ISKA Amateur English National Championships
Stockland Green Leisure Centre in Birmingham was the host of this years first ISKA National Championships since the new ISKA Management team took over last year. With over 270 competitors and 250 spectators, this was the beginning of a new era for the ISKA UK Amateur division. With the introduction of MMA into the sections to add to the usual semi contact / light contact and forms, this completion turned out to be something special.
The likes of the legendary Lee Hasdell, who is known as a pioneer of British MMA and also National Director for ISKA in MMA attended. Paul Clifton from Combat magazine, Paul Hennessy ISKA UK Executive Director, fighters and former fighters also turned up to support as well as Chris (The Fly) William who terrorized his opponents back in the days, Richard Allan, Joe Tierney, Dave Baptist, and Matt Winsper who is now the ISKA Full Contact Amateur Director.
Doors opened at 9.30 am and the place was already starting to fill up fast. Alfie Lewis’ Mushin Kai Team from Liverpool were all raring to go to add more silverware to their endless list of successes. Team Centurion with large numbers was there to battle, so were Huges Shurai. The Winsper’s were back in action with a large following so was the Peterborough Freestyle Team and Spiritual Warriors.
The day kicked off with the girls semi contact under 13’s -30kg with C Ayres defeating D Forrest both team mates from Team Centurions.
In the -35kg, V Brewer (Plyline Lincs) was in fine form taking 1st spot from N Bruntlet with D Forrest coming 3rd.
J Street from Peterborough showed no mercy as she swept the board to take gold. While D Forrest took silver and B Jones (Spiritual Warriors) took a creditable 3rd place in the girls -40kg.
The girls’ +45kg was an all finals for NSBB girls, C Burk and A Jones but it was Burk who finally took the gold medal after a close fight.
Boys under 13’s -25kg, D Kamara (Mushin Kai) was in excellent form against J Vaughan to take gold, while in the -30kg M Ainsbury continued his winning streak by taking gold with K Zaman and J Medlicott having to settle for silver and bronze.
Over in the girls under 18’s -45kg, L Jones (Spiritual Warriors), who has been training hard for these championships produced one of the finest performances to date, winning gold against M Abel (Sheffield Dragon) with Z Gateley taking bronze.
S Ryan (Watford) could not be stopped as she powered her way to victory in the under 18’s -51kg with A Jones taking silver.
Boys semi contact under 18’s -55kg witnessed a brilliant fight between B Rowan (Kuei-Ling) and N Pugsley (Gilmore Kickboxing), toe to toe exchanges which was such a close fight but in the end Rowan piped him at the post with G Smith taking bronze.
J Haywood (Gilmore Kickboxing) is one to watch out for in the future as he had to overcome a very hard semi final fight with (Mushin Kai) D Gallagher. In the finals he met D Lowe (Aldbury School of Black belts) and won in fine style in the boys under 18’s -63kg.
C Hughes (Shorai) wasted no time as he beat J Pitman to take gold with D Brown (Emulous) taking bronze.
Boys’ under 18’s +71kg, young M Lewis (Mushin Kai) son of the legendary Alfie Lewis is certainly following in his fathers footsteps defeated L Golder (NSTK) in a one sided final.
Women’s’ semi contact -60kg. I.S.K.A. World Champion, L Morrison, continued where she left off last time, taking gold with V Bartle (Peterborough Freestyle) taking silver in her first competition for nearly 3 years.
G Devaney won gold against I Proctor (Team Centurion). The Sheffield Dragon fighter pulled out all the stops on the day. A Glasspool took 3rd spot.
Undefeated T Billingham (EMA) could not be stopped once again as she beat G Morgan (Hicks Karate) into 2nd place while it was a return to action for C Upon who took 3rd spot.
Men’s -67kg. Great category saw I Hollett (LKA), K Findley (Peterborough Freestyle) and R Todd (TMA/Kwon England) who would take the honours in this section. Findley had a hard fight with Todd. It had to go into sudden death which Findley edged through only to meet a fired up Hollett who was in no mood to let slip. Good techniques’ going in over two rounds but it was a hungrier Hollett who came through with flying colours to take gold with Todd taking the bronze.
Men’s semi contact -71kg, a fired up K Findley stepped up in this section determined for gold after taking silver in the -67kg. He met S Whyley from the Winsper’s camp and this fight lived up to all expectations. Hard shots flowing, at one point both fighters clashed and Findley sustained a bloody nose but he carried on and went on to win the finals in fine style, with last years champion P Peverelle taking a bronze medal.
D Hughes was on fire in the -75kg but he couldn’t stop a fierce K Swaby (Urban Gym) taking the gold medal by one point.
S Savage (Olympian Kickboxing) took on all comers in the -81kg. In the final he met R Bulpin (Brotherhood Kickboxing Academy). This fight went all the way point for point, but Savage edged in front in the last ten seconds to take victory.
D Noble (Blackpool) fought and beat N Young (ADMA) in the men’s -86kg. However, Young managed to take gold in the +91kg from G Walker (Ashield Tiger).
