Welsh Bushi-Kai Karate Association

WESTERN KARATE UNION TOURNAMENT – Sun Nov 27th

The Welsh Bushi-Kai sent a small development squad to the WKU event last sunday, as well as a few seasoned campaigners. Several of our Junior competitors were competing for the first time, yet they did us proud.
As we have come to expect from our good friends at the WKU, we recieved a very warm welcome. The tournament was a great success and produced a great atmosphere for the competitors.
Every single one of our fighters gave 100% and we are pleased to report that the WBK headed back to Wales with 6 Gold, 1 Silver and 6 Bronze Medals. – Well done to all.

We would like to thank Sensei Alan Flook and his associates at the WKU for their hospitality and for running the Tournament with such efficiency and fairness.

Full results can be seen on the results page.

WBK 2012 Calendar

The Calendar page on this site has been updated and now shows all of the dates of next years KYU, BROWN & BLACK BELT (Dan) Gradings. The dates of all training courses will be added in the New Year, as will any Squad Training Dates.

Grand Slam Karate on the BBC

As you are probably aware, the WKGB recently hosted the Grand Slam Home Nations Karate Event. With the late withdrawal of the Irish Squad, the event became the “TRI-NATIONS” with Scotland and England battling against the Welsh Team.
BBC WALES Cameras were present to film the event and it was broadcast last week. For those who misses the Broadcast, Click on the link below to view the footage.

TRI-NATIONS KARATE 

BROWN BELT GRADING NOV 12th

Brown Belts

Well done to all the students who successfully passed their Brown Belt Grade Examination last weekend. A great standard of Karate was displayed which reflects directly on how hard they trained in preparation to grade.
Grade examiners for this grading were Nigel Taylor & Paul Bridge (5th Dans).

BELGIAN OPEN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Last weekend the Welsh Bushi-Kai had 2 representatives competing in Leuven, Belgium at the Open Championships.- Mark McMahon & Holly Carey.
We are pleased to report that both Mark & Holly progressed well through the early rounds and into the latter stages before having to settle for Top 5 Placings.
Well done to both.

   

Chris Noblett with Mark McMahon & Mark Watkins

On Friday Nov 4th, a special event took place at the  fantastic new FIT4LESS GYM in Port Talbot. This gym, which has a fully fitted dojo, is now home to our friends at the Afan Lido Kickboxing Club and to the Port Talbot Bushi-Kai Karate Club. Chris & Liz Noblett made a presentation of a framed Gi and Hachi-Dan Black Belt, belonging to Shihan Ritchie Noblett, to Club Instructors, Mark McMahon 4th Dan Karate and Mark Watkins 4th Dan Kickboxing .
Shihan Noblett was the Instructor to both Karate and Kickboxing classes at the old, and sadly missed, Afan Lido Sports Centre. The New gym is located at Acacia Avenue, Sandfields Estate, Port Talbot . The  gym facility is situated in the old C.E.M Days Ford Dealership, which has undergone a huge tranformation.

For further info on our Port Talbot Bushi-Kai Karate Club please contact Mark McMahon [email]

 Close up of the framed Gi and Belt which will be on permanent display at the Dojo of the Fit4Less Gym.

Framed Gi and Belt

Association Kyu Grading Nov 6th

Well done to all of our students who successfully passed their grading at the Cwrt Herbert Sport Centre in Neath last Sunday.
The pre-grade course went very well, fine tuning  technique and getting everyone primed to Grade.
WBK Examiners were very pleased with the standard of karate displayed on the day and a 100% pass rate was achieved.
Passes by Grade:
Red 17, Yellow 7, Orange 18, Green 18, Blue 7 and Purple 2. Plus there were 26 students attending the course only.

Many thanks to the Examiners, Assistants, Students and Spectators for creating such a terrific atmosphere.
Next grading will be in March 2012 and we look forward to seeing you there.

Grand Slam Karate – Nov 5th

Saturday saw Wales host the Karate Grand Slam, in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff and the Welsh Bushi-Kai had 4 representatives on the Welsh Team.- Mark McMahon, Jordan Harris, Holly Carey and Amy Nicholas.  Unfortunately Ireland withdrew from the event, leaving Wales, Scotland and England to compete for the title of 2011 Grand Slam Champions.

WBK Welsh representatives

Events got under way with the ladies teams. The first match saw Wales take on a very strong England Team.  In the first bout, Sammi Scott (WKK) fought Alice Gouldie, in a match which ended level.  Next to fight was Holly, making her Welsh debut. Fighting Holly, was Carla Burkitt, a winner of Silver and Bronze medals in the last 2 European U21 championships.  This was always going to be a tough fight for Holly in her first Grand slam, but she performed well, narrowly losing out 2-0.
The final fight saw Amy at just 16yrs old, making her senior Welsh debut, her opponent was the former U21 World Champion and Senior European medallist, Katie Hurry.  Despite being much smaller and younger, Amy performed brilliantly to take a 3-2 victory, timing her gyakazuki’s perfectly and not giving her more experienced opponent any space to work in.

