General News

WAKO British Kickboxing Championships

February 16th & 17th 2008

Harvey Hadden Sports Centre

Report written by Chris Collymore

Introduction

Following on from last years event which was a major success, the gloves were off to make these championships even better by the organisers. A lot of effort had been put in behind the scenes to promote this year’s event and to get pre-registration done well in advance of the championships in order to improve the running of such a major event.

By the number of spectators and competitors that attended this years championships it was obvious that word had got round that this was a must for any serious martial art competitor to pit their skills on the squared circle at this prestigious event.

Day 1

This day consisted of the light and full contact, and judging by the amount of competitors from around the shores and associations that this was going to be a very exciting and tough day for the competitors and anyone who was anyone was in attendance, but also to add to the mix there were many new faces at this years event which added the unknown element to the day.

If you managed to get a podium place, you definitely would have to earn it. So lets begin the journey…. As usual by the amount of fights on the day I apologise if I have not covered everyone, but here are some the highlights of the day:

Boys Light Contact divisions

Scott Rankin from Liverpool Kickboxers had a great fight with Declan Rennie from Academy Assassins, in the Boys (-16yrs) -32kg category, Scott proved too strong on this occasion and received a well deserved gold medal. Next up were 2 fighters from the same gym ‘Temple Martial Arts’ this just shows the strength in depth in this camp. Aaron Towns and Kyle Young pitted their wits together in the Boys (-16yrs) -37kg division. Aaron Towns became this years’ British Champion.

Joshua Withers from the WCKA put in some fine performances to capture the Boys (-16yrs) -57kg division by beating Dominic Watson form Academy Assassin. Reuben Hemmings from the MUTA was having a great fight with Dion McKenzie from Northants Lau Gar but unfortunately Dion had to pull out of a fight because he popped his shoulder. Reuben was presented as the British Champion but these two great fighters will cross swords again no doubt.

Girls Light Contact divisions

Team Scorpio had a strong presence in this category, and proved they had a wealth of talent in depth by the number of podium places achieved. The likes of Georgia Rust won the Girls(-16yrs) -37kg, division, J Nilsson 1st in the Girls (-16yrs) -46kg division and Kelly Sivillis champion in the Girls (-16yrs) -60kg category. Another fighter to note was Shannon Ryan from Watford Freestyle who showed great skill in beating her opponent Brittany Jowers again from Scorpio in the Girls (-16yrs) -32kg division.

Ladies Light Contact divisions

Lucy Wolf demonstrated some great kicking ability by winning the Under 50kg division by beating Fayle Maloney into second place on this occasion. Yaz Anderson continued to impress by winning the Under 60kg title against Ros Wilson from Bristol Lau Gar. Carla Heslegrave from Strike K.Box outclassed all of her opponents by capturing the Under 70kg title and her team mate Jade Hicks was not to be outdone as she also won the Over 70kg division.

Mens Light Contact divisions

On paper this was going to be a very tough day, no matter what division you looked at it was difficult to pull out a winner.

Some of the well deserved winners on the day were Shaun Bradley from CMA freestyle had a tough final against Darren Chapman from Fighting Fit. Shaun finished the final the stronger fighter and picked up his 1st senior title. Christian Thompson from Physical Arts and Owen King from Nottingham Black Belts repeated their performances from last year to become British champions once again.

Zac Ward from Impact, Michael Page from GBMMA, Gavin Williamson from Sports Studio and James Gabb from Cotswold all put in fine performances also to be crowned WAKO British Champion.

The fighter of the day has to go to Dominic Specchio from Fighting Fit, what a class act he displayed on his journey to become this years Men’s -69kg British Champion. A true world beater in the years to come if he continues his progression.

Day 2

After the previous days explosive fighting the air was full of anticipation to see if this was going to be even better… lets find out.

Boys Semi Contact divisions

Liverpool Kickboxing and Maddogs were the strongest clubs in attendance in the boys semi contact divisions this year.

Liverpool Kickboxing picked 2 British titles in the shape of Scott Rankin Boys (-16yrs) -32kg who beat Adam Roberts Liverpool Shorai, and Tom Wilson won the Boys (-16yrs) -37kg category beating Tom Evans from Lee Matthews Black Belt Academy.

Maddogs also picked up 2 British titles in the shape of Tom Gould Boys(-16yrs) -42kg who beat Clayton Jones from SE Academy and Tom also doubled up by winning the Boys(-16yrs) -47kg by beating Arjun Dulay from SE Academy.

Jack Evans from the Lee Matthews Black Belt Academy put in a fine performance to win the Boys(-16yrs) -69kg division as did Marcus Lewis from Liverpool Freestyle by winning the Boys(-16yrs) +69kg division.

Girls Semi Contact divisions

Maddogs were a force again in this division, by picking up 3 British titles along the way.

Charlie Maddocks from Maddogs became triple British Champion in the Girls(-16yrs)-37kg, -42kg and -46kg divisions, by beating one of her closest rivals twice in the final Tammy Lee from Apollo, And finally her club mate in the Girls-46kg Kirsty Holmes.

Shannon Ryan from Watford Freestyle won with great skill in the Girls(-16ys)-32kg and not to be out done Tara Billingham Apollo Girls(-16yrs) -60kg and Jess O’Sullivan from NSBB Girls(-16yrs) +60kg also convincingly won their respective categories.

