EAST MIDLANDS OPEN!

27th November 2022

The team travelled all the way to Lincolnshire, Sleaford, leaving Worcester at 6am to compete at the East Midland Open Championships. It was a hard competition with some fantastic standards and we certainly learned a lot!

Dani coming up against the winner first round again in his kata but this is no bad thing, we saw what he needs to work on and he is up for the challenge not to mention how much he has improved from the North East Open! Then for the fighting he came up against a lad much bigger than himself scoring the first point of the match but after a gyak back and a mawashi to the back dani lost 3-1. But again to score that first point was not only brave but a massive improvement from last time! Well done Dani!

Emily's first open competition and lost in their second round- an incredible achievement, winning a round in a competition that isnt their native style (we have only been working on open kata for 6 months, their competitors potentially 6 years!) well done girls

Freya came up against the eventual winner first round and she was an inspiration to watch, all the girls were in awe watching the winner in the final so for freya she accepted defeat graciously going on to fully support her team mates. She was later rewarded by winning a bronze in the Kobudo (weapons category) a first for the club and an incredible achievement! Well done Freya!

Tabatha beat a girl from Leicester in the first round who has been selected to represent the EKF! Beating her kata for kata 2-1 This was outstanding and we couldnt be more proud of Tabs and looking forward to seeing where she can go next! At the end of a very long wait she was our final competitor in the kumite. Winning herself a bronze medal after two very difficult fights, she listened hard to sensei Katrina and tried her best- which is all we can ever ask for! Well done Tabs

Finally Florence, Going out in the second round in her kata to the second place medalist she didnt half put up a fight! An incredible Empi first round followed by the best Kushanku she has ever done. It was wonderful to watch! Then in the kobudo she went through round after round using Shuji No Kon Dai even beating some adults to reach the final, winning the silver! Incredible results and incredible performances! Well done Florence

Chris entered the veterans category, his first time entering an Open competition and although he lost in the first round some valuable lessons learnt a lot of the little things all add up to the full performance. Well done Chris