maizie did exceptionally well at this league event, doing herself and the club very proud. Mitchell’s ability and cool on the mat portrayed why he is the champion he is; with two kicks to the face he gave LKK a 9-1 victory, followed by an easy win 8-0 against EKK using his lightening punch. Mitchell is unbeaten in BKTL fighting.

Next was the 14-15 category, and Chloe Duce was up first. The experienced fighter stood firm against her fierce opponent, punching her underneath she came in however, the opponent from Elkia was disqualified after failing to heed warnings of excessive contact, giving Chloe an 8-2 win. Next, there was no fighter from EKK which gave her straight 8-0 victory. Chloe is also still unbeaten in BTKL fighting. Up for the 14-15 Boys was Jake Pickering; he overcame difficulties with the new equipment to win the first round 7-6 however, EKK put out a fighter intent of battle and although Jake did well, it was not enough to match his opponent and he lost 2 points to 8.

Last of the evening was the 16-17 group, with Rhian Duffy and Josh Pickering competing for LKK. For both of them, this was their first BKTL. After a strong start to Rhian’s first fight, she continued to fight with her usual strength against Elkia, taking the win for the team 5-3. Her clear punches and spirit guided her through her second fight where she beat EKK 8-0. Rhian excelled at this championship and should be very happy with her achievements. The last fighter was Josh, and it has to be said, the atmosphere was electric as his drew his first fight, 2-2, making the overall scores 26-26 to LKK and EKK, meaning that whoever won the next and final round would win the league for their squads. After a lot of support from his team and the fantastic parents, and coming back from 3 points down, Josh stayed calm despite the intense surroundings and won the fight and the 4th league for LKK. Without doubt, he was the competitor of the day and performed just when the team needed it most.

BTKL 4, in general opinion, was the best league yet. However, LKK did only just escape defeat and therefore BTKL 5, to be held at Clacton, will unquestionably be a battle to the very end. Nevertheless, LKK proved once again their strength, not just in ability but in faith and support of one another. For video evidence of this bond, a London McDonald’s is expected to upload CCTV footage of the LKK family in full swing onto YouTube soon.

A huge thank you on behalf of the team goes to firstly, the referees - Loren Cook, Sam Beck and Emily Griffiths and the table officials - Fred Harris and Sarah Day, these five people gave their time up to run the event and it’s not unnoticed. Secondly, to the LKK parents, whom without we wouldn’t have enjoyed the atmosphere so much and without whose support we couldn’t train or compete. Also, a big thank you goes to Mitchell Priestley, the coach and team captain for the day. Lastly, thank you goes to Sensei Paul Harris, who trained us to victory and without whom there wouldn’t even be an LKK.

LKK went to the British Open and won numerous medals at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh on the 11th and 12th of September. Over two long days the competition was fierce but the club was competitive in every category it entered.

Saturday competition was for the 14 year olds and above. Jake Pickering, in his first British, was soon on the mat and fought his way through to the second round in a tough section. Emily Appleby, also in her first British, began her campaign well dominating her opening opponent and took LKK’s first medal of the weekend – a Bronze – losing to the England representative for her weight. She was then immediately on the mat for the Open weight and with hard hitting battled through three rounds to the semi-finals where another England fighter defeated her leaving Emily with Bronze. Sensei Chris Harris cruised through the first couple of rounds before coming up against the top Welsh opposition in round three and just getting beaten. Chris was too fast for his repecharge opponent however and took another Bronze for LKK. Emily Griffiths was beaten in the first round in her weight category but came back in the repecharge with a slick performance to take yet another Bronze. In the Open weight section she came up against the excellent Natalie Williams who was too strong for her. Emily went through a couple of repecharge rounds before falling just short of another Bronze.

