Results and Reviews
Hanshi Pete Spanton Training course, June 2005
Attended by: Nici Gittens and Nia ReesThe second West Wales course of the year started off with some powerful basics and moved quickly into some good combinations warming us all up for the day ahead. We particularly focused on attacking or defensive urakens. Getting into partners we practised the combinations and varied the use of the uraken depending on the attackers move which meant having to stay alert in case your partner went forwards instead of backwards! As usual the floor started to turn into a puddle so we stopped for a well-needed break.
The second session was all about the Pinan katas, focusing on the application of pinan shodan and yondan and the bunkai of sandan.
The day seemed to fly by as we were into the last session of ippon techniques with partners, again making good use of the uraken and mawashi-geri's.
Some time was left to recap on the weekend's course before the traditional inside out and backward kata with all the trimmings! Hanshi Spanton chose Kushanku this time (enabling some lucky purple and below grades to take a well deserved rest) with application, kicks on step through, alternating punches chudan jodan, gedan barai after soto and shoto uke and of course all starting to the right. Many press-ups were carried out and after having to hold the last stance as deep as possible for a considerable time the day ended with a somewhat feeble and grimacing Kiai!
Another fantastic course and I must send my congratulations to Sensi' Barbara and John on their promotions to 6th and 5th Dan. I Wish I had stayed to see the shock on their faces!
Nici
British Higashi Championship, March 2005
Report will follow shortly!British University Championships (BUSA), Feb 2005
Report will follow shortly!Bushi-Kai competition, Nov 2004
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Ben Richings, Geriant Sullivan, Chris Campbell, Cathryn and RathikaLast competition of the year got off to a great start when Ben watched his Kata competition thinking it was another category and therefore missed it! Kata didn't go well for Nici either (performing Seishan) who went out in the first round. Refereeing was already showing to be somewhat dodgy when the welsh champion went out in the second round to an unknown! Anyway, a short break while the children fought and then onto the mens 4th kyu and below category with Ben, Geriant and Chris all fighting. (For Geriant and Chris this was their first compeition). Ben was up first and won fight by 2 points, fighting well but getting a few hard hits to the face (REFEREE!!) Chris was up next and fought well but lost out to a better opponent on the day. (Look forward to seeing you in more compeitions now Chris!)
Geriant was up next and also made it through to the next round. Then the organisation of the category went to pieces when Ben was apparently due to fight the same person he fought in the first round in the second round again. Great-a bye we thought and into the third round.... but no Bens first fight was called null and void and he had to go back to the first round and start again! He sailed through this fight to win 8-0 and then had to fight the guy he had already fought and beaten (confused?..we were!) Luckily Ben fought well to beat his opponent again (much to Nici's pleasure who had already spent much time arguing with the ref's by this point). Geriant's next fight was a bye due to a previously injured opponent which meant Ben and Geraint were now fighting each other for a place in the final. It was a good fight with Geriant coming out on top beating Ben by 2 points. The final was a very close fight with Geriant and his opponent well matched. The fight had to go to enchosen (extra time and first to score) and Geriant narrowly missed out on a point to come second (even though many points previous to this were blantantly in!)
Congratulations to Ben on his Bronze and Geriant with his Silver.
Next up was senior female black belt with Cathryn in her first fight. Fighting well she went out to a fellow Higashi member Stacey but had good fun doing so! Nici up next who also went out in the first round (not helped by more bad refereeing decisions). After such a long day it was decided to pull the mens team from the competition and with no other female teams to fight we all decided it was time to go home and rest! Good day, despite some of the organisation, and many thanks for the supporters who came to watch especially Raithka who was camera women for the day! Roll on 2005 compeitions!
(Awaiting photos)
Welsh Open National Championships, Nov 2004
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Nia Rees and Sam JonesThe second Welsh national championships this year was an open competition held here in Cardiff. Both Nici and Nia started off in the Senior ladies Kata (representing Welsh Higashi Karate Kai, WHKK). Nici performed Niseishi and Nia, Higashi Sho but neither made it past the first round despite good katas. After quite a considerable few hours passing the senior ladies kumite finally took place and after the training course the day before and the long wait we were both knackered before even getting on the matts. Nia had a bye in the first round but was unfortunately knocked out in the second round despite a good fight. Next Nici was up and despite fighting like an idiot for the first minute eventually managed to score some points to win the fight. The second round however against Michelle (also from the WHKK) proved to be not as easy and Nici was knocked out of the comptition. (Michelle went onto to win an impressive Bronze medal, knocked out finally by the former Welsh Champion). Sam was fighing next for her old club, Talbot, and fought impressively to the semi-finals before being knocked out by the eventual winner gaining her a bronze medal.
