AMA INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010

Results - 9 Gold, 2 Silver & 2 Bronzes

Kaizen Central - 3rd Overall

Fighter of the Tournament
Heidi Jay

Team Captains for the Day
Amy Thomason
Jordan Thomas

Gold
Heidi Jay 14-15yrs girls +54kg
Heidi Jay 14-15yrs girls Open
Ryan Jay 16-17yrs boys -55kg
Jordan Thomas 16-17yrs boys -68kg
Carla Burkitt 18+ womens -55kg
Michael Burke 18+ mens Open
Amy Thomason 18+ womens Open
Womens Team - Amy Thomason, Carla Burkitt & Kerry Gunn
Mens Team - Jordan Thomas, Michael Burke and Ryan Jay (Reserve Keanu Mayhew)

Silver
Rhys Lucock 14-15yrs boys -52kg
Kerry Gunn 18+ womens -61kg

Bronze
Keanu Mayhew 16-17yrs -61kg
Amy Thomason 18+ womens -68kg

European Success for Kaizen Central

Kaizen had five competitors representing England at these championships all of whom we are very proud, Jake Langley place 5th over all with a very commendable performance, Charlotte Westall and Heidi Jay on their European debut, Carla Burkitt winning a silver medal (one better than her bronze last year) and last but not least of the Kaizen Central newcomers Gold medal winner Ryan Jay. Jordan Thomas was selected for the Championships but had to withdrew after breaking a bone in his hand. Obviously he is still upset but all things for a reason as he is a great talent and his time will come.

Many thanks to Kepas Ltd for sponsoring Carla Burkitt.

Well done to all of the the competitors who as always represent kaizencentral with distinction.

Williie Thomas
Chief instructor

British Karate Championships - Edinburgh - 5th September 2009 (By Sarria Joseph)

Sorry everyone for this blog being so late, certain circumstances have occurred in my life which caused this delay. However, the lateness doesn’t take away, how great Kazien Central did in Edinburgh September 5th 2009.

We went out with 9 competitors, and came back with 11 medals due to the way the day panned out and me having to spend most of the day standing around on a mat, I didn’t see everyone, but from what I did see from glancing over from my mat in between fights was that everyone was on fire. I can’t fault anyone...

Whitney Rose 16-17 yrs +59kg and open weight won both categories, come on need I say anymore her amazing results speak for themselves...

Jordan Thomas 16-17yrs -68kg Gold, hardly surprising you know what he’s like...

Carla Burkitt 18yrs+ -55kg Gold, Definitely fought like a trooper...

Jake Langley 14yrs-15yrs -70kg Silver, He’s doing incredibly well – keep it up...
Michael Burke 16yrs-17yrs -76kg Bronze, Gave it his all, as usual...

Amy Thomason 18yrs+ -68kg Bronze, She was feeling under the weather, but still fought brilliantly considering...

Kerry Gunn 18yrs+ -61kg, and open weight Bronze, again with double medals fantastic fighting...

Women’s team 18+ Amy, Carla, Kerry Bronze – All fought well ...

All of us, competitors did great showing our class, and style, and letting Scotland know that Kaizen Central are the top dogs. But, we got to say a big thank you to the coaches as without them and all the hard work and time that they put in we would not be able to achieve and continue to achieve the great results we have this year. Keep up the good work guys.

RESULTS

Gold

Whitney Rose (2) 16-17yrs +59kg & Open

Carla Burkitt 18+ -55kg

Jordan Thomas 16-17yrs -68kg

Silver

Jake Langley 14-15yrs -70kg

Bronze

Sarria Joseph 14-15yrs Open

Amy Thomason 18+ -68kg

Kerry Gunn (2) 18+ -61kg & Open

Michael Burke 16-17yrs -76kg

Womens Team (Amy, Carla & Kerry)

Kaizen Central Gold medal winners BKF Championships

Whitney Rose (below), Junior (16 - 17yrs)
Heavy and Open-weight champion



Carla Burkitt (below), Senior (18yrs & over)
Light-weight Champion



Jordan Thomas (below), Junior (16 - 17yrs)
Light-middleweight Champion



In total Kaizen central gain 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 6 bronze medals. A full listing and details to follow.