Sunday was for 7-13 year olds and was a busier one for LKK and especially Sensei’s Paul and Chris as they dashed between mats in order to coach everyone. Sam Day was up first in Kata and won his opening round with Jion before using the same Kata to win his second round. In round three his Kanku Dai was not quite good enough but he still came away with a creditable Bronze. Zak Coates and Ethon Day were the first into action in Kumite in the weight category of their age 7-9’s and both made it through the first two rounds before facing each other in an LKK showdown. In a fight with lots of warnings, (unusual for LKK!!), Ethon triumphed 5-1. He then lost to a late Sambon in the semi-final after a close fight and came away with Bronze. Jack Appleby, in his first British, made it through to the third round in his weight category before being beaten on warnings in a fight for the semi-finals. Lincon Pretlove and Laurence Gill in the same section fought bravely into round two. Sam Day, after his Kata medal, came onto the Kumite mate but lost in a close fight in the first round by one point.

In the Open weight categories Ethon Day lost out this time in the first round in a close contest but Zak Coates went easily through two fights to the final where he faced an EKKA fighter Stephan Farthing. In a fast-paced fight Zak managed to secure LKK’s first Gold of the weekend in his 7-9 section. The three members of the 10-11’s – Jack Appleby, Laurence Gill and Lincon Pretlove – all came up against bigger opposition and unfortunately failed to make an impression this time. Sam Day fought in the 12-13 age group and lost a tough fight in his first round.

The two LKK boys teams gave us all some end of weekend thrills bringing two medals along the way. The 7-9 boys – Zak Coates, Ethon Day and EKKA’s Stephan Farthing – progressed easily through two rounds to the final where they comprehensively beat their opponents to bring in another Gold. The 10-13 boys – Sam Day, Laurence Gill and Alfie Powell from EKKA – needed extra time in the first round to win in a tense affair and then won 2 wins to 0 in the second. The semi-final saw Alfie start off with a win and Laurence go down leaving Sam needing to win to get the team to the final. He was ahead time and again in a real battle but lost out eventually and the team came away with a creditable Bronze to end the weekend.

Thanks must go to Sensei Paul and Sensei Chris for coaching the squad. Thanks must also go to the parents who drove for over 800 miles just to sit in the world’s most uncomfortable seats and make a racket and well done to the LKK competitors who all made the club proud.

Squad: Emily Appleby, Jack Appleby, Zak Coates, Sam Day, Ethon Day, Laurence Gill, Emily Griffiths, Chris Harris, Jake Pickering, Lincon Pretlove.

EKKA East Anglian Championships

LKK “A” and “B” squad members attended the EKKA East Anglian Championships on Sunday 19th September at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich. The usual enthusiasm was shown by the club’s competitors and supporters alike although there were fewer than expected opponents from elsewhere. Consequentially, a few competitors from LKK were moved up in category to attempt to obtain valuable time on the mats against more difficult foes.

The Kata was, in the main, sewn up by LKK bringing home 2 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze. Harry Blundell and Zak Coates won their respective categories while Sam Day (Silver), Toby Tweed (Silver) and Laurence Gill (Bronze) hoovered the other medals up.

In Kumite there was a mix of results. Zak continued his good form from the British Open with Gold, beating LKK’s Lincon Pretlove in the semi-final and Laurence Gill in the final. Fenella Stuart gained a well-deserved Silver and Harry Blundell added a tough Bronze to his Kata medal while Ethon Day also took Bronze. Jack Appleby scrapped to a Gold for LKK after being behind in extra-time in the final before forcing his way to a single point victory.

Birthday girl Maizie Crooks was powerful with her punches in the final of her category taking home a well-earned Silver medal as a present. Sam Day fought a bruising encounter for Bronze at the same time as Josh Pickering was also picking up a Bronze. Brother Jake went one better losing in a close final for Silver, both brothers having been bumped up in grade. Emily Appleby moved up to fight 3rd Kyu and above and lost her semi-final for Bronze while Ciara and Rhian Duffy both lost tight contests on their mat to grab Silver and Bronze medals respectively.

Chloe Duce, in her fight against the seniors, managed the comeback of the day, being 1-7 down and a single point from defeat. She edged back point by point before gaining a thrilling victory with Sambon which brought cheers from the watching spectators and even a few chants of “Chloe, Chloe!” from her team mates. She lost her semi-final to take Bronze but still took the plaudits. Mitchell Priestley was cool and efficient to win Gold, as was Emily Griffiths in her senior ladies section took Silver. Daniel Szabo managed to get himself disqualified for illegal contact in taking Bronze and Josh Crooks took on the big lads at the end in the men’s competition being way too fast for his final opponent to finish the day on a high for LKK with another Gold.