[The WHKK team (Nia, Michelle and Dawn) also went on to take a bronze medal in the ladies team kumite.]
Well done to all who entered! (See the West Wales website, http://www.wwkw.fsnet.co.uk/ for a report from them)
(Awaiting photos)
Hanshi Pete Spanton Training course, Nov 2004
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Nia ReesThe usual three yearly trip was made down to Narbeth (West Wales) to train with Hanshi Pete Spanton (8th Dan) for the day. There was a resonable turn out and training got underway at 10.30am. The first session consisted of Basics and some great combinations that us all sweaty, knackered and confused before long. A small break was needed after this to dry out the floor!
Next up a few more combinations to keep us on our toes and then kata and bunkai. Started off with Pinan Shodan and then the senior grades moved on to Kushanku. A well deserved lunch break after this and then the next session was Ippons (everyone loves them!). Also nice to see Hanshi Spanton demonsrating them on John (Fishguard) although I don't think John saw anything after one of the techniques (except maybe the back of his eyelids!). Most Ippons had us on the floor in most cases and I'm sure June was trying her hardest to break my ribs!
Last session gave us time to do some kata and then getting us all to do Kushanku in the wrong direction with lots of add ins and of course lots of press-ups for the wrong moves!
Big thanks to Hanshi Spanton for another great course enjoyed by all and already looking forward to the next one in Feb, lets see if we can take a big squad from Cardiff down then.
(Awaiting photos)
British Higashi Competition, Nov 2004
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Sam Jones, Nia Rees and Ben RichingsAfter arriving in style all squeezed into my fiesta we all desparately tried to stay awake to wait for our events. (Saturday morings are meant for staying in bed!!)
Nia was up first, competing for her old club (WHKK) in the Team Kata. An excellant Higashi Sho should have seen them into 3rd place but they missed out narrowly on a medal.
Next Nia and Nici were both in for Individual kata, Nia performing Higashi Sho and Nici, Wan-shu. Both performed well but the competition proved to tough to bring home any silver ware.
Kumite in the afternoon with Nia, Sam and Nici all competing in the same category (Ladies Black and Brown belt). Nia and Nici both went out in the first rounds to some tough competitors but Sam sailed her way into the semi-finals. Sam narrowly missed out on a place in the final due to an off target Mawashiuchi in the last seconds that was scored (grrrr!!!), but came home with a well deserved third place. Well done to all those who competeted, especially Sam, and big thanks to Ben who came along to support.
AU Awards Ball, March 2004
Attended by: Nici, Steve, Sean, Dan, Vicki, Jen, Sarah and ChrisThe group met at Incognito's after the tournament earlier that day, everyone looked great (check out the pics). After a few drinks we headed up to the union to get some of the free champagne on offer. We sat down for the meal, which, unfortunately for us had run out!!
After more drinks to console our lack of food we were given four more free bottles of wine. This, as well as the free champagne, the drinks in the pub and the lack of food meant that some of us were a little 'worse for where'. Depsite this Nici and Steve still managed to make it on to stage to collect their awards ('Full colours' for Nici and Steve and 'Club Honours' for Steve).
The night rounded off with more drinks and dancing and an inevitable trip to the chippy. It was a great night and i urge as many people to get tickets next year as possible. It really is the best ball of the year!
South-West Regional BUSA Tournamnent, March 2004
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Steve DaviesThe tournament began at 10am with junior kata for which Cardiff unfortunately had no representative. A high standard was shown by all the attending universities. Next was Senior grade kata in which both Steve and Nici were taking part. After tough competition Nici managed to take the bronze medal whilst Steve took gold. The competition then moved on to kumite in which Nici showed her experience and skill in gaining a silver medal. Steve was knocked out of his round in the quarter finals after a hard, and painful fight (head injuries all round). Nici then joined Bath C ladies team as they were one person short and managed to lead them to victory over Bath B, eventually just losing out in the final to Bath A.