Capital Open - 12th July 2009 (by Keanu Mayhew)

Kaizen Central had yet another good run in yet another competition in Clacton on the 12th of July. Once again everybody who went gave 100% and more, with a total of 22 medals (5 golds, 9 silvers & 8 bronzes), almost everyone came away with something, but those unlucky few such as Tommy, Spencer, Whitney and Laura who didn’t get anything this time but still gave their best performance. Well done everyone.

The day (as it usually does) started off with kata.
Me & Michael Burke were in the 15-17 yrs event where some good katas were shown but in the end I got a 3rd and Michael came out on top with 1st. Then a couple of minutes later we were both up again in the 16+, I improved (with thanks to Sensei John Anderson for on the spot coaching) and came away with a 2nd and then Michael (making kata look easy) came away with another well deserved 1st.

Whilst we were doing this Shaun Anderson played his part, even thou I didn’t see his katas I heard that they were very good which earned him a 1st place. Cameron Russell got 2nd & two Tigers kata team (one who had Cameron, Jak & Georgia in it, the other with Gabi & Katlin) won a 2nd in their categories.

After kata was done and dusted with it was time for us to move on to kumite.

Jake Langley, who I know always gives his best had some great fights in his category and came out with a 3rd. Cameron Russell again gave a brilliant show and clamed a 3rd to show it.

Moving on to the juniors now, Gabi Burrows and Azizah Fadare both fought brilliantly and both earned a 1st place in their categories. Malik Fadare also fought well and took a 2nd.

Once again me and Michael both fought in two separate categories. In both Michael took away a 3rd, I however did not have as much luck this time and didn’t win anything.

Also bad luck to Tommy and Spencer who both fought brilliantly in their fights but was unlucky not to win anything (keep up the good work boys)

Finally the Girls were up. In one category we had Amy Thomason, Carla Burkitt, Whitney Rose, Laura Wheeler & Kerry Gunn all fighting at their usual high standard and determination with some good displays of fighting as well. With the girls having to fight each other (Whitney against Amy, with Amy winning & Carla against Kerry, with Carla winning) Whitney unfortunately was knocked out leaving Kerry and Amy to take joint 3rd and Carla to win 2nd.

I missed Sarria Joseph & Georgia Burrows fights, but they both obviously did well as both of them had a 2nd place to show for it and Sarria also had a 3rd from a previous category.

Thank you to all the coaches for their help on the day and to the parents for getting us to all the competitions and a big well done to everyone who attended.

Results

Gold
Michael Burke (2) - Kata (15-17yrs) & Kata (Senior 16+)
Shaun Anderson - Kata
Azizah Fadare - Kumite
Gabi Burrows - Kumite

Silver
Malik Fadare (2) - Kata & Kumite
Keanu Mayhew - Kata (Senior 16+)
Sarria Joseph - Kumite (15yrs & under)
Carla Burkitt - Kumite (Senior 16+)
Cameron Russell - Kata
Georgia Burrows - Kumite
Tigers Team Kata (Cameron, Jak & Georgia)
Tigers Team Kata (Gabi & Katlin)

Bronze
Keanu Mayhew - Kata (15-17yrs)
Sarria Joseph - Kumite (15-18yrs)
Michael Burke (2) - Kumite (15-18yrs) & Kumite (Senior 16+)
Jake Langley - Kumite (15yrs & under)
Amy Thomason - Kumite (Senior 16+)
Kerry Gunn - Kumite (Senior 16+)
Cameron Russell - Kumite

English Open Karate Championships - 17th May 2009 (by Kerry Gunn)

Another good competition for Kaizen Central. We took a squad of 18 and came out of it with 8 golds, 2 silvers and 7 bronzes. Firstly I would like to say well done to everyone. I know that even though some people didn’t get the results they wanted you all gave 100% like Jake. He unfortunately went out in the first round but definitely didn’t deserve to. Even though things didn’t go Jake’s way this time it still doesn’t change the fact that he is one to watch in the future.

