The 4^th October 2008 saw the Kimura Shukokai Karate Kent squad attend the Kimura Cup national competition in Stourbridge, West Midlands. After the traditional light team/parents meal together on the Friday all competitors got an early night for the following days events.

This year we had 17 competitors from the Kingswood Club attend with many for whom it was their first big national competition. Everyone had trained so hard this year with extra training sessions and squad runs.

The day started with all of the adult kata events with the adult team Kata comprising of Sensei Chris, Sensei Katie and Jasmine Pomeroy performing the Kata Seinchin. They performed the Kata well and were only just beaten in a 3 -2 decision going in favour of the Dudley club.

The next category saw Sensei Katie perform two kata, Paiku and Nipapo. Both kata were strong and Sensei Katie was equal on points for the top spot thereby taking her in to the final. In that final, she showed real strength, power and good Kimura Shukokai technique in her kata taking the Gold medal for the first time.

The rest of the competitors from Kent also performed well in the kata with Ben Pomeroy achieving 3^rd place in the 4^th – 5^th Kyu kata and Jasmine Pomeroy also achieving 3^rd place in the cadet black belt kata. Sensei Chris was unfortunate to come up against the eventual champion in the first round but once again performed a strong Seipai. In the junior grade open kata Martyn Jones, Richard Tew and Malcolm Styles all performed good Kata with Richard winning a place in the final with a very strong Pinan Sandan. In the final however, Richard came up against a more experienced competitor and just missed out on gold, thus gaining second place for Kent.

The junior grade team kata comprising of Joshua Doran, Micheal Periera and Maria Periera all performed well and you could see the level of training that they had put in on the preceding weeks. They unfortunately lost to the eventual winners Dudley “A” but they have vowed to stick together as a team and next time, “watch out Dudley!” The senior grade kata team of Fern Jones, Elise Jones and Ben Pomeroy performing Jiin were always going to be up against some tough black belt competition and unfortunately on this occasion were unsuccessful BUT like the junior grade team they can only go from strength to strength if they stick together and others train alongside them. Next time it will be Kent “A” and “B” teams!

Then it was on to the cadet kumite in which we saw Kieran Manning in his first national competition take on the eventual winner of the category. In the 8-9yrs boys Jacob Tew, Thomas Manning, Ben Pomeroy and Michael Pereira all fought well in the early rounds with Michael and Ben taking joint 3^rd place. Then it was up to Jack Cutler and Joshua Doran in the 10-12yrs boys kumite both fought hard but were just being piped to the post by international competitors.

Ferne Jones was triumphant in the early rounds of the girls 8-9yrs Kumite resulting in a final where she fought like a tiger and took gold for Kent. Elise Jones, Fern’s sister also fought hard in her category taking a 3^rd place medal in the girls 10-12yrs Kumite. Josh Deane then took on the boys in the 14-15yrs Kumite gaining a bronze medal for Kent. Jasmine Pomeroy took on the girls in the 13-15yrs Kumite winning her a place in the final where her old rival Ashleigh Whyte just took gold leaving Jasmine in second place. The junior grade Kumite saw Richard Tew, Martyn Jones and Malcolm Styles all fight hard gaining valuable competition Kumite experience. Sensei Chris also fought very well just missing out on a place in the final, however gaining a very respectable bronze medal for the club.

Sensei Chris joined Rowan Fraser and Simon Schmit from KWarriors London in the lively Mens Team kumite event and defeated the team from Tsunami before losing out to Dudley and Stourbridge. There is nothing like a team event to bring the best out of you!!

The Ladies Open grade kumite was fought on a “round robin” basis but Sensei Katie fought well in all her bouts and reached the final undefeated. There she showed her strength and experience in seeing off her opponent to take Gold again for the Kent club.

After the presentations had taken place the ultimate award of the Kimura Cup was this year presented to Sensei Katie by Shihan Daniels, 8^th Dan and one of the 4 World Chief Instructors. This was the first time that the prestigious trophy has been awarded to someone from the Kent club but hopefully not the last.

We would like to thank the parents of the young competitors who continue to support the club and their children. It gives us great pleasure to teach all students and see them succeed, not just in competitions but also in reaching their own personal targets.

We would like to congratulate every student from the Kent club who competed, hope that everyone enjoyed himself or herself, and are ready to start training for the Nationals in March!

Oss!

Sensei Chris and Sensei Katie