Steve and Nici were also presented with a bottle of wine each for their help on the referee's table during the day - a nice gesture that got the AU awards ball that evening off to a good start.
Congratulations to all that took part and achieved medals!
PS. in the swing of winning things, Nici also brought home a t-shirt in the raffle for the second consecutive year!
Joint Martial Arts Social, 28th February
Drunkard of the night: Vicki TannerNight started at 7pm where we all met at Lloyds No.1 Bar in Cardiff Centre. Several beverages were consumed to get the night going. Following an early departure by Nici and Rach, the others moved on to Varsity where an area was reserved for a largely garlic orientated buffet - useful for those single people amongst us.
Vicki and Dave got their groove on at the dance floor while the rest of us continued to take advantage of the extremely cheap drinks until the need for 'dance kata' overcame us and most of us ended up dancing.
Cheers to Taekwondo for their organisation, to varisty for their great food and hospitality, and to that girl at the bar from kick-boxing. You know who you are (get in touch)
See the Photo Gallery for some photos coming soon
Honourary members of the evening: Emma, Marion, Del, Ben, Sarah - and of course Jen & Rach. Cheers guys.
BUSA 2004 - Manchester
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Sarah Whitson, Dannii Whelan, Steve Davies, Sean Tobin, Ben Richings, Martin Kelly, Dave Preston, Nathan Davies, Sean DaviesThe Team met at the back of the students union at 5am with the plan of leaving by half past. Unfortunately, in true Wado Kai style, we didn't get away until 6am after Sensai Davies and the other lazy gits slept late and left the rest of us stood in the cold for an hour.
The tiring trip to the Manchester was only capped by the fact that President Davies had not brought a map - leaving the team lost in Manchester and consequently arriving 2 hours late. However, luckily many Universities had done the same and the competition started at 1pm.
First up were the Kata competitions. Nici was unfortunately knocked out at the first round by the competitor who then went on to eventually win gold. Steve got through 6 rounds to the semi-final and was then knocked out just shy of a medal. In his first competition, Martin Kelly was knocked out in the first round of his individual kata for forgetting half of the moves (press-ups at training for him). The team event saw the Cardiff squad once again lose out on a bronze medal after a disputable call by the judges.
In team fighting (Sarah & Nici), Sarah Whitson made a good effort in her first fight at competition level but the team lost out and did not progress to the next round.
In men's team fighting (Dave, Sean, Steve, Ben & Martin), the squad progressed to the third round with fantastic efforts from all.
In individual rounds Ben Richings gained a bronze medal, continuing Cardiffs' record of bringing medals home from every major event for 7 years. Nici Gittens progressed to the final rounds of her individual category to narrowly miss out on a bronze medal. In Martin Kelly's first competition he did well to win his first two fights against much senior grades in the individual category. Nathan Davies also made a good effort in his first ever fight.
Well done to the whole team. I hope you all enjoyed it as i certainly did. Cheers to Rach, Dan, Vic, Jen, John, Charlie and Katrina for all their support.
The hotel fun cannot be published on the web!!
Check the photo gallery for pics.
Shihan Pete Spanton Course, November 15th
Attended by: Nici Gittens, Steve DaviesShihan Spanton made his last visit of the year to Narbeth in West Wales for the weekend of 15th November. The course runs in Port Talbot on the Thursday and then in Narbeth on the Friday night and Saturday. Nici and Steve made their way down on the Saturday morning and after dragging themselves away from the rugby on T.V. in MacDonalds (Traditional breakfast before the Narbeth course!) we arrived in plenty of time before the fun began!
The day started with basics as a warm up and then we went straight into Kata and Kata Bunkai, especially for the senior grades. In the afternoon the second session was again spent on Kata with the Black Belts concentrating on the Higashi Katas, Brown Belts perfecting Chinto and Passai and the lower grades working on the Pinans. There was also time to fit in some Ippons and self defense techniques with Shihan Pete demonstrating on Sensei John who was speaking in a slightly higher voice afterwards!
After Lunch the last session had us all blasting through combinations and then Katas with added variations to keep us on our toes, and doing lots of press-ups!
Good day had by all, the course was well attended with clubs from Cardiff, Camarthen, Fishguard, Narbeth, Port Talbot and St.Clears. Next course is in February, look out on the calendar for more information.
Nici
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1) Nici & Steve with Shihan Pete Spanton. 2) Group shot. 3) The group warming up
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