Competitons

West Midlands Takes North Midlands by Storm, Sunday 19th July

 

West Midlands TaeKwon Do Competitons

 

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.

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