Competitons 2009
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British Championships,
University of Wales, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff 22nd November 2009
Well done to students from the West Midlands Tae Kwon Do Clubs, Below are the results
Ashley Whale - Silver - Girls Blue Belt Middle Weight Sparring.
Pipa Lock - Silver - Girls Green Belt Middle Weight Sparring.
Jivean Clair - Bronze - Individual sparring.
Jivean Clair - Bronze - Team Sparing.
Hanna McCreedy - Bronze - Girls Green Belt Middle Weight Sparring.
Thomas Smith - Bronze - Mens Yellow Belt Sparring.
Once again well done to everyone.
Scottish Champoinships, on Saturday 5th September 2009
Jivean Clair was on top form once again after wining bronze for fighting in the North Midlands back in July 2009, he has now won the West Midlands Club he is a student of yet another bronze medal in individual sparring.
Mr Clair is in the middle weight boys devision. It was a hard bronze for him, as he had won one of his fights clearly on points, Untill a judge over ruleed it and made it a draw.
So the fight had to be taken again. Jivean had clearly won the bout but
sadly his last round only awarded him the bronze medal, in a very close fight.
West Midlands Takes North Midlands by Storm, Sunday 19th July
WEST MIDLANDS TAKES NORTH MIDLANDS BY STORM:
It was another successful day for West Midlands TKD as four students from Dudley participated in the tournament. Three entrants from the Dudley club all won medals in their sparring categories. Entering were Andrew Moore (blue belt), Jivean Clair (red belt), Chelsey James (red tag) and Claire Southall (1st degree black belt) all worked hard, training extensively for the competition, and their work seems to have paid off!
Jivean Clair (aged13) was on top form reaching the semi finals in his heavily contested division, through precisely timed punches and a flurry of side kicks. With powerful techniques and phenomenal speed, he fought off his competitors only to narrowly miss out on a place in the final. He sparred well defending with considerable vigour and accuracy only to be outpointed in the final minutes of the semi-final round. Jivean took bronze in the Red Belt Boys’ Middleweight division; a well earned achievement for a brilliant point scorer.
Andrew Moore was also in the North Midlands tournament and fought well against his opponent in the Mens Heavyweight Blue Belt Division. Throwing a mass of precisely aimed kicks and punches and defending well he looked as though he would go through to the end. Andrew was outpointed by his rival but has gained invaluable sparring experience form the tournament.
Another member form the Dudley club who really kicked up a storm was Chelsey James (aged 7). Throughout her bouts Chelsey adhered to the tenants of tae kwon do: perseverance and indomitable spirit. Reaching the final Chelsey fought extremely well, at only 130cm high her competitor had a clear height advantage. Although Chelsey threw a series of turning kicks and a whirlwind combination of punches, her competitor was ahead on points.
Half way through the match Chelsey took a fatal side kick to the stomach and even though she was knocked over, she bravely continued to spar. Chelsey achieved a silver medal in the Blue Belt Girls Pee Wee Division but although missing out on gold she took so much more from the tournament. Chelsey has the ability to persevere, and walk away with her head held high. She is an asset to herself, her club and indeed her family- I have never before witnessed such bravery from someone so young.
Also competing from Dudley was Claire Southall (aged 18). Claire entered both the patterns and Black Belt Ladies Sparring division. Having never before attempted to perform a pattern at a competition Claire worked extremely hard practicing her chosen 1st degree pattern Poe Eun. Although not achieving a medal, Master Towndrow gave Claire her highest points score and the experience has helped her to sharpen her technique. She came up against second and third degree black belts with more experience and has learnt a lot about performing patterns from these brilliant technicians. Claire also entered the ladies sparring division and after a gruelling day took home a bronze medal.
Lisa Brown (3rd degree black belt) also attended the tournament to umpire various divisions. Also attending was instructor Vince Farquharson, who trained his students hard for their competitions. On the day he supported the competitors and took the time to referee a number of matches.
Midlands Championships
Kettering Leisure Centre, 5th July 2009
6 Entrants from Bewdley TAGB joined up with 2 from Hagley TAGB, both under the instruction of Katie Billingham to battle for their local areas in the Midlands championship.
Two young brothers from Hagley, Oliver, 9, and Joshua Sheppard, 11, entered for the first time in both patterns and sparring events. In a category of over 60 boys under 16 they missed out on the finals in the patterns division, but Oliver battled through to take the silver trophy in the Boys Yellow Belt Pee Wee division. His small stature was easily compensated by his flexible leg techniques and he used skilled head kicks, each giving him 3 points over his opponent. He fought through 6 rounds in his large division- a real challenge for his first ever competition but he did his club proud, winning the first ever trophy for Hagley TAGB, a beginners club which is still in its first year.
From Bewdley TAGB, also still primarily a beginners club, 2 bronze, 1 silver and 6 gold trophies were won. An outstanding result for any club, let alone one whose students have still only entered just a few major competitions.
Simon Whale took 3rd place in Men’s Green Belt Heavy Weight Sparring Division. At the mature age of 41, Whale would normally have competed as an Executive, but in this regional tournament he was pitched against much younger more nimble opponents. But, as in previous matches, he proved age is only a state of mind, using his fast foot work and intelligent movements to storm through the rounds to the semi finals where he lost out to the eventual winner of his division.
His daughter Ashlee Whale, 14 year old Bewdley High School Pupil, defended her Heavy Weight Girls Green Belt title, won earlier this year in the English Championships. Once again she did her father, her club and her town proud as she outclassed all others across the Midlands heading straight to the final and once again lifting the Gold trophy for Bewdley.
There were 3 first time entrants to competitions from Bewdley; Pippa Lock, 14, who took the Bronze in the Girls Yellow Belt Middle Weight division, Lee Statham, 25 whose lighting fast moves in the Men’s Light Weight division earned him the silver trophy, and Stacey Knight, 21 who entered both patterns and sparring. Despite being the lowest possible grade in a division of experienced technicians, Stacey walked away with the Gold trophy for the basic pattern Chonji Tul. In the Ladies Yellow Belt Heavy Weight Sparring, Knight proved her skill once again, wiping out all opponents on her way up to the Semi Finals. Here she came face to face with Bewdley’s experienced fighter Claire Bishop, who represented Bewdley in the Welsh National Championships and took Bronze. With an All Bewdley TAGB final the ladies fought for Silver and Gold, and with only a two point lead on the final bell it was Bishop who took the gold.
Hungry for more, Ashlee Whale and Pippa Lock joined forces in the Girls Tag Team Sparring and stormed to further victory, securing another first place for Bewdley, and Stacey Knight decided 2 trophies were not enough and teamed with her former rival Bishop to dominate the Ladies Tag Team Sparring.
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All in all it was a fantastic day for both Bewdley and Hagley TAGB with their best ever competition results. The two teams, who often train together, were beaming on their journey home. Instructor Katie Billingham said “It’s a great result for any club, but when you think they are all still in their first year of training it’s absolutely amazing. These guys deserve every bit of success they get, they put in 110% and they reap the rewards. I can’t wait to see what happens in the British Championship in October after a summer of training!”
The schools cater for all ages and abilities. For more information on your local Tae Kwon Do School call Katie Billingham on 07837 459 044.
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