ISKA English National Championships 2012
It may have been April fool’s Day on the 1st April but with 500 competitors and some of England’s top club teams all challenging for that national title, it certainly was a day to remember. The ISKA National Championships 2012 was the place to be.On such a busy day , with a huge task ahead it was time for the ISKA team to roll up their sleeves and get this competition going.
The quality of fighters and big teams which turned up, to name them, Mushin Kai, NSKA, Team Centurion, Gilmore Kickboxing, Alf’ Love Kickboxing, Watford Freestyle, TKA Evolution, Falcons, Elite, Winsper’s, Shuria, Stealth, NSBB, Team Goulding, Black Dragon, Warriors, Vipers, NSTK, Wolf’s DSA, Templar, Mad Dogs, Urban, Lighthouse, LKA and Fighting Fit Academy.
What a line up! What quality! What a competition! Karate, Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, MMA, you name it, the Stockland Green Leisure Centre was the venue in Birmingham for this high profile competition.
The day got underway with the girls -25kg and A. Todd (Target) taking the honours against A. Jukes (Evolution).
Starting with the -30kg, S. Dutton (Mushin Kai) was in no mood to mess about when she comfortably beat K. Callander (Urban) in the finals only to step up into the -35kg and had a good fight with K. Richards (Watford) and took her second gold with S. Bacon (Alf’s) taking a bronze medal. Girls -40kg, A, Kynaston (Falcons) had a tough fight against M. Knowles (Gouldings) but it was Kynaston who took the gold medal.
-45kg N. Bruntlett (Centurion) battled well to take gold against E. Meadows, her team mate, in a team Centurion final.
Over 45kg C. Buck (NSBB) snatched the title away from S. Snadden (Watford) with J. Street (Vipers) and A. Stupar (Evolution) taking joint 3rd place.
The boys section was also tough. -25kg J. Dagger (Wymac) met M. Drayton (TKA) which turned out to be a close encounter but Drayton edged him out for the gold medal. -30kg world champion Louis Cardin (TDD) pulled out all the stops from a keen O. Kamara (Mushin Kai) in a great final battle. Team mate J. Turner in the -35kg overcame a tough battle with H. Gilliband (NSKA) to also take gold.
-40kg J. Griffiths took gold against J. P. Wilson (Shorai) then stepped up to the -45kg and beat S. Prout (Urban) to do a double, well done. Meanwhile, team mate K. Pert won in style, B. Owen (Shorai) taking silver and G. Theo (Gilmore) took bronze.
Girls 13-17 years, V. Brewer (fighting fit) made sure of gold in the -40kg, Megan Abel piped S. Priestley to the post in the -45kg while the hook kick/round kick specialist S. Ryan (Watford) took gold against G. Luca (Wolf’s) in the -51kg.
J. Prout (Urban) took the honours in the -55kg against a hungry C. Bibby (Elite) with L. Jones (P’boro) and C. Scoble (Infinity) taking bronze.
-59kg K. Dearden (NSKA) battled with N. Hobbs (Warriors) in a great final but it was Dearden’s win made it to the post first. -63kg S. Snaden (Watford) won beating K. Byrone (Elite) into second place.
N. Ryan (Watford) followed in her sister’s footsteps beating K. Browning / Sampson (WKA) into second place in a good final.
Light Contact boys - there were wins for all the TKA Warriors in prospected categories. –U25kg M. Drayton, -30kg B. Cardin, -35kg J. Tuner, and -40kg P. Doherty. In the +45kg R. Grenfell defeated J. Hamilton (Stealth) in the finals to take gold.
Over in the girls light contact, S. Dutton (Mushin Kai) made no mistakes to take gold from C. Brewer (TS) for her third gold of the day in the -30kg then stepped up into the -35kg to defeat B. Wyatt in a tense final to secure her fourth and worthy gold medal.
Over in U45kg P. Groves (Templar) beat S. Woodrup (Alf’s) in a close final while world silver medallist B. Aliriza took top honours in +45kg against a hungry J. Street (Viper) with S. Spencer (TS) and P. Slater (Black Dragon) taking bronze.