Thanks once again go to the higher grades who helped coach the squad and to Sam Beck and Emily Griffiths for their refereeing.

Gold: Harry, Blundell, Zak Coates
Silver: Sam Day, Toby Tweed
Bronze: Laurence Gill

Gold: Jack Appleby, Zak Coates, Josh Crooks Mitchell Priestley
Silver: Maisie Crooks, Ciara Duffy, Laurence Gill, Jake Pickering, Fenella Stuart Emily Griffiths,
Bronze: Emily Appleby, Harry Blundell, Ethon Day, Sam Day, Chloe Duce, Rhian Duffy, Josh Pickering, Lincon Pretlove

Harry Blundell, Zak Coates, Maizie Crooks, Josh Crooks, Sam Day, Ethon Day, Chloe Duce, Ciara Duffy, Rhian Duffy, Laurence Gill, Emily Griffiths, Jake Pickering, Josh Pickering, Lincon Pretlove, Mitchell Priestley, Maisie Raymond, Fenella Stuart, Daniel Szabo, Toby Tweed.

LKK made the long, early morning trip to Cardiff as part of an EKKA association squad to compete in the Welsh Open at the Welsh Institute of Sport on the 26th September. The club took 13 members of “A” squad ranging in age from U10’s to Senior Ladies and scored medals across the board with Chloe Duce topping the tree as the Individual 2010 Welsh National Champion.

As ever, the Kata started the proceedings and LKK had the dependable Sam Day in attendance on the mat as our only competitor. Unfortunately, after a 3-0 flag victory in the first round with his Jion, Sam was unlucky to lose out 2 flags to 1 to an EKK competitor in the 2nd.

The team Kumite got the fighting underway and the EKKA teams were soon into action with the U14 Boys team of Mitchell Priestley, Alfie Powell (EKKA) and Michael Blackwell (EKKA) on the mats almost straight away rousing the spectators from their lunches with their stellar performance. In the 1st round Alfie eased to a 2-0 win followed up by Mitchell’s impressive 6-0 in which he pulled away after scoring Sambon early on in the fight. The final saw Mitchell on first and make EKKA favourites by winning 6-2. Michael battled to a 0-0 before Alfie faced a smaller and hard to hit opponent in the decider. He eventually scored just the 1 point to take the title for the team and seal the Gold medal. Chloe Duce started her successful day off with a battling 2-2 draw in the U16 Girls team competition before Poppy Briggs of EKKA gained an early lead before just failing 3-5. Emily Appleby needed to win by 3 clear points to take the title but came up second best being picked off as she advanced for the necessary points and losing 3-5 to leave the girls with a Silver. Chloe, only 15, then moved on to the Adult Ladies team to help out Loren Cook and Emily Griffiths in their skirmish. In the 1st round Chloe had a bruising and brave encounter and went down 1-4 while Emily closed the win with a 6-0. In round 2 Chloe came up against a quicker opponent and lost 0-4 while Emily scrapped to a 0-0, it was left to Loren to get the team a Gold by incapacitating her opponent (accidentally of course!) who left the mat in defeat.