 Despite the team losing by 1point, the 3 girls all put in an excellent performance, showing that there is a very bright future for the Welsh Ladies Team.The next match saw England take on Scotland, England won the match and with it the Grand Slam title, leaving it to Scotland and Wales to fight for second place.  The first bout saw Holly facing Chelsea Wishart. Holly was determined to get the team off to the best possible start, and took an early lead, before scoring two head kicks to secure a 9-4 victory.  Scotland came back strongly with current Commonwealth Champion, Chloe McLean narrowly beating Sammi. In the final bout Amy fought well, but unfortunately suffered a narrow defeat.

Welsh Squad with Officials

The Mens event also started with Wales taking on England.  Mark McMahon was first up for the Welsh Team, taking on Aaron Swales, the current British Open champion, this was a very close fight, with both competitors fighting hard to give their teams a winning start, with Mark losing a close fight 2-1.  The very strong England team went on to win the match 5-0, a score-line they repeated against Scotland to win the Grand Slam in emphatic style.

 As with the ladies, it was Wales v Scotland to decide the runners-up. This was a very tense affair,  with Wales going 1-0 down after Aaron Woods beat Cheyne Phillips in the first bout.  The next bout saw Mark taking on the experienced Mark Wylie. From the start Mark was determined to level the match and soon took the lead, before scoring with a take down to take win 5-0.

 Next to fight was 17yr old Jordan Harris, one of the best U18 fighters in Europe, making his senior Welsh debut, against Martin Douglas (a senior British Champion for the past 2 years).  Jordan showed his class and speed, fighting with a maturity beyond his young age and securing a draw which saw the scores level with 2 bouts remaining.  The final 2 bouts saw Scotland securing victories in both to take the match. This was a very young Welsh team , who will have gained some vital experience which will hopefully help them push on to new levels in the future

This was a great event which gave our fighters exposure to international competition, with everyone of them acquitting themselves very well and showing they are capable of competing at the highest level.

The competition was covered by BBC Wales, with highlights and interviews with Competitors, Coaches and Officials being show on “Sport Wales” on BBC2 at 7pm on Friday 11th November

IMPORTANT:

Please take note of the change of contact details for our Admin Office listed below:

WBK Admin Officer
16, Pentre Afan
Baglan Moors
Port Talbot
SA12 7RL

Tel:  01639 410492   ***NEW***

email: welshbushi-kai.karate@sky.com   ***NEW***

The Welsh Bushi-Kai are pleased to announce that the following fighters have been selected to represent the WKGB Welsh Team.

Mark McMahon, Jordan Harris, Amy Nicholas and Holly Carey.

All 4 will be competing at the ‘GRAND SLAM’ Karate Event being held in Sofia Gardens, Cardiff on Nov 5th.

Congratulations to them on their selection and we wish them & their Welsh Team Mates good luck in the tournament.

New Kumite and Kata Rules for 2012:

Below you can View/Download the new World Karate Federation Kumite and Kata Rules.
They have been approved by the WKF Executive Committee in Malaysia . There is also a summary available which helps give a better understanding of the scope and nature of the changes.
These new rules take effect from the 1st Jan 2012.

The WKF says it has allocated to it significant resources, and a multi-disciplinary working group has spent significant time in developing the rules. The WKF also state that the new Rules offer an immense potential for the future development of the Kumite competition.

Pleased click below to download your copy:

WKF COMPETITION RULES V7.0  [ View / Download ]

SUMMARY OF CHANGES V7.0  [ View / Download ]

For Your Information:

GRAND SLAM KARATE EVENT:
On Saturday 5th November, the WKGB are hosting an International Karate Grand Slam Event at the W.I.S Sofia Gardens, Cardiff.
Featured teams are Wales, England, Scotland & Ireland.
Doors open at 12.00 noon with the action commencing at 1.00pm.    View / Download Poster

WKGB COACHING AWARD COURSES:
This information is for WBK Students / Instructors who are working towards the WKGB Coaching Certificate.
WKGB Coaching Officer, Paul Scott, will be holding the required First Aid & Safeguarding and Protection of Children Courses at the Jishin Karate Club, Townhill, Swansea on Saturday 17th December.
First Aid Course:    9.30 am – 1.30 pm,  Fee: £25
S&PC Course:  2.30 pm – 5.30 pm,  Fee: £20

Those wishing to attend should inform WBK Admin [ Liz ] as soon as possible. There are only a limited number of spaces available.