Boys 13-17 years, A. Robert (Shorai) won gold in the U45kg. J. Cannon (NSKA) took top honours in the U51kg so did Toby Dearden (NSKA) in the U55kg.
E. Blake could not be stopped in the U59kg beating P. Ulikowski (Fighting Fit). K. Peat (NSKA) won the U63kg in fine style while E. Waugh and club mate D. Bannister won the U67kg and U71kg for (LKA).
Women’s semi contact -50kg saw S. Ryan double her tally for her second gold from S. Marsh (Falcons) in a great final.
I. Proctor (Centurion) European Champion defeated M. Deardon (NSKA) in a close fight to take gold.
-66kg (Fighting Fit) Lisa Smith made no mistakes taking gold against a battling R. Jones (P’boro) while world champion B. Sturzaker comfortably beat S. Hawkins (TKA) in a good final fight.
Men’s -63kg J. Haywood (Gilmore) won in style against B. Rowan (Emulous) as did Chris Noran (NSKA) U71kg against A. Morris (Elite).
U75kg saw a hungry G. Burcham (Mushin Kai) square off to M. Whatton (Nuffield) in a close but fast fight with Burcham taking gold.
In the U81kg, back in action after a long layoff, K. Buckley (P’boro Freestyle) returned in style to clinch this section from D. Merryweather (Lighthouse) with R. Todd taking bronze.
Also back in action was C. Lowe (NSBB) in the -86kg who beat J. Poole (Urban) with V. Ankrah (Mushin Kai) taking bronze.
Lewis Brown (TKA) did the double in the U91kg and the +91kg beating Gary Ellis (NSKA) and C. Aston (Mad Dogs) to take two gold medals.
Men’s vets - this was the fight of the day. Gordon Mitchell (Falcons) and Lee Smith (Goulding) battled relentlessly for 4 minutes point after point with a score line of 27 – 25, in the end it was (Falcons) Mitchell who came out on top in the 35-39 U75kg.
In the over 40 U25kg M. Hayson (Centurion) defeated P. Byrnes (Gilmores) in the final to take gold.
V. Ankrah (Mushin Kai) did the double in the U86kg and U91kg beating T. Raybould (Wolf’s) in one of the battles.
Men’s light contact over 40, T. Dias (UMAC) beat Chris Gill (UMAC) while D. Butlin (Mansfield) took bronze. Over 75kg saw P. McDonagh (NSTK) battle with M. Tracey (Gilmore) in a close final with McDonagh taking the honours.
The crowd gathered for the MMA round. With chief referee Jamie Goulding overseeing this showcase of excitement. -61kg I. Bently (Gouldings) defeated D McGrath (Atomic) in the u66kg.
G. Hall (Gilmore) took to the mat against N. Jones (Goulding) and found a way to make his opponent submit in fine style to take gold also did J. Constantinou (LSF) against J. Ocean (TKA) in the U77kg. U93kg J. Hilton (Gouldings) beat team mate E. Obasohan in a good final. While the novice men’s U71kg saw D. Trigell (Falcon) take gold from Ross Hiatt (Centurion).
Women’s MMA was good to watch with sisters in action, R. Jones taking on L. Jones in a close final fight but after 3 minutes it was R. Jones who took the gold medal back home to Peterborough and L. Jones had to settle for silver.
A great day packed with action and excitement, from semi contact to light contact to MMA and finally musical form. One can only say ISKA is certainly back on the map and pushing for bigger things. Our main aim is for everyone to have a great day out and come back so we can look after you again.
I would like to thank all the referees for your hard work. I would also like to thank Dave Hughes who carried out his homework, both Joe Hallett and Jamie Goulding for overseeing the forms and MMA sections. Kyle Findley, Paul Gilmore for weighing in the competitors, time keepers and all the staff who worked continuously throughout the day, and anyone who I have forgotten to mention! It was a fantastic day and we at ISKA are looking forward to our next competition which is at the London Open on Saturday 2nd June at the London Excel Seni weekend.
For further details or information please contact Clifton Findley on 07788 476 478 or Paul Gilmore on 07855 487 3245 alternatively you can email: or
5 April 2012
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