I would like to give a special mention to our junior squad. They may be the most inexperienced members of the squad but every single one of them did the whole squad proud this weekend.

The first medal of the day came from our kata team which consists of Michaela, Aaliyah and Azizah. They were competing against teams that were a lot more experienced and older than them and still they got a 3rd place.

Michaela unfortunately didn’t get a medal in her individual kata but still performed a very good kata. Michaela was upset about not winning a medal but I think she should be proud of herself as she is improving with every competition she does.

Azizah, the youngest member of the squad, did very well in her kata group, she went against her older sister and won which earned her a gold medal. Aaliyah wasn’t very happy with coming 2nd to her sister in the kata but soon made up for it in her kumite event. She fought a lot better than she did the week before, in fact she looked like a completely different person, and won her group.

Malik did brilliantly at this competition. It was only his 2nd competition and he came away with a 2nd place in kata and a 3rd place in kumite.

Kamran is another member of the squad that hasn’t done many competitions and even though he didn’t get a medal he still fought very well.

Last but not least I want to say well done to Tommy, who recently came out of his very short retirement, to receive a bronze medal. Tommy, who always fights with lots of spirit, fought better than I have seen him fight before (maybe that had something to do with Amy coaching him).

I would like to say something about everyone but it would take too long. Well done again to everyone and I know that we as a squad are going to get better and stronger with every competition we do.

Results

Gold
Azizah Fadare (kata)
Aaliyah Fadare (kumite)
Whitney Rose (kumite)
Amy Thomason (kumite)
14/15yr women’s kumite team (Monique Etienne & Sarria Joseph)
Women’s kumite team (Amy Thomason, Carla Burkitt & Kerry Gunn)
16/17yrs men’s kumite team (Jordan Thomas, Keanu Mayhew & Michael Burke)
Men’s kumite team (John Anderson, Jordan Thomas, Michael Burke & Tunde Fadare)

Silver
Malik Fadare (kata)
Aaliyah Fadare (kata)

Bronze
Michael Burke (kata & kumite)
Malik Fadare (kumite)
Keanu Mayhew (kumite)
Tommy Langley (kumite)
Carla Burkitt (kumite)
Kata team (Aaliyah Fadare, Azizah Fadare & Michael Kemp)

SENIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (BY AMY THOMASON)

Well after a week’s pre-training in Birmingham, I headed off to Zagreb, Croatia for the European Championships. I competed in the individual -68kg kumite on Friday and in the Women’s team kumite on the Sunday.

In the individual category, I won my first round 3-1, the one point given away from my contact warnings. I got all my points from counters and was feeling really good and in form. My next round was against Greece, whom I lost to 1-0. I was obviously gutted to not go through especially when feeling like I could do something pretty good. The Greek girl lost to France in the semi so I missed out on repercharge although she did end up 3rd, but of no help to me.

In the teams with Natalie Williams, Katie Hurry and Gemma Marwood, we were all feeling confident after Natalie and Katie had medalled in their individual events. We had Serbia first round, which we won. Personally, I fought second and drew 1-1 although I was up 1-0 for the majority of the match so was disappointed to let my opponent get it back. In the second round, we had the Swiss, whom we lost to unfortunately. Katie drew first, before Natalie lost on penalties so it was up to me to chase down the final win – which I couldn’t do, losing 2-0. I was obviously gutted, especially feeling like I had let the team down.

Overall though, I wasn’t overly disappointed with the competition, as I had fought well and have come away with more belief and confidence in knowing that I could potentially medal at one of the top comps in the World.

Just want to say though, thanks to everyone for the texts and everything whilst I was away especially with messages of support. It really meant a lot. Cheers.