In his final U10’s national competition before he moves up, Zak Coates romped through the first 2 rounds winning 9-0 and 8-1 but came up against EKKA’s Stefan Farthing and lost a close one 2-3 to leave him without a medal this time. Ethon Day showed some good early round fighting; he took the 1st 2 rounds 2-0 and 2-1 and after a tight affair scored a decisive Sambon to pull away in round 3, 5-1. He then avenged Zak in the semi-final by beating Stefan 2-1 but lost in a well-matched final 0-2 to take Silver. LKK had three representatives in the Boys U12 section – Jack Appleby, Laurence Gill and Lincon Pretlove. Lincon had to fight twice in the 1st round after a mistake in the draw but the 1st fight warmed him up nicely as he scored double Sambon for an emphatic 10-1 victory. Jack and Laurence both got byes through the opening round but Jack came up against Lincon in round 2 in an unfortunate quirk of the draw. It was a dull affair, with no scores, that saw Jack scrape through on a flag win after extra-time while Laurence took a close fight in the same round 4-3 after being behind. He followed this up with a 4-0 romp in round 3 while Jack again kept a clean sheet with a 1-0 victory. In the semi-final Jack again allowed no score on him to win 1-0 while Laurence lost 0-9 to the eventual winner to take Bronze. In the final, Jack gave the deserved winner a great fight, coming forward constantly but went down 0-7 for a hard fought Silver medal to add to LKK’s haul.

Mitchell Priestley and Sam Day both acquitted themselves admirably in the Boys U14’s. Mitchell went through rounds 1, 2 and 3 with 8-0 score lines, each time throwing accurate punches and scoring Sambons with ease. After a bye, Sam was too good for his opponent in round 2 winning 2-0 and even better in the 3rd with a 4-0 effort. It was set up for a “pistols at dawn” showdown in the semi-final between the pair of them and it was blow for blow as each point for Mitchell was followed by a reply from Sam. In the last couple of seconds they went punch for punch and it was given to Mitchell. Afterwards both boys said they landed simultaneously so it could have gone either way but it ended up 4-3 to Mitchell and Sam took Bronze. In the final, EKKA’s Michael Blackwell was on top form and raced away to an unassailable lead but Mitchell still picked up his second medal of an excellent day – Silver. Jake Pickering was unfortunate to lose a really close contest in the Boys U16 section. He fought like a trooper to get to extra-time at 0-0 but was just pipped 0-2 after almost kicking his way back into the contest.

The LKK girls from the U16 team contested the two top medals in the final after Chloe Duce had defeated her semi-final opponent with ease (9-4). Emily Appleby came back to draw it 2-2 after 90 seconds of aggressive intent from both girls – friends on the mat? Don’t think so! Chloe showed her good form on the day in extra-time to take her second Gold 2-0 and to leave Emily with Silver. Daniel Szabo, in the Boys 16-17 category, pulled away from his opponent stealthily in the 1st round to win 3-0. In the 2nd round he drew a cagey fighter who chose the wrong time to go punch for punch with LKK’s gunslinger – there was only going to be one winner with that technique and it won Daniel the fight 1-0. The final was a catch-up affair after his opponent’s early Sambon and Daniel never made it back to level terms losing 0-4 in the end to take another Silver for LKK. In the Seniors Emily Griffiths, in the U61kg category, lost out in the semi-final to her opponent by a single Gyaku zuki and therefore a single point (0-1) to take home a Bronze medal. Loren Cook, in the U68kg section, scored a kick to the stomach early in round 1 and a heel kick for a classy 6-0 victory. In the semi-final she could have kicked all day and never scored as none of her techniques attracted the referee’s attention. She lost 0-1 for a Bronze and the LKK crowd was not amused.

Sensei Paul was helped throughout the day with coaching by Loren and Emily G and thanks goes to them as well as Mick Blackwell from EKKA who stood in when needed. Thanks and well done to the parents again who were particularly vocal at this event considering the early start. The “Who let the dogs out…?” chant will, no doubt, be brought out again in the future!!! Overall, LKK managed some good results from the last national competition of the year.

Gold: Chloe Duce, Boys U14 team (Mitchell Priestley), Senior Ladies (Loren Cook, Chloe Duce, Emily Griffiths).
Silver: Emily Appleby, Jack Appleby, Ethon Day, Mitchell Priestley, Daniel Szabo, Girls U16 team (Emily Appleby, Chloe Duce).
Bronze: Loren Cook, Sam Day, Laurence Gill, Emily Griffiths.

Squad: Emily Appleby, Jack Appleby, Zak Coates, Loren Cook, Sam Day, Ethon Day, Chloe Duce, Laurence Gill, Emily Griffiths, Jake Pickering, Lincon Pretlove, Mitchell Priestley, Daniel Szabo.