Elite Open Karate Championships

A squad of 12 represented Kaizen Central today at the Elite Open Karate Championships. The day started with kata. First up was Taesha who set the standard and took gold. Great performance Taesha ! Next we had Chantai and Katy. Katy was unlucky to come up against a finalist of the group early on but performed her best Kihon to date. Chantai was also unlucky to lose out to one of the finalists but having made it to the semi finals earned herself a br...onze medal. Good experience for you both, well done. Hanna was up next and successfully made it through the first two rounds with two great katas then was unlucky to lose in the semi final, again to earn herself a bronze. Great result for your first competition Hanna, keep up the hard work. Sean was competing next and come up against a tough opponent in the first round. Performing his best kata to date he narrowly lost. Keep at it Sean and your improving performances will pay off. Olly was also unlucky with his kata missing out in the early rounds to a better competitor. Plenty of positives to take from his performance. Daniel and Ben performed two great katas and also were unlucky not to fall in the medals. Final kata competitor of the day saw Natasha being put up a group into a higher grade category. Her best Heian Nidan earned her a bronze in the higher category. Very high standard kata for your grade Natasha well done.

Taesha started the Kumite off again setting the standard with a well deserved bronze medal. Great all round performance Taesha well done. Chantai again was unlucky with the draw losing to the winner of her group. Her performance was much better than that of the silver medalist. Luck was not on your side Chantai but you showed fantastic spirit. Sean was up next. After going down by a couple of points early on he pulled off the best technique of th...e day with a jodan mawashegeri, he was just short of scoring another and narrowly lost the fight. You scored more points then the previous competition Sean showing you are always improving. Next we had 5 Kaizen Central fighters in the boys 12-13yrs. First fight was Aaron who took the lead, after a hard fight Aaron narrowly missed out on winning the fight. Good first competition and plenty of postives to take from today. Next we had Kyle who after working hard to come back from two points down took the lead. In the dying seconds Kyle landed a perfect gyaka zuki but unfortunately a questionable jodan kick from the opposition was scored rather Kyle's punch costing him the fight. You fought well Kyle but it wasn't to be this time. Next up was Keegan who performed with great spirit against a tough opponent missing out this time. Very well done to Keegan on your first competition. Daniel was next. After going down by a couple of points early on he then pulled it back but lost the fight late on. Great effort Daniel, on another day the outcome would've been a lot different. Finally in the same group was Olly. Similar to Daniel Olly went behind early on meaning he needed to chase the fight. With a bit more experience he would have pulled it back. Tough group for all 5 boys but all very narrow loses which can be turned into victories with experience and mat time. Last competitor of the day was Ben who fought well but was unsuccessful, again experience was the difference but he managed to walk away with a bronze medal. Good day overall and I am very pleased to say you all gave it everything. We couldn't ask for anymore. Keep up the work guys you are all slowly improving and it won't be long till we see further results 💪👊