Over in the boy’s light contact -25kg (Mushin Kai) O Kamara took his 2nd gold medal of the day beating L Bridgewaters from (Winsper’s Gym) then he stepped up to -30kg and made it a hatrick when he fought and defeated K Zamara (LMBBA). This young man has a bright future ahead of him.
-35kg, R Gifford beat R Marsden into 1st place while in the -40kg M Carter (Hythe Dragons) piped J Poolton (Winsper’s) into 2nd place.
Boys light contact -45kg, E Coke met team mate B Behan in the finals and gave a good account of himself to take the gold medal. Also team mates in the +45kg witnessed brothers J Sellamuthu and M Sellamuthu from (Hythe Dragons) battled it out for 1st place but it was J Sellamuthu who took the honours with A Brown (Team Centurion) taking bronze.
Over in the girl’s light contact -35kg M Mingle (ISKA World Champion 2010) continued where she left off fighting a fierce P Nealon (Peterborough Freestyle). Both girls gave a good account of themselves but it was Mingle (Gilmore Kickboxing Gym) who took the gold in the end.
Girl’s light contact +45kg, E Kirk (Team Centurion) defeated A Farley (Winsper’s) in a close fight.
After many years watching young S Rankin on the national circuit, this young fighter has got better and better. With the years gone by he fought and defeated a good P O’Sullivan (LMBBA) in a great final to take the gold medal back to (Liverpool LKA) in the under 18’s -45kg section.
There was no stopping talented fighter and World Champion, D Gallagher (Mushiu Kai Gym). He fought and beat C Portman (Winsper’s) in a good final to take gold with D Lowe taking the bronze medal.
-71kg - C Hawthorne ISKA World Champion 2010 from Gilmore camp showed no mercy as he defeated D Brown (Emulous) into 1st place with J Harvie taking bronze for Fighting Fit.
+71kg - J McDowell met team mate A Hellet (SKA) and took the gold in a good fight.
Over in the girl’s light contact -50kg, S Ryan (Watford) defeated E Bonie Jones (SKA) to take gold. This future world champion has all the ingredients to win every time.
R Green (Winsper’s) met world silver medallist C Hilton (MBBSA) in the -54kg and what a fight this was. Both going in strong, combination techniques followed from both fighters but it was a more determined Green who took the fight with B Usher taking bronze.
N Ryan (Watford Kickboxing) met L Smith in the finals of the -66kg. This young lady, I can’t see anyone stopping her from a world title as she took gold. J O’sullivan (Lee Mat) took bronze.
Men’s light contact -67kg, R Davis (Wayne Stokes) battled with S Bates (Scotland) to take the gold with D Harkas (KA Fight Club) taking home the bronze. British and European champion E Swaby (Urban Kickboxing Gym) fought D McCullouch (Scotland) in the finals. He showed excellent skills to take gold in the -75kg section.
C Lawton (Sacah Martial Arts Centre) fought S Bugh (Emulous) in the -86kg and won gold.
Over in the men’s veteran light contact -75kg P Smallman (Synergy KB) fought defeated D Stork (Weston Warriors).
Men’s Masters light contact -75kg D Butlin (Mansfield KB) also defeated D Maston (KAOS Wolverhampton) into 1st place while J Cheetham (Team Centurion) took the honours in the +75kg.
Over in the MMA, L Hasdell called all the fighters into the area to explain the different rules, different formats and different time limits. A time limit of 4 minutes on each fight was agreed which is stated in ISKA MMA rules.
Then it was down to business as usual. One thing I did notice before they all started was the tremendous conditioning which of course is important in mixed martial arts. You need the conditioning to outlast your opponent as rounds lag on.
I spoke to one of the fighters who were up first in the -66kg, J Johnston (Winsper’s Gym). I asked him what his goal was today, he said, to finish all my opponents within 20 seconds so that I do not need to worry about going the full length in fights. To my surprise he took to the floor and within 20 seconds his opponent J Taylor (Black Night) tapped out after receiving a knee strike therefore leaving Johnston to take the first MMA gold for ISKA
In the men’s -77kg J Constantion (Leicester Shoot) was constantly moving, he kept changing positions and engaging into explosive movements, this was too much for J Shore (NSBB) to take and Constantion took gold in this weight section with ease.
Men’s -84kg - who says Paul Gilmore’s Kickboxers can’t MMA. Well he shocked a few people when G Mascold (Gilmore MMA) came up against C Krzysik (Black Knight Gym). Mascold kept breaking his opponents breathing pattern using a wide variety of different movements and using his entire body at full intensity for the whole 4 minutes to take the gold medal in the finals, great fight.
The men’s -93kg saw M Hadaway (SSJ) looking like he had been training for a triathlon. You could tell he looked organised. He met C Krzysik in the final and it looked like a workout for the SSJ fighter. He had strength and also plenty of gas in the tank which lead him to take gold.
-120kg - Paul Gilmore said if you are tired you are not strong, if you are tired you are not fast, if you are tired you don’t have good techniques and if you are tired you’re not even smart. Word of wisdom what took him to the final and won gold. The crowd took to the MMA and that’s what sports are needs right now.