Ladies Semi Contact divisions

The strength in depth in the Ladies divisions is unbelievable, you have got established names and a host of new talent pushing them all the way.

The 4 main pillars of strength in this category and British Champions were Sharon Gill from Bristol Lau Gar (-50kg), Billie Abdulla Sheffield Lau Gar (-55kg), Lorraine Hughes Liverpool Shorai (-65kg) and Jem Campbell Northants Lau Gar (-70kg).

A special note must also go to Jenny Otoo Bristol Lau Gar who won the Ladies (+70kg) at her first time at the WAKO British championships.

Mens Semi Contact divisions

This year the level of competition right throughout the men’s divisions proves that Team GB will be a major force over the next few years as anyone who was anyone was in attendance looking to grab that elusive WAKO British title.

Dan Cartwright from Lee Matthews Black Belt Academy and Raj Chiripal from SE Academy stepped up into the Men’s category and met in the final, Dan came out as British Champion in the (-57kg) division.

Shaun Bradley from CMA did the double on Darren Chapman from Fighting Fit in the (-69kg) final to become 2x times British Champion. Jacey Cashman showed his dominance in the (-74kg) division.

Michael Page from GBMMA also did the double by beating Andy Cleeves from Bristol Lau Gar in the (-84kg) division. Damon Sansum from NSBB put in a great performance over the day to win (-89kg) division and Lee Matthews from Lee Matthews Black Belt Academy won the (+94kg) division.

Over the weekend it was refreshing to see competitors competing in both the Light and Semi contact divisions, it just shows the level of talent out there and the ability of those competitors who are vying to become the complete competitor.

The likes of Chris Collymore and Owen King lead the charge in this area and now we have the likes of Shaun Bradley, Micheal Page, Darren Chapman and Dominic Specchio to name but a few who are now taking up the mantle.

Musical Forms

 This year the Musical Forms stepped up to another level showing that in Great Britain there is a wealth of talent ready to challenge the world. The usual suspects were in attendance aswell as many new faces, which created an air of excitement.

Team Evolution and Team Fusion were the 2 main schools in attendance and there had to be some great competition between them both and they did not disappoint.

Again apologies for not mentioning everyone but here are some of the highlights of the day…

Girls Musical Forms

The battle between the 2 schools was in the Girls 10-12yrs Open Hand division, Paige Cerson from Team Fusion UK won that battle to become British Champion. Rubie Planson from Team Fusion repeated the win by beating Chloe Micheal from Team Evolution into 2nd place to become British Champion in the 13-15yrs Open Hand division.

In the Girls 10-12yrs weapons division Paige Cerson from Team Fusion once again had a great battle with Chloe Michael from Team Evolution and became double British Champion. Well done Paige! Not to be out done Rubie Planson from Team Fusion also became double British Champion in the Girls 13-15yrs weapons category.

Boys Musical Forms

Jack Foyster from Crawley BBA started off proceedings with a fine display to capture the Boys 10-12yrs Open Hand British title. James Gaskill from Team Evolution beat his team mate Ross Chatterton to win the Boys 13-15yrs Open Hand division. Another great showing in this category showing strength in depth for the future.

Jack Foyster from Crawley BBA became double British Champion by winning the Boys 10-12yrs weapons division. Team evolution made it a 1,2,3 in the Boys 13-15yrs weapons division. James Gaskill became double British Champion putting in a strong performance to out gun his competitors.

Ladies Musical Forms

The Ladies +16yrs Open Hand was a category was one not to be missed as you had two internationally known competitors going head to head… Chloe Bruce from Team Fusion up against Jessica Holmes from Team Evolution. The crowd was not disappointed by some fantastic performances put in by the competitors in this category. Chloe Bruce beat all comers to become this year’s WAKO British Champion.

Not to be outdone Jessica Holmes from Team Evolution re-grouped and put in a great performance in the Ladies +16yrs Weapons division to beat her closest rival Rubie Planson from Team Fusion into second place to become WAKO British Champion.

Mens Musical Forms

This was another category where the spectators were looking for fireworks and they were not disappointed. Exciting times are ahead for the forth coming championships by what I’ve seen today.

Lets get back to the action… In the Men’s +16yrs Open Hand category Phil Campbell from Team Paul Campbell put in a monster of a performance to beat all comers to capture his first WAKO British title of the day. The next and final division of the day was the Men’s +16yrs Weapons category and this proved to be a battle of the heavyweights.

It was Joe Hallet from Team infinity vs Phil Campbell from Team Paul Campbell, these two competitors put in one hell of a show and when the dust had finally settled there was only one winner Phil Campbell who picked up his second WAKO British title of the day. I am sure Joe Hallet will be back with a vengeance.

Finally… , special thanks must go to Lucy Edwards secretary WAKO GB re the behind the scenes organisation, this event would not of run so smoothly, Tom Hibbert MBE Pres WAKO GB and Christine Hibbert for their support and all the time keepers and referees who helped make this a weekend to remember.

See you all next year!!

N.B. Due to the size of the championships, the WAKO British Championships have now moved venues for 2009. They are being held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield on 21st & 22nd February 2009

  W.A.K.O Junior & Cadets European Kickboxing Championships

  Faro Portugal 6th November to 11th November 2007

  Report by Chris Collymore

  Total Medals 9 Gold, 10 Silver ,

  15 Bronze

  For the full report please click on the link below

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