The Kata and forms area kicked off at 11.30am on area 6. The Kids -13years Japanese style started the proceedings, with Jade Maltby (Sheffield Dragons) taking the ISKA English title. In the above section another win for Sheffield Dragons with Grace Smelt receiving a gold medal after a strong Kata performance. ISKA World Champion Jamie Davis proved why he is the champ with an outstanding Po Dai routine winning that section. Later on Jamie entered the -13years Korean Style where he made it two golds. In the Adult Korean Style it was between Vernard Fong and Andy Wu both executing clean kicks and punches but it was the balance of Vernard that won the judges vote with Andy settling for Silver. In Soft style forms both Nat Whiles (StageTrix) and Helen Osborn showed true core strength and elegance in their routines, both taking gold.
Next up were the Creative sections with Brandon Scott (Infinity Martial Arts) head to head with Adam Parker (Crawley Black Belt Academy) with no acrobatic or aerial maneuvers allowed it was down to their Martial Arts basics to take the win. Judges awarded the gold to Adam after Brandon was short of the time. In the equivalent Extreme section with 8 competitors battling it out, Jack Fansworth (Team Evolution) took bronze with Jade Maltby in silver and Megan Abel (Sheffield Dragons) performed a well-balanced form with tricks, kicks and creative hand combinations receiving a gold medal.
The audience stepped back when the weapon sections were called out with various arrays of weaponry being unmasked from their cases from Bo Staff, Nunchaku, Kama and Extreme Sword. In the -13 Creative weapons Adam Parker took his third gold medal of the day beating Aaron Lee Benwell’s (MSJBBA) high level body rolls and Mitchell Brothwood (Team Vision) settled for bronze after dropping his sword but hats off to him for taking a risk. In the Creative weapons Junior Boys Sam Aisthorpe (MSJBBA) won gold with his Bo Staff routine, this boy is improving every time he competes, well done. Extreme weapons -13years saw another good turn out with 6 competitors all gunning for the top spot. Jack Bloor (Team Evolution) took bronze position followed by team member Jack Fansworth in silver and Luke Underwood (Team Vision) winning with his energy pumping routine following in the footsteps of his brother Jack. In Junior boys Extreme Sections in Open Hand Nat Whiles ended in bronze position with Matthew Lightfoot (Team Resurrection) loosing the top position by 0.2 against Luke Scott (Team Stagetrix). The tables turned in the weapons section as Jack Bloor, Luke Scott and Jack Underwood (Team Fusion) all lost 0.5 from the judges’ score after dropping their weapons. It was up to Nat Whiles to finish his routine without any mishaps, which he did, winning him the gold, with team member Luke Scott in silver and Jack Underwood bronze.
Katie Alker (LKFA), Chloe Michael (Team Stagetrix) and Emily Threw (Team Evolution) showed that girls can do it too, taking home gold medals in their chosen sections. Andy Wu showed off his Nunchaku skills in the men Extreme weapons category pulling out all the stops from flips, strikes and releases, his efforts were rewarded with a gold medal.
Last but not least was the Extreme Martial Arts Tricks Battle. With 6 Trickers in attendance, this made for a good battle. Round 1 saw Joe Aisthorpe (MSJBBA) against Lewis Lightfoot (Infinity Martial Arts). Joe flipped his way to the semi finals. Luke Scott went up against Andy Wu who unfortunately let himself down with landings of his moves taking Luke to the final. It was against reigning English Champion Robert “Blaze” Hughes (Airborne Entertainment). Both trickers defied gravity with Corkscrews, Swing-through, round off axe full twists and some fancy break dancing. Judges awarded the win to Robert with Lukerin silver position and Andy Wu bronze.
That completed the Kata and Forms sections of the Championships. Joe Hallett ISKA Director of Forms would like to thank everyone for attending and a huge thanks to the officials John Swift, Ryan Doyle, Wendy Wilshere and Jeff Scott. Joe Halett is looking forward to seeing all the qualified competitors at the first ISKA UK squad training session.
The competition came to a close and the ISKA team would like to thank all the competitors and spectators who turned up on this lovely day. Dave Hughes ISKA Chief Referee who did a great job keeping all five areas’ moving all at once. The likes of Richard Allan, Chris Williams, Joe Tierney, Paul
Gilmore, Dave Ryan, Jay Morrison, Peter Markland, Richard Phillips, Angela Hebden, Andy Desa, Owen King, Kyle Findley, Dave Hughes, Tony Baldwin and Chris Ladyman
Joe Hallet, ISKA Form Director, ran the forms section smoothly while his mother Maria and Paul Hallet
Who did a fantastic job on the draw sheets.
Well done to those who qualified for this years European Championships which will be held in Lido Di
Jesolo, Italy, from 25th – 29th October 2011
Those who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd are all invited to the ISKA National squad training the first one on Sunday May 15th at the North Solihull Sports Centre, Conway Road, Chelmsley Wood, West Midlands at 12pm-3pm. The rest of the dates will be confirmed via the ISKA website http://www.iska.org.uk and also on Face book.
Next event is the ISKA British Championships on the 10th July 2011 in Birmingham. Hope to see you all there. For more information please contact me on 07788476478 or .
19 April 2011
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